This new, thoroughly updated 3rd edition of South Devon and Dartmoor is part of Bradt’s distinctive ‘Slow Travel’ series of guides to UK regions, offering in-depth exploration of one of England’s most popular areas. Written by resident experts Hilary Bradt, the late Janice Booth, and Gill and Alistair Campbell, it remains the essential companion guide to discovering not just the obvious and well-known sites, but also for getting off the beaten track and understanding what makes this gorgeous part of the country tick.
Much of the information in Bradt’s South Devon and Dartmoor has appeared in no other guidebook (apart from previous editions of this book). The authors have uncovered the lesser-known charms of the region as well as different aspects of the more popular places (from the English Riviera and South Hams to Salcombe and Dartmoor), together with colourful characters from the past, folk history, and literary links from Agatha Christie to Arthur Conan Doyle.
The guide has a special emphasis on car-free travel: walking (this edition features a revised selection of routes, including ‘miles without stiles’ – accessible Dartmoor walks), cycling and river boats, as well as local buses (including the new Dartmoor Explorer service) and trains. This edition has a stronger emphasis on local food (both in markets and when eating out), while the authors have updated their hand-picked suggestions for places to eat and drink, and for accommodation (from idyllically located campsites to boutique B&Bs via gypsy caravans, treehouses, hill-top follies and haunted coaching inns).
Colourful and witty writing, along with the authors’ enthusiasm for their subject, makes the guide a pleasure to read. With Bradt’s South Devon and Dartmoor, discover the region’s award-winning gin distillery and new whisky distillery; learn what really goes on at a wassail gathering; find out what you should do if you’re harassed by pixies on Dartmoor; and discover unique local events like the annual Orange Race held in Totnes. Also included are entertaining and informative stories about historical characters and folklore, while small and historic little village churches, with their idiosyncratic saints and intriguing carvings, are described in loving detail.
SLOW TRAVEL FROM BRADT GUIDES
• Eating – where to taste the region’s best produce
• Sleeping – accommodation with character and colour
• In Depth – key attractions and lesser-known places covered in detail
• Walking – where to find the best local rambles
• Dog-Friendly – places to visit with your pet
Hilary Bradt co-founded Bradt Travel Guides in 1974, but now lives in semi-retirement in Seaton, East Devon. After nearly 50 years of writing guidebooks to Africa and South America, she has embraced her chosen home to the extent of insisting that such a large, varied and beautiful county deserved three Slow Travel guides, not just one. A keen walker, she has covered many miles of the South West Coast Path and inland footpaths, as well as enjoying Dartmoor on someone else’s legs – those of a horse. Most Saturdays see her taking part in one of Devon’s parkruns (5k, but she’s appropriately slow), and during the summer a swim in the sea, just a few minutes away, is always a pleasure. She is a productive member of the South West Sculptors’ Association and lectures regularly on travel-related topics at libraries and literary festivals, both in Devon and further afield.
After many decades living in various other parts of Britain, the late Janice Booth settled in Devon (‘within sound of the sea’) in 2001, and enjoyed exploring her adopted home county on local buses until her death in February 2023. As a wartime toddler she lived briefly in Colyton (East Devon), where her mother took her ‘to the seaside’ at Seaton via a branch of the old Southern Railway that ran where the Seaton Tramway now rattles to and fro. On family holidays she tasted her first clotted cream in Sidmouth aged eight, rode on the Burgh Island tractor aged ten, and rock-hopped along the shore near Wembury in her early teens. She was fascinated by Devon folklore, co-wrote (with Hilary) Bradt’s Slow Guide to East Devon & the Jurassic Coast, and – further afield – was co-author of Bradt’s Rwanda.
Gill and Alistair Campbell have lived in the West Country for more that 17 years. During that time they have walked extensively in the area, often leading walks for local residents, tourists and foreign tour groups. They have walked the entire South West Coast Path, the Two Moors Way , the Macmillan Way West and the Tarka Trail. They are both volunteer workers for the National Trust and for the National Park. They lead a team who restore ancient stone walls. As volunteer rangers, they aim to ensure that visitors get the most out of their experiences in the South West. Gill and Alistair have written a very successful walks book for the local Tourist Association, co-wrote the Bradt Slow Guide to North and Mid Devon and contributed to other Bradt guides.
