The Victorian novelist Charles Kingsley described Bideford as "The Little White Town which slopes upward from its broad river tide " . Indeed, little has changed from when Kingsley lived in the area nearly 150 years ago much of its architecture and historic associations are still with us. Kingsley's statue, located adjacent to the Tourist Information Centre, serves as a permanent reminder of this famous resident and the time he spent here writing part of his well-known novel Westward Ho!

Today, Bideford is both a thriving market town and working port with much to offer visitors to the region. Amongst the many buildings and places of interest you will find the historic covered Pannier Market, dating from 1883, which holds a market every Tuesday and Saturday. Alongside the history you will find modern shopping amenities, a wide choice of clubs, bars and restaurants, entertainment and a tremendous range of visitor attractions for the young and not so young!

Whilst your here visit:

Baggy Point ....

Baggy Point; a place of legend, of cataclysmic storms, of huge, lichen-stained slabs towering above wave-washed bays of monumental architecture. Here the undulating, sun-caressed hills of North Devon slowly fall prey to the almighty Atlantic; here, the cracked slabs and weathered, diagonal shale bands are scoured clean by the powerful, grinding winter storms.

Baggy’s mightiest feature, Long Rock Slab (formerly, and incorrectly, known in the previous definitive guide as The Promontory) stands proud above the incoming swells, adorned with a mixture of cracks, corners and slanting breaks. It’s guarded on its landward end by the chilling, gaping maw of Baggy Hole. Here the mermaids lie in wait, the haunting melodies of Aeolian harps coercing landlubbers towards the ocean…

Braunton Burrows ....

Braunton Burrows is the largest sand dune system in the UK. It hosts an extraordinarily diverse plant community, with over 400 recorded species of vascular plants. This in turn means that there are also a great variety of associated invertebrate species. Its uniqueness and biodiversity is recognised in its designation as both a National Nature Reserve and as a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Braunton Burrows is located in the South West of England, in North Devon, to the west of the town of Barnstaple.

The sand dunes are stabilized and held in place by the root systems of a variety of creeping plants. Marram Grass, in particular, is one of the pioneer species which colonize and stabilize the sand hills piled up by the wind.

The valleys between the dunes, which are known as slacks, are wet and marshy in the winter and host a variety of marsh herbs and low creeping shrubs.

Dartmoor ....

Dartmoor is NOT a place where you'd want to get lost. It's a vast wilderness, and the weather can be unpredictable to say the least. Famous worldwide, and immortalised in the Sherlock Holmes classic The Hound of the Baskervilles, Dartmoor is one of Devon's priceless jewels.

It is easy to see why the moor is a mecca for millions of visitors and an addiction among outdoor enthusiasts of all ages.

With hundreds of miles of rights of way and views to die for, it is one of the few places left in the county where you really can get away from it all.

Not surprisingly the moor also has groups set up to protect it, including the Dartmoor Preservation Association, the Dartmoor Society and the Dartmoor Trust. Then there are the groups whic have a special interest in the moor's wildlife - like the Dartmoor Pony Society. The Dartmoor Rescue Group helps with the annual Ten Tors expedition, and throughout the year they are on hand to help the police with search and rescue tasks.

Exmoor ....

Exmoor National Park covers 267 square miles of the beautiful rolling Devon and Somerset countryside. The Visit Exmoor area, which you will find on this website, stretches well beyond the boundary of the National Park, to include a variety of rural and coastal towns and villages and the Quantock Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Whatever time of year you visit you are sure to experience the full extent of Exmoor's beauty, from early spring with its snowdrops and the bluebell carpeted woods and primrose covered hedgerows of late spring through to summer when Exmoor's moorlands are a vibrant sea of purples, lilacs and yellows, alive with the sound of birds and insects. Autumn brings a wonderful golden colour and rustic charm to Exmoor's oak woodlands, and there's always the chance to hear the sound of rutting stags locking antlers. Winter is also a magical time on Exmoor. When it snows the landscape takes on a whole new beauty and snow covered Exmoor ponies are a sight to remember.

Hartland Point ....

From Hartland Quay to Hartland Point This three mile mile walk along the South West Coast Path affords some of the best views in the region. The walk from Hartland Quay to Hartland Point isn't the easiest - there are lots of undulations - but if you do it on a fine day, you'll be glad you made the effort!

This really is a "must do" walk for visitors and local people alike. The North Devon coast is hugely dramatic - in fact, the camera hardly does it justice. The stretch of South West Coast Path between Hartland Quay and Hartland Point is breathtaking - there's no other word for it. And the coves and cliff formations manage to be both beautiful and dramatic all at the same time.

The three mile walk itself is quite tough. The path is full of ups and downs - and some of them are very steep. Starting at Hartland Quay, where there are car parks, the coast path northwards to Hartland Point is clearly marked. Don't be fooled by the start of the walk here - a lovely flat field! This is the last you'll see of such easy terrain. In this field at Warren Cliff, you'll encounter the ruins of an old tower which looks completely incongruous.

The River Taw ....

The River Taw takes in some of the most beautiful places in Devon. Starting at Taw Head on Dartmoor, it heads north and reaches the Bristol Channel at the Taw-Torridge estuary at Barnstaple. The River Taw really does have it all, when it comes to scenery! Its trail begins at Taw Head in the Dartmoor National Park, and then flows through Tarka country before reaching the sea at Barnstaple.

Along its estuary is one of the most important nature reserves in England. Braunton Burrows is a Unesco Biosphere Reserve and a Special Area of Conservation. The amazing area of sand dunes, together with the Taw-Torridge Estuary - where the Taw and the Torridge reach the sea almost side by side - is also a site of special scientific interest. It is one of just two places in Britain where you can find the sandbowl snail, and its has 75% of the British population of water germander - a rare plant.

In fact, almost the entire stretch of the river is important for one reason or another. At the source of the river, on Dartmoor, the area is of archaeological importance. There is evidence of prehistoric human activity, with stone circles at Taw Marsh.