EXMOOR COTTAGE HOLIDAYS

Holidays for large groups and families in Exmoor, North Devon

Green Holidays & Eco-friendly Cottages in North Devon & Exmoor

Five stone cottages surrounding a peaceful courtyard within the Exmoor National Park

Exmoor Cottage Holidays in Exmoor National Park

Large wildlife grounds, ideal for group activities and picnics

Explore the stunning coastline of North Devon & Somerset

Lots of things to see and do in Exmoor & North Devon

Green Holidays & Eco-friendly Cottages in North Devon & Exmoor

Wild-flower meadow
Wildlife pond
Good green credentials
Solar photo-voltaic panels
Log-burning stoves
Sustainable logs & kindling
Recycling facilities
Composting on site
Eco-friendly cleaning products
Not connected to mains sewer
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Green holidays and eco-friendly cottages are very popular in Exmoor and North Devon due to a growing interest in caring for and protecting the environment. Whatever your views of climate change and global warming, it makes sense to reduce the negative impact we have on our environment. At Exmoor Cottage Holidays we try to combine this green philosophy with our business.

Exmoor Cottage Holidays have five beautiful eco friendly cottages, ideal for your green holidays in Exmoor and North Devon. The stone-built self-catering cottages are lovingly converted from a farm in the quiet and peaceful village of Challacombe, within the Exmoor National Park. All our holiday letting cottages have sustainable log burning stoves; and we positively encourage wildlife and wild flowers in the delightful grounds. Once here, you don't really need to use your car: there is a pub with excellent food in the village; a handy shop and Post office; and amazing walks on the surrounding hills.

The stone-built cottages have photo-voltaic solar panels on the roofs, providing carbon-free electricity during daylight hours. We recycle everything we can: the usual glass, plastic, cans, paper and cardboard (collected weekly); also food waste and ashes (composted on site); and rain water (collected in butts). We cut all logs and kindling ourselves from our own land or from a nearby forest in the village. We only take a little every year, which is sustainable; and burning logs to provide heat is carbon neutral. We are not connected to the main sewers and all waste water is processed on site (in a septic tank or aerobic treatment plant). We use very little bleach and avoid chemical anti-bacterial cleaners as these are bad for the environment. We appreciate that many people like to use anti-bacterial soaps, so provide each cottage with an anti-bacterial hand-wash that is both eco-friendly and hypo-allergenic.

The holiday cottages are surrounded by delightful wildlife grounds with many wild flowers. We like to let plants and flowers seed themselves, but there are also many that are well-established, e.g. passion-flower, clematis, virginia creeper and magnificent white and lilac wisterias. There is a lovely walk around Humphrey's Hill, a wild-flower meadow with lovely views over Exmoor, and an exclusive children's playground (a perfect place for family picnics). You can spend hours beside the wildlife pond looking for frogs, newts, damselflies and dragonflies. We feed the wild birds most days (in feeders outside each cottage) and have counted 7 species of butterflies on the buddleias, and 10 different types of daffodils in the grounds.

Challacombe village has a charming stream winding through the valley, crossed by several fords and an ancient packhorse bridge. The Black Venus Inn and Challacombe Stores are both within five minutes' walk. The Inn is very popular with locals and offers real ales, fine wines and award-winning food. The handy shop (also a Post Office and Exmoor Information Point) sells general provisions and often has delicious home-made cakes and take-away meals.

There are amazing walks in every direction and lots of interesting places that are easy to reach on foot. Shoulsbury Castle is an Iron Age hillfort with tremendous views over North Devon; Chapmans Barrows (and associated Longstone and enigmatic quincunx) is the biggest and best preserved prehistoric site on Exmoor; St Petrock's is an C11th church virtually untouched for over 200 years; and The Chains is the highest point in North Devon and source of the rivers Bray and Barle. You can walk across Exmoor all day and call upon the Moor Rover, a unique minibus service, to bring you back to your cottage; or use the local taxi service based right here in the village.

After exploring the surrounding moors, completely relax in your own private garden and watch the wild birds, and take a gentle stroll up Humphrey's Hill to watch the sun setting over Exmoor. In poor weather you can settle down in front of the lovely log fire in the living room. There is plenty to do in the cottage; the Freeview TV has nearly 100 channels; WiFi is free; and there is a good selection of books, games and DVD's.

You don't have to go camping or glamping to enjoy a green holiday in Exmoor and North Devon. The eco-friendly self-catering cottages at Exmoor Cottage Holidays are comfortable, warm, well-equipped and have good green credentials including solar panels, recycling, and sustainable log fires. The wildlife grounds are delightful, with a children's playground, and within 300 yards is a handy shop and an excellent pub. We look forward to welcoming you to our eco-friendly cottages soon!