What to see and do in Exmoor National Park, England
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
Wrapping up the best of west Somerset and North Devon's coast and hinterland, Exmoor is the least-visited UK national park, which is a travesty — but a boon for those who do come. Because a certain magic hangs over its pony-grazed uplands, wooded combes, sea cliffs and untamed shores — one enhanced by Exmoor's human stories. Across the park you'll find prehistoric standing stones and burial mounds; the ghosts of medieval settlements and remnant churches such as tiny Culbone; the echoes of ardent visitors Wordsworth, Coleridge and Shelley; and even a 'holy mountain', Holdstone Down, a place of pilgrimage for UFO-spotters. While the latter's extra-terrestrial connections are moot, there's no denying Exmoor is a great spot to ponder the universe. With minimal light pollution lending it some of England's blackest nights, the park was made Europe's first International Dark Sky Reserve in 2011. The Exmoor Dark Skies Festival is held here in autumn, but stargazers can get their fill year-round at recommended observation sites, with telescopes available to hire from National Park Centres in Dulverton, Dunster and Lynmouth.
Everywhere — Exmoor is hiking heaven. The first (or last) stages of the 630-mile South West Coast Path trace the park's windswept shoreline, while the 51-mile Coleridge Way runs from Somerset's Quantock Hills into Exmoor via landscapes that inspired the Romantic poet. An eight-miler from the village of Wheddon Cross skirts 1,702ft Dunkery Beacon (Exmoor's highest point) and descends through the ancient oaks of Horner Wood to Porlock, home of the fabled man who interrupted Coleridge while he was writing his poem Kubla Khan in the hamlet of Culbone. The park's country pubs make good walking hubs, too. A 7.5-mile loop starting from the Royal Oak, in Withypool, takes in Britain's longest medieval clapper bridge — Tarr Steps, a set of huge slabs across the River Barle.
You'll find Exmoor Ales' microbrewery in Wiveliscombe, but its beers can be sampled at pubs park-wide. Head to Simonsbath, where The Exmoor Forest Inn serves refreshing pints of 'Gold' and 'Beast', as well as grass-fed beef from the estate's organic hill farm. In 2024, the inn earned a Michelin Green star for its responsible sourcing and nose-to-tail philosophy. Woods, a pub with a restaurant in Dulverton, also serves interesting beers and wines (it won the Good Pub Guide's Wine Pub of the Year award 10 years running). Drinks accompany smart dishes built around produce from the owner's farm. For a Devon cream tea, you have two exceptionally scenic options, including the National Trust's Watersmeet cafe, tucked away in a leafy ravine at the confluence of the East Lyn River and Hoar Oak Water. It's pipped, however, by Lee Abbey Tea Cottage, which — weather permitting — serves homemade cakes and bakes in idyllic gardens behind Lee Bay.
Locanda on the Weir is a boutique four-bedroom B&B scattered with eclectic artworks, exotic fabrics and vintage furniture (from £200, B&B). Overlooking Porlock Bay, it's renowned for its food: chef and co-owner Pio Catemario Di Quadri runs a zero-waste kitchen where he creates seasonal dishes using local ingredients, some grown in his own garden, others foraged nearby. Further along the coast is The Hunter's Inn, an arts-and-crafts-style hotel in a wooded ravine by Heddon's Mouth, where a rocky beach lies between sea cliffs (from £190, B&B). Access is via precipitous narrow roads, or on foot via the coast path. Just south of the park, by dark sky observation site Molland Moor, you'll find five off-grid boltholes from Rest + Wild (from £175). Stargaze from each cabin's al fresco copper bath, around its fire pit or through the king-size windows by the king-size bed.
Published in the April 2025 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
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This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK). Some cheer, some clap, some clasp each other's shoulders in quiet ecstasy. One lets his walking stick fall to the ground, one kicks her walking boots off, another stretches his sore back and sighs. But most sit on the cobbled square and lean back, resting on backpacks stuffed like pillows. In front of them, the cathedral's western towers reach heavenwards, and seem even taller from this low angle. With no farther left to walk, the pilgrims lie and stare. 'Lying in the Praza do Obradoiro at the end of the Camino de Santiago is a tradition,' says guide Maria Guerra Gomez of 1 2 Tours, her halo of black curls bouncing with her nods as we watch pilgrims take in their first sight of the square's imposing cathedral. We're exploring Santiago de Compostela, the capital of Spain's northwestern Galicia region and one of the major centres of Christianity alongside Rome and Jerusalem. 'I did it, too — and thought the facade would topple over.' I see what Maria means. Made of light granite and dotted with the carved shapes of scallop shells — an ancient symbol of the Camino de Santiago (Way of St James) pilgrimage — the cathedral looks like a giant, ornate sandcastle that could be blown away by a strong gust of wind from the Atlantic. Yet, a church has stood on this site since the ninth century, when — according to tradition — the remains of Santiago El Mayor (St James the Great) were discovered here. So the legend goes: the saint was one of the Twelve Apostles and part of Jesus' three-man inner circle. Following his martyrdom in Jerusalem in the first century, he was buried in the Iberian Peninsula, where he'd introduced the Gospel. The location was lost to time, until mysterious lights led a local hermit deep into a forest to the sepulchre. A shrine was built to mark the site, and the cult of Santiago was born. The faithful from across Europe began trekking to see the holy relics — and never stopped, forever changing the fortunes of the area. In response to their influx, the shrine grew into a cathedral, and a city developed around it. The network of trails leading to Santiago de Compostela became the Camino de Santiago, one of the biggest pilgrimages in the world by any measure. In 2024, a record half a million travellers 'completed' it, walking or cycling 100 or 200 miles to the city, respectively. The appeal of the Camino now goes far beyond its religious foundations, with a new generation of pilgrims coming for quiet contemplation and the chance to immerse themselves in nature. In the square, I meet a Polish graduate who likens the path to a Catholic prayer, and a Dutch writer who trekked it to set resolutions for personal growth. I hear stories of a French girl who came on foot from her front door, and a Swiss man who kept walking long past the finish line. 'I did it to prove I could do it,' says Maria. Born in Spain's Canary Islands to a Galician mother, she first saw Santiago de Compostela at the end of her pilgrimage, and she's now lived in the city for more than 20 years. 'It welcomed me with open arms, and it expressed to me the entire Camino. I felt like I was back in medieval times, and maybe the pilgrims of old felt the same things I was feeling.' Some of the traditions set by those early pilgrims are still observed today. Maria leads me inside the cathedral, down the simple, Romanesque nave to the gold-plated, baroque Main Chapel. We join a queue for the customary circuit of the altar: down into a crypt to see the relics, a silver casket in Santiago's ancient tomb, then up via a passageway to hug his statue, which dominates the structure. A man before me places his hands and forehead on the bust, closes his eyes and pauses, a moment so intimate I shift my gaze. Walk around the Old Town, and you'll find this deep sense of spirituality is built into the city itself. We pass the monastic complex of San Martín Pinario, which offers guest rooms reminiscent of monk's quarters, empty but for wrought-iron beds and writing desks. Then there's the monastery of San Paio, where cloistered Benedictine nuns sell tarta de Santiago, almond pies bearing the Santiago Cross, another symbol of the pilgrimage. Visitors ring a bell, and receive their order through a revolving window. We reach Mercado de Abastos, the city's food market and second main attraction. It's made up of eight granite halls, each with an entrance reminiscent of a Romanesque chapel, with long aisles like naves. On display are crates of cachelos (Galician potatoes) and grelos (turnip greens), Iberian hams and chorizos. 'The architect wanted to create a cathedral of products,' says Maria, handing me a slice of mild tetilla cheese to sample, which is made from cow's milk. Producers have been coming here to sell their wares since the 19th century. 'Some 80% of Galicians still live in the countryside, and our coast is so rich in seafood,' says Maria, as we pass thick piles of ice topped with velvet crabs, octopus and percebes (goose barnacles). Scallops, the shells of which we saw earlier, carved into the stone of Santiago Cathedral, are on offer as well, of course. 'The cult of food, too, forms a strong part of our culture.' Santiago himself used to be a fisherman. According to the Bible, Jesus nicknamed him 'Son of Thunder' due to his temper. The moniker seems fitting given that in Galicia, his supposed place of rest, it rains for around 150 days a year on average. The resulting landscape is so green, it could pass for Wales; Santiago de Compostela is actually one of the cities with the highest square footage of park space per inhabitant in the whole of Spain. After leaving Maria, I head to Parque de San Domingos de Bonaval, the former estate of a Dominican convent that sits on a hill on the outskirts of the Old Town. I stroll to the oak grove at its top; looking down, I take in the view of the city's rooftops and cathedral towers, which gradually fades into a haze in the far distance. All this was built for the pilgrims, who arrived step after step, century after century; the cult of Santiago is shrouded in lore, but this much can't be denied, a fact as miraculous as anything here. So, I take my cue and sit on the grass, lie back and stare. Published in the June 2025 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
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This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK). Some cheer, some clap, some clasp each other's shoulders in quiet ecstasy. One lets his walking stick fall to the ground, one kicks her walking boots off, another stretches his sore back and sighs. But most sit on the cobbled square and lean back, resting on backpacks stuffed like pillows. In front of them, the cathedral's western towers reach heavenwards, and seem even taller from this low angle. With no farther left to walk, the pilgrims lie and stare. 'Lying in the Praza do Obradoiro at the end of the Camino de Santiago is a tradition,' says guide Maria Guerra Gomez of 1 2 Tours, her halo of black curls bouncing with her nods as we watch pilgrims take in their first sight of the square's imposing cathedral. We're exploring Santiago de Compostela, the capital of Spain's northwestern Galicia region and one of the major centres of Christianity alongside Rome and Jerusalem. 'I did it, too — and thought the facade would topple over.' I see what Maria means. Made of light granite and dotted with the carved shapes of scallop shells — an ancient symbol of the Camino de Santiago (Way of St James) pilgrimage — the cathedral looks like a giant, ornate sandcastle that could be blown away by a strong gust of wind from the Atlantic. Yet, a church has stood on this site since the ninth century, when — according to tradition — the remains of Santiago El Mayor (St James the Great) were discovered here. The appeal of the Camino now goes far beyond its religious foundations, with a new generation of pilgrims coming for quiet contemplation and the chance to immerse themselves in nature. Photograph by Alamy, Hemis So the legend goes: the saint was one of the Twelve Apostles and part of Jesus' three-man inner circle. Following his martyrdom in Jerusalem in the first century, he was buried in the Iberian Peninsula, where he'd introduced the Gospel. The location was lost to time, until mysterious lights led a local hermit deep into a forest to the sepulchre. A shrine was built to mark the site, and the cult of Santiago was born. The faithful from across Europe began trekking to see the holy relics — and never stopped, forever changing the fortunes of the area. In response to their influx, the shrine grew into a cathedral, and a city developed around it. The network of trails leading to Santiago de Compostela became the Camino de Santiago, one of the biggest pilgrimages in the world by any measure. In 2024, a record half a million travellers 'completed' it, walking or cycling 100 or 200 miles to the city, respectively. The appeal of the Camino now goes far beyond its religious foundations, with a new generation of pilgrims coming for quiet contemplation and the chance to immerse themselves in nature. In the square, I meet a Polish graduate who likens the path to a Catholic prayer, and a Dutch writer who trekked it to set resolutions for personal growth. I hear stories of a French girl who came on foot from her front door, and a Swiss man who kept walking long past the finish line. 'I did it to prove I could do it,' says Maria. Born in Spain's Canary Islands to a Galician mother, she first saw Santiago de Compostela at the end of her pilgrimage, and she's now lived in the city for more than 20 years. 'It welcomed me with open arms, and it expressed to me the entire Camino. I felt like I was back in medieval times, and maybe the pilgrims of old felt the same things I was feeling.' In 2024, a record half a million travellers 'completed' the pilgrimage through the Camino de Santiago, walking or cycling 100 or 200 miles to the city, respectively. Photograph by AWL Images, Hemis Santiago himself used to be a fisherman. According to the Bible, Jesus nicknamed him 'Son of Thunder' due to his temper. Photograph by 4Corners Images Some of the traditions set by those early pilgrims are still observed today. Maria leads me inside the cathedral, down the simple, Romanesque nave to the gold-plated, baroque Main Chapel. We join a queue for the customary circuit of the altar: down into a crypt to see the relics, a silver casket in Santiago's ancient tomb, then up via a passageway to hug his statue, which dominates the structure. A man before me places his hands and forehead on the bust, closes his eyes and pauses, a moment so intimate I shift my gaze. Walk around the Old Town, and you'll find this deep sense of spirituality is built into the city itself. We pass the monastic complex of San Martín Pinario, which offers guest rooms reminiscent of monk's quarters, empty but for wrought-iron beds and writing desks. Then there's the monastery of San Paio, where cloistered Benedictine nuns sell tarta de Santiago, almond pies bearing the Santiago Cross, another symbol of the pilgrimage. Visitors ring a bell, and receive their order through a revolving window. We reach Mercado de Abastos, the city's food market and second main attraction. It's made up of eight granite halls, each with an entrance reminiscent of a Romanesque chapel, with long aisles like naves. On display are crates of cachelos (Galician potatoes) and grelos (turnip greens), Iberian hams and chorizos. 'The architect wanted to create a cathedral of products,' says Maria, handing me a slice of mild tetilla cheese to sample, which is made from cow's milk. Within Santiago de Compostea's Old Town, there's the monastery of San Paio, where Benedictine nuns sell tarta de Santiago, almond pies bearing the Santiago Cross. Visitors ring a bell, and receive their order through a revolving window. Photograph by AWL Images, Hemis Producers have been coming here to sell their wares since the 19th century. 'Some 80% of Galicians still live in the countryside, and our coast is so rich in seafood,' says Maria, as we pass thick piles of ice topped with velvet crabs, octopus and percebes (goose barnacles). Scallops, the shells of which we saw earlier, carved into the stone of Santiago Cathedral, are on offer as well, of course. 'The cult of food, too, forms a strong part of our culture.' Santiago himself used to be a fisherman. According to the Bible, Jesus nicknamed him 'Son of Thunder' due to his temper. The moniker seems fitting given that in Galicia, his supposed place of rest, it rains for around 150 days a year on average. The resulting landscape is so green, it could pass for Wales; Santiago de Compostela is actually one of the cities with the highest square footage of park space per inhabitant in the whole of Spain. After leaving Maria, I head to Parque de San Domingos de Bonaval, the former estate of a Dominican convent that sits on a hill on the outskirts of the Old Town. I stroll to the oak grove at its top; looking down, I take in the view of the city's rooftops and cathedral towers, which gradually fades into a haze in the far distance. All this was built for the pilgrims, who arrived step after step, century after century; the cult of Santiago is shrouded in lore, but this much can't be denied, a fact as miraculous as anything here. So, I take my cue and sit on the grass, lie back and stare. 1 2 Tours offers private, customisable tours of the city. Stay at Hospedería San Martín Pinario, a guesthouse in the namesake monastic complex. Doubles from €149 (£125). From Santiago de Compostela airport, it's a 20-minute taxi ride to the city; booking transfers in advance is recommended, especially in high season (July to September). This story was created with the support of the Spanish Tourist Office. Published in the June 2025 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK). To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
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Apart from the classic cones and cups, there are also indulgences including a Sicilian-style brioche filled with gelato, or one of Fassi's signature creations: the sanpietrino, a bite-sized chocolate-covered semifreddo dessert named after the famous cobblestones that pave most of the city. Cup/cone with two scoops from €1.80 (£1.50). Tucked into one of the Trastevere district's many alleys, this innovative gelateria hasn't even hit its 10-year mark (modern by Roman standards), yet it's already earned a cult-like following among locals and even a top spot in the coveted rankings of the Gambero Rosso food guide. Otaleg (yes, that's 'gelato' spelled backwards) is where tradition meets wild creativity. Its classic flavours including pistachio, hazelnut and chocolate are exceptional, but the real fun lies in the more daring creations. White chocolate laced with mustard, a salty-crunchy version of pistachio, or an unexpected tomato-sausage-chilli concoction from Calabria known as 'nduja. The fruit flavours vary with the seasons, and you'll be able to find things like wild strawberries, loquats and sour cherries. Small cup/cone with one scoop, €2.00 (£1.70). Perfect after an afternoon shopping around the nearby Spanish Steps, Ciampini is located off the charming, pedestrian-only Piazza di San Lorenzo in Lucina. This family-run bar has roots going all the way back to 1943, and gelato isn't the only thing it serves; the venue offers the complete bar-cafe-restaurant experience and it's one of the best places in the city for people watching. You can grab a cone for a stroll or sit down and savour your gelato while taking in the scene on the piazza, maybe with a spritz cocktail in hand. Ciampini uses high-quality ingredients including organic milk and eggs, and every flavour is rich and carefully crafted. Don't miss the classic cioccolato, or raspberry with Nutella. Small cup/cone with two scoops, €2.50 (£2.10). After a visit to the Colosseum, head to the pretty Monti neighbourhood for some vintage shopping and a gelato at this tiny spot, which is beloved by both locals and tourists. The owners have recently renovated and (slightly) expanded into the next-door property but continue to serve extremely high-quality artisanal gelato year-round. There are both lactose-free and vegan options and the fruit flavours follow the season, which is always a great sign. It's not always available but seek out the vegan Nutella – it will be one of the best things you'll taste while in Rome. Small cup/cone with three scoops, €2.50 (£2.10). With three central locations in Rome, Gelato by Günther started in 2012 with a single shop, where the focus was (as it still is across this boutique franchise) on quality over quantity. Every element that goes into the gelato is meticulously sourced: organic milk from nearby farms, fruit chosen at peak ripeness, and pure spring water drawn from the mountains in northern Italy. This is gelato made with precision and purpose. Among the standout flavours, the 'mugo pine' is an Alpine-inspired scoop that's a must for those looking for something truly unique. Small cup/cone with two scoops, €3.50 (£3). Rome's Testaccio neighbourhood, also known as the meat-packing district, is a working-class area that's always had a strong sense of community, and Brivido has been a local favourite since 1986. This unassuming gelateria quietly keeps alive the art of traditional gelato-making, producing small batches each day with a strict no-additive policy: no artificial colours, sweeteners or preservatives. The menu features a mix of traditional flavours and creative ones associated with regional Italian desserts that bring back childhood memories. For added extravagance, you can opt to dip your gelato in warm melted chocolate. Small cup/cone with two scoops, €2.50 (£2.10). Via Giovanni Battista Bodoni, 62, 00153 Roma RM To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
