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Activities nearby

Beaches

Within 20 minutes drive Saunton Sands, Croyde and Woolacombe offer beautiful sandy beaches with swimming, surfing, sailing, windsurfing, waterskiing and boat trips to be enjoyed. Nearer to home, Combe Martin and Ilfracombe have smaller beaches and harbours. 

 
If you are a golf fan, challenging links courses can be found at Saunton Sands, Mortehoe and Ilfracombe.
 
The Moor

Exmoor itself provides a fantastic combination of experiences where you can roam, drive or ride over heather-clad moorland and at the same time witness dramatic sandstone cliffs, which descend down to secret wooded coombes and the sea. If you walk or ride, you will love Exmoor with over 700 miles of footpaths and bridleways to explore, even in high season it is possible to get away from it all here. Real moorland Exmoor sometimes gives way to softer wooded valleys where walkers will find the villages of Brendon, Exford, Simonsbath, Withypool and Winsford all with good pubs and cream teas.

 
For walkers particularly, the following should not be missed:

- Watersmeet, a National Trust Property which nestles in a wooded combe where two rivers meet to become the single Lyn river, which flows out at Lynmouth

- Woody Bay - another National Trust area, where the woods descend to a rocky cove, accessible only by walking the final 1/2 mile or so.

- Lorna Doone Valley, with the pretty villages of Rockford, Brendon, Malmsmead and Oare.

- Heddons Mouth reached by a 1.5 mile footpath from Hunters Inn .Heddon Valley is mainly National Trust managed and a shop is found at Hunters Inn.

-Tarr Steps.

Villages and Towns

One of the most fascinating parts of Exmoor has to be the twin villages of  Lynton and Lynmouth.  The two villages are split by cliffs, and connected by the wonderful water powered cliff railway. The area known as 'Little Switzerland' by the Victorians. The beauty of the area takes ones breath away, especially the Valley of the Rocks, with its goats and surprising rock formations.

Further East along the coast through Countisbury, the pretty village of Porlock offers beautiful views and scenery.

Minehead has its own attraction with its holiday fun park and West Somerset Steam Railway. The nearby village of Dunster is certainly worth visiting. To the south west of the moor, South Molton is the 'gateway' to  Exmoor. This traditional rural town has excellent an excellent farmers market. In the south east, Dulverton is a pretty village with a number of shops and tearooms, as well as a couple of galleries featuring local art. In the middle of the moor, good walks can end with traditional Ales and meals at both The Crown and The White Horse at Exford, as well as at the Exmoor Forest Inn at Simonsbath 

Here are a few of the attractions easily reached from Virvale:                                                                                                                                                                           
  • Arlington Court, Nr Barnstaple                                                               
  • Combe Martin, Lynton, South Molton Farmers Markets
  • Watersmeet
  • Clovelly
  • Combe Martin Wildlife and Dinosaur Park
  • Dartington Crystal, Torrington
  • Exmoor Falconry & Animal Farm, Porlock
  • Exmoor Zoo
  • Glen Lyn Gorge, Lynmouth
  • Hartland Abbey & Gardens, Nr Bideford
  • Ilfracombe Aquarium
  • Lundy Island
  • Lynton & Lynmouth Cliff Railway
  • North Devon Farm Park, Barnstaple
  • North Devon Theatres, Barnstaple/Ilfracombe
  • Quince Honey Farm, South Molton
  • Tunnels Beaches, Ilfracombe
  • Watermouth Castle, Combe Martin
  • Woody Bay Railway
  • Moorland Mousie Trust

The following attractions are accessible within an hours driving:

  • Atlantic Village Bideford
  • RHS Rosemoor Garden, Great Torrington
  • The Big Sheep, Bideford
  • The Gnome Reserve, Bradworthy
  • The Milky Way Family Theme Park, Nr Clovelly