Why a Dartmoor Self Catering Cottage?
outstanding natural beauty on your doorstep
Dartmoor, a fantastic destination for your next self catering holiday
Dartmoor has been immortalised in so many novels and films: War Horse; Wuthering Heights; Lorna Doone and Hound of the Baskervilles are probably the most famous. Authors often portray Dartmoor as atmospheric windswept craggy moorland with swirling mists but Dartmoor is so much more!
Steven Spielberg said: “I have never before been gifted with such an abundance of natural beauty as I experienced filming War Horse on Dartmoor“.
Dartmoor Beauty
The Dartmoor National Park is one of Britain’s Breathing Spaces with 368 square miles of outstanding natural beauty.
It’s packed with striking granite tors, wooded valleys, rough grazing land, amazing views as well as picturesque villages and tucked away hamlets.
Dartmoor History
Dartmoor is probably best known for Dartmoor Prison originally built to hold prisoners from the Napoleonic Wars. The first French prisoners arrived in 1809 followed 4 years later by American prisoners from the 1812 War – it’s been pretty busy ever since.
However, Dartmoor’s history stretches much further back with evidence of Mesolithic settlers and over 10,000 ancient sites. A walk in Dartmoor can easily bring you to the remains of Neolithic settlements, tombs, stone rows and other monuments. It is also home to ancient clapper bridges, stone circles, mines and quarries.
Dartmoor Hospitality
Dartmoor boasts some of the best public houses in the country, many serving fantastic food and Dartmoor’s very own and very fine Jail Ale and Dartmoor Whisky.
Within a stone’s throw of our self catering cottage, we have the Cleave Public House serving great food with a lovely cottage garden for summer and a traditional snug bar with a roaring fire.
Dartmoor Seasons
Visit Dartmoor during spring and be surrounded by an abundance of wild flowers, gamboling lambs and Dartmoor ponies.
Summer, covers Dartmoor with pink heather and yellow gorse, it’s perfect for picnics and swimming in secret rock pools and rivers. Whereas Autumn sees heather carpet the hills in a thick, purple bristle, with fantastic sunsets.
Winter makes walking over open moorland a must for blowing away the cobwebs, with the promise of a glass of wine or pint in a cosy pub with roaring open fire and warm welcome.
Dartmoor Walks
Whilst many come to Dartmoor to visit places of natural beauty and enjoy the stunning scenery, there is an abundance of walking routes to suit all tastes and abilities. Try one of the stunning Dartmoor walks starting from our self catering cottage in Lustleigh.
There are over 400 miles of public rights of way, endless paths, tracks and open moorland to explore; all you have to do is choose how you want to do it! You can explore on foot, bike or horseback. Or for the thrill seekers, use the many rivers to explore by kayak or canoe!
Dartmoor Adventure
It’s also the perfect place to try something new, such as river swimming, ballooning and letterboxing or its modern equivalent geocaching.
Dartmoor is the home of letterboxing which started in 1854. It’s a fantastic gentle way to explore the moor and kids love it.
Explore Dartmoor and Devon
If adventure is not your thing there’s always fishing and amazing stargazing, thanks to the extremely low levels of light pollution. Or, visiting the many charming towns and attractions on and around Dartmoor.
Of course no stay would be complete without exploring some of Devon’s coastal towns and beaches.
There’s plenty to see and do whilst holidaying at our Dartmoor self catering cottage
Three Pound cottage in Lustleigh is nestled in the beautiful Wray Valley area of the Dartmoor National Park, making it one of the best Dartmoor self catering cottages for a holiday exploring all that Dartmoor and Devon have to offer.