West Country Travel Guide

Historic Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, and Somerset

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Find historic places to visit and stay in south west England. Explore mysterious Glastonbury with its legends of King Arthur and the Holy Grail, or walk the cobbled causeway to magical St Michael's Mount. Visit elegant Bath, with its Georgian architecture and Roman baths, and explore Wells, the smallest city in England, with its glorious cathedral and medieval Bishop's Palace. From the ancient hill figure at Cerne Abbas to the Iron Age hill fort of Maiden Castle, history is never far away.

Major West Country Historic Attractions

Top Heritage-Rated

Glastonbury Abbey Heritage Rating
The Roman Baths
Wells Cathedral
Powderham Castle
Bath

More Major Historic places to visit

Castles
Corfe Castle
Farleigh Hungerford
Pendennis Castle
Restormel Castle
Tintagel Castle
Totnes

Abbeys and Monasteries
Cleeve Abbey
Glastonbury Abbey

Cathedrals
Exeter
Wells

Countryside:
Dartmoor
- Dartmoor Photo Gallery
Exmoor

Historic Houses
Antony House
Athelhampton House
Castle Drogo
Cotehele House
Forde Abbey
Knightshayes Court
Lanhydrock
Montacute House
Pencarrow House
Powderham Castle
Prideaux Place
St. Michael's Mount
Saltram House
Trewithen House

Gardens
Abbotsbury Sub-Tropical Gardens
Coleton Fishacre
Killerton Gardens
Marwood Hill
Rosemoor Garden
Trebah Gardens
Forde Abbey

Ancient Sites
Carn Brea
Maiden Castle
Cerne Abbas Giant

Featured Attraction

Lydford Castle - Lydford, Devon, England

Lydford Castle is a 13th-century square tower keep with a notorious reputation as a prison. Nearby are remains of an earlier Norman earthwork fortress, and a 9th-century Saxon village. ... more

County Travel Guides

Cornwall
Devon
Dorset
Somerset

Accommodation

Self Catering Cottages
Cornwall - Devon - Dorset - Somerset - and many more locations >>

Editor's picks - Top 5 reasons to visit South East England

1. The west front of Wells Cathedral
2. The haunting tors of Dartmoor
3. The water-bound causeway to St Michael's Mount
4. Cycling on the Somerset Levels
5. The gardens at Forde Abbey

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Britain Express Canvas Prints

Castles in England Prints

PUT THE BEST OF BRITAIN ON YOUR WALL

Stunning UK prints for sale by award-winning photographer David Ross, editor of Britain Express, the UK Travel and Heritage Guide.

National Trust

National Trust membership

Free entry to National Trust properties throughout England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, plus discounted admission to National Trust for Scotland properties.

Membership details

About the National Trust

St Ives (Self catering)