UK STAYCATION #5

ATLANTIC HIGHWAY – Somerset, Devon & Cornwall

When to go: in summer for a jaunt along this sunny coastal route.

How long to go for: at least a week.

Taking in a string of south-west England’s salty beach towns, the Atlantic Highway knots together a course through Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.

Pick up a car in honey-stoned, genteel Bath or eclectic, graffitied Bristol – be sure to Sally Lunns in Bath for her world famous bath bun – the scones are the best too!

Drive through Somerset’s rolling farmlands towards the Devonshire border. We recommend nipping away from the route to work in a stop in Bruton, arguably the West Country’s most creative town.

Hauser & Wirth opened an outpost here in 2014, putting the area firmly on the art world’s radar, and a clutch of smart hotels and farm-to-fork restaurants followed.

Hop back on the Atlantic Highway – also known, rather less romantically, as the A39 – and into lush Exmoor National Park.

Stop for the night at The Nap, a log cabin with a wood-fired hot tub about 30 minutes away.

The next morning, the drive continues into north-east Cornwall – through Bude, whose bustling surf spot Summerleaze is one of the best Cornwall beaches, and south along the coast to foodie neighbours Port Isaac and Padstow – iwalkcornwall offers a fantastic guided walk around Padstow, absolutely worth doing if you have time.  

Port Isaac is another Cornish treasure …look at that beautiful water!

How can we go past Padstow when Rick has made it so famous!

Finish at Land’s End, where the Atlantic crashes into the jagged shoreline at the most westerly point of mainland England.

The nearest drop off for your one way rental is the Land’s end railway station or the airport.

Source: cntraveller.com