The area around Exmoor House - things to see & do during your stay

Exmoor National Park is a great place for walking, cycling, exploring, or just pottering around. During your short break at Exmoor House there are plenty of opportunities to get out and about... and to work up an appetite for our excellent food. Of course, if you don't want to walk or cycle, Exmoor offers plenty of other activities and interesting places to visit. Or you could just relax and take it easy.

Exmoor, one of Britain’s best-kept secrets, can be summed up in one word: beautiful. Two-thirds in Somerset and one third in Devon, it's one of the smallest of our National Parks and has an amazing variety of scenery. Wonderfully bleak moorland combines with intimate wooded valleys or ‘combes’ to offer fantastic walking country. Something that makes Exmoor unique is that the moors meet the sea in several places, e.g. at Lynmouth and Minehead. From Exmoor's highest point, Dunkery Beacon (near Wheddon Cross, the home of Exmoor House), there are superb views of the Avill Valley running down to Dunster and the Bristol Channel on one side and wild moorland on the other.

Exmoor's dark skies make it a great place for astronomers, and for people who simply enjoy stargazing. With very little light pollution, it's much easier to see the Milky Way and to view events like meteor showers and eclipses. In October 2011, Exmoor National Park was designated the first International Dark Sky Reserve in Europe (and only the second in the world). Exmoor House is ideally situated for anybody who wants to see the stars! More details on the stargazing page at Exmoor National Park

One of the most beautiful parts of Exmoor is the Holnicote Estate, owned by the National Trust, with fine heather moorland, five miles of wild and dramatic Atlantic coastline, picturesque farms and cottages and wonderful ancient woodland around Horner.

You might also be lucky enough to see some of the area's great range of wildlife. For example the Exmoor pony, the nearest breed we have to the original wild horses of Europe, or red deer, England's largest wild animals, which have lived on Exmoor since prehistoric times. Buzzards often soar overhead. See our Exmoor nature calendar for more information.

Many rivers and streams cross the moor. In fact our village, Wheddon Cross, sits on the watershed of two Exmoor rivers - the Avill and the Quarme. The Avill flows down to the Bristol Channel via the pretty medieval town of Dunster, the Quarme joins up with the Exe a few miles to the south.

Unlike some National Parks, Exmoor never gets too crowded with walkers, and in the quieter areas you could well walk all day without seeing a soul.

Whichever way you go, whether on foot, by bike, public transport or driving, there is wonderful scenery. Interesting places to visit on Exmoor (all of which you can get to very easily from Exmoor House) include Exford, Simonsbath, Tarr Steps, Withypool, Winsford, Dulverton, Porlock, Dunster... the list goes on.

But Exmoor House at Wheddon Cross is also ideally situated for exploring The Brendon Hills, which connect Exmoor with the Quantocks - well worth a visit.This area of gently rolling countryside, stretching from near Bishops Lydeard in the east to Wheddon Cross in the west, falls within the Exmoor National Park boundary and, like Exmoor itself, provides great walking and touring country. You can find more information here.

Other things to do
As well as walking, cycling, seeing the sights and generally exploring Exmoor and the surrounding areas, you could go fishing or horse riding. If you feel like a spot of golf, there's a links course at Minehead. Prefer tennis? Wheddon Cross has its very own all-weather court.

Exmoor is also a focus for sporting events including point-to-point races and shooting parties (pheasant and partridge). Several arts festivals - and food & drink festivals - take place during the year too: for example the Exmoor Food Festival and the Two Moors Festival.

For more ideas, visit our links page

You can book online:

If you'd prefer to contact us direct,, or if you have any queries at all,
just call Rosi & Frank on 01643 841432, or email us: info@exmoorhouse.com