England Guide
Devon and Cornwall
At the western extremity of England, the counties of Devon and Cornwall encompass everything from genteel, cosy villages to vast Atlantic-facing strands of golden sand and wild expanses of granite moorland. The combination of rural peace and first-class beaches has made the peninsula perennially popular with tourists, so much so that tourism has replaced the traditional occupations of fishing and farming, though the region's authentic character is still much in evidence.
Reminders of Devon's leading role in the country's maritime history are never far away, particularly in the city of Exeter, while the nautical tradition is perpetuated on a domesticated scale by yachtspeople taking advantage of Devon's numerous creeks and bays. Land-bound tourists flock to the sandy beaches and seaside resorts, of which Torquay, on the south coast, and Ilfracombe, on the north, are the busiest. The most attractive are those which have retained traces of their nineteenth-century elegance, such as Sidmouth, in East Devon. Inland, Devon is characterized by swards of lush pasture and a scattering of villages, the county's low population density dropping to almost zero on Dartmoor, the wildest and bleakest of the West's moors, and Exmoor, whose seaboard constitutes one of the West Country's most scenic littorals.
Cornwall too has its pockets of concentrated tourist development – chiefly at Newquay, a mecca for surfers drawn to its choice of west-facing beaches. St Ives is another crowd-puller, though the town has a separate identity as a magnet for the arts, while Padstow is famous for its seafood restaurants. A disused clay pit near St Austell is the site of the hugely popular Eden Project, which imaginatively highlights the diversity of the planet's plant systems with the help of science-fiction "biomes". Down at Cornwall's western tip, the full elemental power of the ocean can best be appreciated on the headlands of Lizard Point and Land's End, where the cliffs resound to the constant thunder of the waves.
The South West Coast Path
The South West Coast Path, Britain's longest footpath, starts at Minehead and tracks the coastline along Devon's northern seaboard, round Cornwall, back into Devon, and on to Dorset, where it finishes close to the entrance to Poole Harbour. The path was conceived in the 1940s, but it was just over 25 years ago that – barring a few significant gaps – the full 630-mile route opened, much of it on land owned by the National Trust, and all of it well signposted.
The relevant Ordnance Survey maps can be found at most village shops en route, while Aurum Press ( 
www.aurumpress.co.uk ) publishes four National Trail Guides covering the route, and the South West Coast Path Association ( 
01752/896237, www.swcp.org.uk ) publishes an annual guide to the whole path, including accommodation lists, ferry timetables and transport details.
Accommodation options in Minehead include the Old Ship Aground, right by the harbour on Quay Road ( 01643/702087; Price: ₤51-60), and Kildare Lodge on Townsend Road ( 01643/702009; Price: ₤61-70), a reconstructed Tudor inn. There's a YHA hostel a couple of miles southeast, outside the village of Alcombe ( 0845/371 9033, www.yha.org.uk ; from £12), in a secluded combe on the edge of Exmoor.
The Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly are a compact archipelago of about a hundred islands, 28 miles southwest of Land's End. None is bigger than three miles across, and only five of them are inhabited – St Mary's, Tresco, Bryher, St Martin's and St Agnes. They form part of the same granite mass as Land's End, Bodmin Moor and Dartmoor, and despite rarely rising above a hundred feet, they possess a remarkable variety of landscape. Points of interest include irresistible beaches, such as Par Beach on St Martin's; the Southwest's greatest concentration of prehistoric remains; some fabulous rock formations, and the exuberant Tresco Abbey Gardens (daily 10am–4pm; £9). Along with tourism, the main source of income is flower-growing, for which the equable climate and the long hours of sunshine – their name means "Sun Isles" – make the islands ideal. The profusion of wild flowers is even more noticeable than the fields of narcissi and daffodils. The waters hereabouts are held to be among the country's best for diving, while between May and September, on a Wednesday or Friday evening, islanders gather for gig races, performed by six-oared vessels – some over a hundred years old and thirty feet in length.
Free of traffic, theme parks and amusement arcades, the islands are a welcome respite from the tourist trail, the main drawbacks being the high cost of reaching them and the shortage of accommodation, most of which is on the main isle of St Mary's. All the islands except Tresco have campsites, though these usually close in the winter; camping rough is not allowed. The islands are accessible by sea or air. Boats to St Mary's, operated by Isles of Scilly Travel ( 0845/710 5555, www.islesofscilly-travel.co.uk ), depart from Penzance's South Pier between Easter and October (2hr 45min). Flights (also run by Isles of Scilly Travel) depart year-round from Land's End (near St Just) and Newquay, and summer only from Exeter, Bristol and Southampton. British International ( 01736/363871, www.islesofscillyhelicopter.com ) runs helicopter flights (20min) to St Mary's and Tresco from the heliport at Penzance. Launches link each of the inhabited islands, though these are sporadic in winter.
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