South Devon & The English Riviera

5 days / 4 nights duration
Return Executive Coach Travel departing from selected UK pick up point(s)
4 nights half board

Sample Itinerary
Day 1 – We begin our journey by travelling to the historic City of Salisbury, where you will have some free time to explore. You may choose to visit Mompesson House (NT) an elegant and spacious 18th-century house in the Cathedral Close featured in the award-winning film Sense and Sensibility. Alternatively, you may choose to visit the city’s Cathedral. Explore over 800 years of history in one of the UK’s most iconic medieval buildings. Discover the original 1215 Magna Carta, one of only four in the world, and explore its legacy in the accompanying exhibition. Learn about the world’s oldest working mechanical clock and the fabulous stained glass (entrances not included). Lunch can be purchased during your time here before continuing on to Torquay and your hotel, where your evening meal is included.

Day 2 – Breakfast included. Today is a leisurely day as we begin by travelling to nearby Paignton where you will join the steam railway for a 30 minute journey to Kingswear. You will then cross the River Dart as a foot passenger to Dartmouth where you will board a boat for a circular river cruise (approximately 1hr duration) around the river and estuary. This cruise takes you to the mouth of the river passing Kingswear & Dartmouth Castles, Dittisham village, Britannia Royal Naval College and Greenway House, home to the late Dame Agatha Christie.
On your return to Dartmouth there will be time to look around, shop and purchase lunch before returning to Kingswear for your return steam train ride to Paignton. The scenery during this journey is breath taking as you travel along the spectacular English Riviera Geopark Coastline. You may be lucky enough to spot some of the local fauna which can vary from dolphins to seals, kingfishers to buzzards to herons and egrets. Once in Paignton, you will re-join your coach for the return transfer to Torquay where a hotel dinner is included.

Day 3 – Breakfast included. Today is at your leisure to relax and enjoy Torquay. You can’t get much more of a ‘traditional British seaside’ resort than the vibrant and cheerful town of Torquay. Set in the very heart of the English Riviera on the South Devon Coast, Torquay is famous for its sandy beaches, scenic harbour, relaxing atmosphere and genteel Victorian appearance. You might choose to take local transport to visit The Domesday Book village of Cockington, an idyllic village hidden in a deep valley just one mile from the bustle of Torquay. Here visitors find themselves transported to a magical land, so peaceful you can almost hear a pin drop. Narrow winding lanes open out onto beautiful chocolate box cottages, old English gardens and thatched gift shops. Explore charming Torquay at your own pace,. This afternoon you might choose to join an included half day excursion to nearby Teignmouth, a pretty Georgian town set against the backdrop of the Dartmoor Hills. Dinner is included at the hotel tonight.

Day 4 – Breakfast included. Accompanied by a local guide, today we explore the Dartmoor National Park during which you will see some of the most picturesque areas of Devon. Sightseeing stops will be made at Postbridge, Princetown and Totnes and you will also visit Buckfast Abbey one of Devon’s hidden gems, the only English medieval monastery to have been restored and now used for its original purpose. At this working monastery there is a community of Benedictine monks who live self-sufficiently and at the heart of the site is the Abbey Church with its many art treasures, which was rebuilt on its medieval foundations by the monks themselves. Returning to Torquay, a hotel dinner is included.

Day 5 – Breakfast included. Checking out of the hotel we retrace our steps making a stop in the historic City of Wells, with its many unique shops & cafes. This is the smallest Cathedral City in England and whilst here you may choose to visit the stunning Gothic Cathedral located on Cathedral Green, the centre piece for a complex of buildings and streets equally old and fascinating. A must-see is the moated and walled Bishops’ Palace which has over 800 years of history and is Somerset’s only medieval Palace (Entrances not included). The Market Place is linked to the Green by the curiously named Penniless Porch and has been a focal point of the City over the ages. Lunch can be purchased here before continuing homeward, returning you to your original departure point(s) later today.

Simply Groups reserve the right to make minor changes to the itinerary due to circumstances beyond our control.
Pick-up points determined by where majority of bookings originate from, with every effort made to accommodate preferences.