Winter holidays and winter breaks in Exmoor & North Devon at Exmoor Cottage Holidays

Winter holidays and winter breaks are very popular in North Devon and Exmoor due to the spectacular unspoilt countryside; the slow pace of life; and easy access from Cornwall, South Devon, Dorset, the Midlands and the South East. England is often beautiful in the spring, autumn and winter; and winter holidays and breaks in the UK are very good value compared to those taken in the school summer holidays.

A stay at Exmoor Cottage Holidays is hassle free and ideal for your winter holiday or winter short break in Exmoor and North Devon. The five holiday rental cottages are warm and comfortable and each has a lovely log fire in the living room. The first basket of logs and kindling is free, and our prices include fresh bed linen and electricity for lighting and heating (no meters). We also provide a handy welcome pack (with tea, coffee, milk, sugar, cleaning materials and cloths) and some necessities you may have forgotten (shampoo, conditioner, soap and toilet roll).

We offer a beautiful place to stay for your winter break or short stay. There is a bird-feeder outside each cottage (filled regularly) and delightful grounds, with a lovely walk around Humphrey's Hill and good views over Exmoor. There is a wild-flower meadow (ideal for exercising dogs) and plenty of wildlife (if you are very lucky you might see a Red deer, or its footprints in the snow!). In poor weather you can snuggle up in front of a real log fire, watch Freeview TV (nearly 100 channels), surf the internet with free WiFi, or enjoy the many books or board games in your cottage.

We live next door to the cottages, and are usually available to help with any enquiries. We know Exmoor and North Devon well and can point out the best winter walks on an OS map (which you may borrow). We can show you how to light your fire and keep it going, recommend local services and attractions (e.g. local spa, taxi, guided tours, pretty towns and villages, good restaurants, Christmas markets, etc.) and usually have some special deals arranged just for our guests. We also offer (charged extra) towel hire, more logs and kindling, service wash and dry, and cottage cleaning so that you can get the most from your winter holidays.

The friendly village shop is just a few minutes walk away from the cottages, and sells general groceries, snacks, excellent cakes, home made soup, guides and maps. Next to the shop is the unusually named Black Venus, a traditional inn with award winning home made food, real ales and fine wines.

There are excellent walks in and around the village, for example to the local church through a beech forest; to the charming Bray Reservoir, source of the river Bray; to Radworthy, an abandoned farm mentioned in the Doomsday Book; to Pinkery Pond, source of the river Barle; to the atmospheric Bronze Age burials at Chapmans Barrows; and to Shoulsbury Castle, a huge Iron Age hillfort with spectacular views.

The cottages are in a good central location to explore the whole of Exmoor and the spectacular coastline of North Devon and Somerset. There are lots of amazing walks within a short drive, for example at Tarr Steps where there is a prehistoric clapper bridge; the Valley of Rocks near Lynton which has spectacular rock formations; Watersmeet, a lovely forest walk along the side of a river; and Wistlandpound Reservoir, a gentle walk around a charming reservoir, only a few miles away from the cottages.

Thanks in part to Johnny Kingdom, Exmoor is well-known for its unique wildlife, and in particular, the Exmoor ponies and Red deer, which originate on Exmoor and are not found elsewhere in the wild. They are both fairly shy and secretive, but there are places on the moor where they can usually be seen, please ask when you are here. Goats have also lived on Exmoor since prehistoric times, but they died out and the present herd, in the Valley of Rocks outside Lynton, was introduced in the 1970's.

In 2011 Exmoor was the first place in Europe (and second in the world) to be designated an International Dark Skies Reserve. When considering both light pollution and cloud cover, Exmoor is the best place in the UK for stargazing.

There is plenty to see and do in bad weather, for example visiting the interesting local towns of Clovelly, Barnstaple, Ilfracombe, Lynton & Lynmouth and Dunster, and several historic buildings including Dunster Castle, Tiverton Castle and Hartland Abbey. The unusual church of St Petrock in Parracombe, unchanged for 200 years is only a few miles away, Dartington Chrystal in Torrington is good to visit on a cold day, you can watch the glass blowers at work and perhaps pick up a gift or two in the shop. For children there are lots of covered attractions, including Funderzone, a play gym in Barnstaple; and in South Molton there is an indoor play gym at Quince Honey Farm, and for something more challenging, an indoor climbing centre.

Exmoor Cottage Holidays are ideal for your winter holidays and short breaks in Exmoor and North Devon. The cottages are well-appointed, warm and comfortable, with real log fires and no electricity meters, they are available all year round for short breaks, and ideal if you want to escape for Christmas and the New Year (we usually provide a decorated Christmas tree in each cottage). They are easy to reach, being only a couple of hundred yards off a main road and there is a traditional pub and a handy shop just a short walk away.

Contact Us

John & Melanie Moore   Email Us
Exmoor Cottage Holidays
Town Tenement Farm
Challacombe, Exmoor
North Devon UK  EX31 4TS

Tel: 01598 763320
Mobile: 07985 611456
enquiries@exmoorcottageholidays.co.uk

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