Things to do in Somerset

Dulverton is the southern gateway to Exmoor National Park, a small market town on the River Barle in Somerset whose combination of the independent shops, the excellent cafes and restaurants serving local Exmoor produce, the Exmoor National Park visitor centre and the walks directly from the town into the Barle Valley woodland and moorland above creates one of the most rewarding and most welcoming small towns in the national park. The town serves as the administrative centre of the national park and its character reflects the pastoral and market town traditions of south Exmoor. The River Barle flowing through the town provides the natural focal point and the riverside walk upstream from the town through the ancient oak woodland of the Barle Valley is one of the finest accessible walks from any Exmoor town, the combination of the clear river, the sessile oak woodland and the red deer that inhabit the valley creating a wildlife and landscape experience of considerable quality within easy walking distance of the town centre. The deer grazing in the fields above the town and in the woodland of the surrounding hills provide a direct connection to the red deer population of Exmoor, one of the finest herds in England and the subject of the stag-hunting tradition that has been a controversial but central part of Exmoor's social culture for centuries. The Exmoor pony herds visible on the high moor above the town provide another characteristic element of the Exmoor landscape.

Tarr Steps on the River Barle in Exmoor National Park is the finest prehistoric clapper bridge in Britain, an ancient causeway of flat stone slabs laid across stone piers spanning the Barle in seventeen spans with a total length of approximately 55 metres. The bridge dates from at least the medieval period and possibly from the Bronze Age, its construction technique of uncemented flat stones resting on low stone piers reflecting a tradition of river crossing widespread in upland areas before arched masonry bridges were developed. The setting in the wooded valley of the Barle is one of the most beautiful in the national park, the ancient sessile oak woodland clothing the valley sides and the clear brown water flowing over limestone pebbles below. The clapper bridge carries a public footpath and walkers cross the river in both directions, a continuation of use that has taken place over thousands of years. The bridge has been swept away by floods on several occasions and the reconstruction following each event, using as much of the original stone as can be recovered, demonstrates the continuing commitment to this exceptional ancient structure. The Barle Valley walks above and below Tarr Steps provide excellent riverside walking with good opportunities to observe dippers, kingfishers and otters.

Brean Sands stretches for seven miles along the Somerset coast, creating one of the longest and most expansive beaches in the UK. This vast expanse of golden sand sits between Weston-super-Mare to the north and Burnham-on-Sea to the south, backed by extensive sand dunes forming an important ecological habitat. The beach has been popular since Victorian times, truly flourishing during the 20th century as caravan parks and holiday centres developed. The sheer scale is its most striking characteristic - at low tide, the beach seems endless. The firm, flat sand has made it popular for sand yachting, kite surfing, and vehicle access is permitted on certain sections. The beach's west-facing aspect provides spectacular sunsets with views to the Welsh coast. The northern end is dominated by Brean Down, a dramatic limestone headland rising steeply from the beach with panoramic coastal views and atmospheric ruins of a Victorian fort at the summit. Access is straightforward via the M5, Junction 22.

Porlock Hill is one of the most notorious road climbs in England, a gradient of one in four at its steepest section on the A39 road descending from the Exmoor plateau to the village of Porlock and the sea on the Somerset coast, whose combination of extreme steepness, sharp bends and the possibility of brake failure on a descent has made it a landmark for generations of motorists and a subject of both dread and satisfaction in motoring folklore. The hill descends approximately 400 metres over approximately three kilometres with several hairpin bends on the main road, and a toll road alternative provides an easier gradient for those whose vehicles or nerves cannot manage the main route. The view from the top of Porlock Hill, where the A39 crosses the edge of Exmoor at the characteristic moorland landscape of heather and gorse, is one of the finest coastal viewpoints in Somerset, the Bristol Channel visible below and the Vale of Porlock in the middle ground with Porlock village and its church visible in the valley and the coast extending toward the west. The descent of the hill itself provides a series of changing views of the vale and coast that reward the concentration required to drive safely in conditions where the gradient demands very careful use of gears and brakes. The village of Porlock at the bottom of the hill is one of the most attractive on the Somerset coast, its thatched cottages and medieval church of considerable charm, and the Porlock Weir harbour a short walk west provides a picturesque small harbour with direct access to the pebbly beach of the Exmoor coast. The Exmoor coastal walking from Porlock Weir along the South West Coast Path provides some of the finest cliff walking in the southwest, the English Channel opening toward the west as the path climbs above the shore.

Porlock Weir is a small harbour hamlet on the Somerset coast at the western end of Porlock Bay, a collection of whitewashed cottages, a small tidal harbour and an ancient shingle ridge that creates one of the most evocative and most unspoiled coastal settlements on the Exmoor coast. The combination of the picturesque harbour, the ancient shingle ridge protecting the salt marshes behind it, the oakwood climbing the steep hillside above the shore and the views across the Bristol Channel to the Welsh coast creates a setting of concentrated natural and human beauty that rewards an unhurried visit. The harbour at Porlock Weir was once an active fishing port and a landing place for coal from Wales, the Bristol Channel trade making this small harbour a significant economic link between Somerset and the industrial regions across the water. The tidal nature of the harbour, which dries completely at low water, means that the character of the place changes dramatically with the tide, the moored boats settling on the mud at low water and the harbour basin filling again with the remarkable speed of the Bristol Channel tides that produce some of the greatest tidal ranges in the world. The ancient shingle ridge that connects Porlock Weir to the main Porlock coast to the east was breached by storms in 1996, creating a tidal lagoon behind the ridge that has been managed as a wildlife habitat since then, its saltmarsh and open water providing habitat for waterfowl and waders. The breach and the subsequent creation of the lagoon habitat illustrates the dynamic nature of coastal systems and the often unexpected wildlife benefits of natural processes. The Exmoor oakwood above the harbour, part of the ancient woodland that once covered much of the Exmoor coastal strip, provides walking of the finest quality with views over the channel to the Welsh hills.

The Brean Down Bird Garden, though no longer operating as a traditional bird garden or aviary, occupies a significant place in the area's tourism history. Located near the base of dramatic Brean Down headland, this site was once a popular family attraction showcasing exotic birds in a seaside setting during the late 20th century. The location's proximity to Brean's extensive beaches and Brean Down itself made it a natural stop for exploring families. The site benefited from Brean Down's spectacular backdrop - the limestone promontory rising steeply from the beach creates one of Somerset's most distinctive coastal landmarks. The headland itself, now managed by the National Trust, is a haven for wildlife with breeding seabirds, wildflowers, and insects. Fort ruins at the summit add historical interest. While the bird garden facility is no longer active, the area remains worth visiting for natural attractions. The immediate vicinity offers access to Brean's seven-mile beach and the challenging but rewarding Brean Down walk (90 minutes round trip) with panoramic views across Bristol Channel to Wales. Easily accessed from M5 Junction 22. National Trust car park at Brean Down's base provides the best starting point.

Cheddar Gorge in the Mendip Hills of Somerset is the largest natural gorge in Britain, a dramatic limestone canyon three kilometres long and up to 137 metres deep that was carved by meltwater rivers at the end of the last Ice Age and now constitutes one of the most spectacular natural geological features in the British Isles. The sheer cliff faces rising on both sides of the road that passes through the gorge expose a cross-section of Carboniferous limestone that has been folded, faulted and dissolved over millions of years into the complex rock architecture visible in the gorge walls, and the scale and drama of the canyon makes it a genuinely impressive destination. The gorge contains an extensive cave system developed by the same dissolving groundwater that carved the canyon itself. Cox's Cave and Gough's Cave are both open to visitors, the latter containing the most spectacular stalactite and stalagmite formations in the gorge system and the archaeological remains that include the Cheddar Man skeleton, the oldest complete human skeleton found in Britain, dating to approximately 7,150 BC. The discovery of Cheddar Man and the subsequent analysis of his DNA, which revealed that he had dark skin, dark curly hair and blue eyes, attracted considerable public interest when the results were published in 2018. The gorge is managed as a visitor attraction by a private company and the road through it carries a substantial flow of tourist traffic during the summer months, which can reduce the sense of natural drama somewhat. The best walking experience is provided by the clifftop trail, accessible from the gorge floor, that follows the rim of the canyon with views down into the gorge and across the Somerset Levels beyond, a perspective that gives a much better impression of the gorge's true scale than the road below. Cheddar village at the mouth of the gorge gives its name to the most famous cheese in the world, and the Cheddar Cheese dairy provides an opportunity to see traditional cheese-making and taste the local produce.

Wookey Hole Caves near Wells in Somerset are a complex of limestone caverns carved by the River Axe in the southern foothills of the Mendip Hills, a cave system of considerable size and geological interest that has been visited as a tourist attraction since the nineteenth century and combines the natural cave formations with a Victorian paper mill and an entertaining collection of seaside and fairground attractions that make it one of the most varied heritage attractions in Somerset. The Witch of Wookey, a stalagmite formation in the first chamber that resembles a crouching figure, provides the legendary dimension to one of the largest publicly accessible cave systems in Britain. The caves were occupied by humans from at least the Iron Age, the bones and artefacts found in the cave deposits providing evidence of use over thousands of years. The excavations of Herbert Balch in the early twentieth century recovered an extraordinary collection of objects from the cave floor deposits, now in the Wells Museum, that illuminate the Iron Age and Romano-British occupation of the caves and their use as a ritual or settlement site over an extended period. The caves are formed in the Carboniferous limestone of the Mendips, the River Axe having carved its course underground through the rock before emerging at the show cave entrance. The underground river still flows through the cave chambers and the combination of the cave geology, the underground river and the stalactite and stalagmite formations provides a complete limestone cave experience of considerable quality.

Watchet is a small harbour town on the Somerset coast at the foot of the Quantock Hills, a working port of considerable historical depth and modest visual charm whose combination of the active harbour, the local museum, the connection with Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the character of an unfashionable but genuine working coastal community makes it one of the more interesting small destinations on this section of the coast. The harbour was operational from the Saxon period and the town's long history as a port for the Somerset and Bristol Channel trade gives it an economic and historical depth that more obviously picturesque coastal settlements sometimes lack. The connection with Coleridge is the most culturally significant dimension of Watchet's identity. Coleridge is believed to have conceived The Rime of the Ancient Mariner while walking with William Wordsworth and Dorothy Wordsworth in the Quantocks in November 1797, and the mariners departing from a small Somerset harbour that features in the poem has been associated with Watchet since at least the early nineteenth century. A statue of the Ancient Mariner on the harbourside, erected in 2003, commemorates the connection with one of the most celebrated poems in the English language. The Watchet Market House Museum provides an excellent local history of the port and the surrounding Somerset coast, and the West Somerset Railway, one of the longest preserved steam railways in Britain, connects Watchet with Minehead to the west and Bishops Lydeard to the east.

Nunney Castle is a remarkable and unusually well-preserved fourteenth-century castle near the village of Nunney in Somerset, a dramatically turreted fortification built between 1373 and 1383 by Sir John de la Mare and based closely on the contemporary French castle-building tradition. The castle is a rectangular tower with a massive round tower at each corner, surrounded by a wide moat that survives to this day in excellent condition, creating one of the most complete and visually striking small castles in England. The castle was held by Royalist forces during the Civil War and was bombarded by Parliamentary artillery in 1645, causing one of the castle walls to collapse. The ruined castle and its complete moat are managed by English Heritage and freely accessible in the centre of the attractive Somerset village. Nunney Castle is one of the finest late medieval fortified towers in England.

Minehead is the largest seaside resort on the Exmoor coast, a town at the foot of North Hill above the Bristol Channel providing good sandy beach, Victorian and Edwardian seafront buildings and an excellent position as the starting point of the South West Coast Path. The town serves as the principal gateway to Exmoor, the combination of coastal and moorland walking creating one of the most complete coastal and upland visitor bases in the southwest. The South West Coast Path begins at Minehead, the waymarker post on the seafront marking the start of the longest National Trail in Britain extending 1,014 kilometres to Poole Harbour in Dorset. The first section from Minehead along the Exmoor coast toward Porlock provides some of the finest and most demanding walking of the entire route. The North Hill above the town provides excellent walking accessible directly from the seafront, the combination of the wooded combes and the open heather moorland of the upper hill creating a miniature version of the Exmoor landscape immediately above the coastal resort.

Montacute House in Somerset is one of the most beautiful and most completely preserved Elizabethan country houses in England, built for Edward Phelips around 1600. The combination of the extraordinary Ham stone facade, the long gallery, the collection of Tudor and Jacobean portraits from the National Portrait Gallery and the formal garden creates one of the National Trust's most satisfying and most completely realised historic house experiences. The facade, built from the warm golden Ham stone of Somerset, is the finest and most accomplished Elizabethan domestic architectural facade in England. Its symmetrical composition of gabled bays, mullioned windows, heraldic carvings and the extraordinary figures of the Nine Worthies above the east porch combines all elements of the mature Elizabethan decorative vocabulary in a single breathtaking composition. The long gallery on the top floor, 52 metres long and the longest surviving Elizabethan long gallery in England, houses the National Portrait Gallery's Tudor and Jacobean portraits in a space whose architectural quality and historical period perfectly match the paintings displayed within it.

Simonsbath is a small hamlet at the heart of the Royal Forest of Exmoor, the former hunting forest that forms the ancient core of Exmoor National Park, a settlement of isolated farms and the old hunting lodge that was the seat of authority over this remote area of upland Somerset for centuries. The hamlet stands in the valley of the River Barle at one of the most central points of the moor, surrounded by open moorland and the deep wooded combes that are characteristic of the Exmoor landscape, and provides one of the most genuine encounters with the remote heart of this national park available to visitors. The history of Simonsbath is inseparable from the story of the Royal Forest and its exploitation. The Forest of Exmoor, originally a royal hunting ground, passed through various private ownerships and was purchased in 1818 by John Knight, who attempted to transform the moorland into productive farmland through a programme of enclosure, drainage and lime application that created the pattern of fields and farmsteads visible in parts of the moor today. The Knights' experiment in moorland improvement, while partially successful, demonstrated the limits of the thin moorland soils and the difficulties of farming at this altitude and latitude. The Exmoor red deer, the largest native land mammals in Britain, are at their most accessible around Simonsbath, particularly in the valley of the Barle where the woodland and moorland edge provides ideal habitat. The stag rutting season in October, when the dominant males establish their territories and herd females in encounters of considerable drama, can be observed from the roads and paths around the hamlet.

Exmoor National Park on the Somerset and Devon border is one of the smallest but most varied of England's national parks, a 693-square-kilometre landscape of high moorland, deeply incised wooded valleys, small farms and villages and a dramatic Atlantic coast that together create one of the finest upland landscapes in the southwest. Designated in 1954, the park combines the openness and wildness of its moorland core with the intimate, sheltered quality of the combes and valleys that cut into it, providing a contrast of landscape characters unusual within such a compact area. The high moorland of Exmoor, particularly the central plateau around Dunkery Beacon which rises to 519 metres as the highest point in the park, has the character of genuine upland wilderness: open, exposed and subject to Atlantic weather that can transform conditions rapidly in any season. The red deer of Exmoor, the largest wild land mammal in Britain, are the most celebrated wildlife of the park and herds of these animals on the open moorland or in the valley woodlands are one of the defining experiences of any Exmoor visit. The Exmoor pony, an ancient native breed of great hardiness, has grazed this moorland for centuries and small herds can be seen across the open ground. The Exmoor coast between Minehead and Combe Martin forms the highest sea cliffs in England, with the Great Hangman reaching 318 metres above the Bristol Channel, and the South West Coast Path traversing this section provides walking of exceptional quality with continuous Atlantic views. The Valley of the Rocks near Lynton, where enormous rock towers punctuate a dry valley running parallel to the coast, is one of the most dramatic geological features in the southwest. The wooded combes running down from the moor to the sea, particularly at Watersmeet, Doone Valley and Horner Wood, provide sheltered walking of quite different character to the open moorland and contain one of the finest surviving stands of temperate rainforest in England.

Cary Castle is a scheduled ancient monument located near Castle Cary in Somerset, England, consisting of the earthwork remains of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle that once dominated this part of the Somerset countryside. The site sits on a naturally prominent hill on the western edge of Castle Cary town, and it is precisely this defensive eminence that made the location so attractive to its Norman builders. Though little remains above ground beyond the earthworks themselves, the site holds considerable archaeological and historical significance as one of the more complete examples of Norman fortification planning in Somerset, and it is listed as a Scheduled Monument under UK heritage law, affording it legal protection. For visitors with an interest in medieval history, landscape archaeology, or simply in finding a vantage point over the gentle hills of the Somerset vale, the site offers a quietly rewarding experience that rewards those willing to look beyond what is immediately visible. The castle is believed to have been founded in the late eleventh or early twelfth century, most likely by the Lovell family, who were among the Norman lords granted lands in this part of Somerset following the Conquest of 1066. The Lovells held Castle Cary as a significant seat for some generations, and the fortification would have served as the administrative and military centre of their local authority. The castle appears in historical record during the civil war between King Stephen and Empress Matilda — the period known as the Anarchy — when it was reportedly besieged and captured by King Stephen's forces, who took it from a lord loyal to Matilda around 1138. This event is one of the few specific historical moments clearly associated with the site, and it underlines that despite its modest present appearance, this was once a place of genuine political and military consequence. The castle appears to have declined and fallen out of use during the medieval period, and by the later Middle Ages it had likely been abandoned as a residence in favour of other arrangements. Physically, Cary Castle today presents itself as a grassy, tree-crowned mound — the classic motte — with surrounding earthwork ditches and traces of the broader bailey enclosure still legible in the landscape for those who know what to look for. The motte itself rises noticeably above the surrounding ground and retains a satisfying roundness and scale that conveys the effort that must have gone into its construction. In warmer months the earthworks are clothed in longer grasses and wildflowers, and mature trees crown the upper sections of the mound, giving the whole site a somewhat picturesque, romantically overgrown character that is typical of long-abandoned medieval earthworks in the English countryside. Standing atop or beside the mound, there is a palpable sense of elevation and exposure, with the wind moving through the trees and views opening out across the surrounding vale. It is a quiet, contemplative kind of place, carrying the particular atmosphere of somewhere that was once intensely alive with human activity and is now gently returning to nature. The town of Castle Cary itself lies immediately adjacent, a handsome and characterful small Somerset market town that retains much of its traditional stone architecture and a compact, unhurried character. The town has a working railway station on the Castle Cary to Weymouth line, which also serves as a connection point for the mainline to London Paddington, making it one of the more accessible small towns in this part of Somerset. The surrounding landscape is classic Somerset: rolling hills of the Yeo valley, mixed farmland, hedgerows and small copses, with the more dramatic terrain of the Mendip Hills visible to the north and the Dorset hills discernible in other directions on clear days. The nearby village of Ansford adjoins Castle Cary, and the broader area contains numerous other points of interest including Cadbury Castle — the great Iron Age hillfort associated with Arthurian legend — lying only a few miles to the southwest. Visiting Cary Castle is a relaxed and informal affair. There is no admission charge, no visitor centre and no formal infrastructure at the monument itself, which is accessible as part of the open landscape on the edge of town. Visitors arriving by train will find Castle Cary station approximately a mile or so from the town centre and the castle site, making it a walkable arrival even without a car. The best time to visit is arguably late spring or autumn, when vegetation is either not yet fully dense or has begun to thin, allowing the earthwork forms to be read more clearly in the landscape. The site can be muddy after rain, so appropriate footwear is advisable. Because it is a scheduled monument, visitors should take care not to disturb the earthworks, though walking around and over the mound is a normal part of appreciating the site. One of the more intriguing aspects of Cary Castle is how thoroughly the town that grew up around it has absorbed and almost forgotten the fortification at its edge. The very name Castle Cary preserves the memory of the Norman stronghold — "castle by the River Cary" being the essential meaning — yet the monument itself sits with relatively little fanfare or signage. This is somewhat characteristic of England's rich density of ancient sites: extraordinary survivals existing quietly alongside everyday life, noticed by those who seek them and overlooked by those who do not. The association with the Anarchy, one of the most turbulent periods of medieval English history, gives the site a resonance that belies its modest earthwork appearance, and for students of Norman England it represents a tangible connection to a political world of remarkable violence and complexity.