Devon and Cornwall, England

Small group Tour of Devon and Cornwall, England

Join Odyssey Traveller on our small group tours Devon and Cornwall in England. This is a small group tour for up to 16 travellers for mature and senior travellers who are travelling with their partner or as a solo traveller. A journey filled with medieval treasures, charming fishing villages in the north Cornish coast, stunning cliff-top coastal views of the blue Atlantic, and atmospheric destinations traditionally linked to the legends of King Arthur.

Our 15-day small group tour for mature-aged and senior travellers begins and ends in Bristol, situated on the River Avon in South West England, once a medieval trade centre and a busy maritime port for explorations into the New World. Bristol is a great first stop for our own adventure as we travel west and south, even venturing beyond the Cornish coast and across the Atlantic to the Isles of Scilly.

We will spend nights in Exeter, Paignton, St Austell, Penzance, Hugh Town, Newquay, and Lynton, exploring top attractions in the British mainland dating from the medieval and industrial ages: from the medieval stronghold believed to be where King Arthur was conceived (Tintagel Castle in Tintagel) to the last castle constructed in England (Castle Drogo); from the highest and steepest water powered railway in the world (Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway) to the longest passenger ship of its time that once travelled from Bristol to New York (SS Great Britain).

About Devon and Cornwall

Located on a peninsula winding southwest into The Atlantic Ocean, Devon and Cornwall are among England's most culturally and geographically distinct regions. The scenery here is spectacular and varied, ranging from windswept moors to England's best (and warmest) beaches, craggy cliffs to verdant subtropical gardens. Our tour also delves into the history of the region, finding a land weighted with myth and legend, with a fascinating and surprisingly cosmopolitan past.

Cornwall:

At the southern and western most tip of Great Britain, Cornwall (Kernow) is a world apart. A powerful Brythonic Celtic Kingdom in the early Middle Ages, Celtic traditions have held on here. Cornwall is recognised as one of the six Celtic nations, along with Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Brittany, and the Isle of Man. The Cornish language was widely spoken here until the English Reformation, and even today, you'll see Cornish place names on the map, and hear Cornish phrases spoken. (A good one to know is 'Kernow bys vyken!' - Cornwall forever!).

Since ancient times, Cornwall has been closely linked to the outside world, thanks to the export of tin. Historians suggest that Cornish tin powered the advancements of the Bronze Age, as tin was necessary to the smelting of bronze. In the Classical Era, tin from Cornwall reached the Mediterranean, while the Early Middle Ages saw tin exchanged for luxury goods from North Africa and the Middle East. In the 19th century, tin mining expanded rapidly, as the Industrial Revolution allowed for mining deep under the ground. Cornwall and Devon’s mines are today listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Cornwall was also closely associated with pirates in the Early Modern Period, inspiring The Pirates of Penzance.

Devon:

Devon, also known as Devonshire, is a cultural bridge between Cornwall and ‘up country’ (as the locals call England). In the Early Middle Ages, it was part of the Kingdom of Dumnonia, but unlike Cornwall, it was assimilated into Anglo-Saxon culture during the reign of Æthelstan (924 - 939), who set the border between Anglo-Saxon Wessex and Celtic Cornwall at the River Tamar, even today the border between Cornwall and Devon.

Devon is home to some of Great Britain’s most stunning scenery. Unique among English counties, it has two coastlines: south to the English Channel and north to the Bristol Channel and Celtic Sea. Exmoor and Dartmoor, in North Devon, offer southern England's wildest scenery; while the cliffs of Devon’s northern coast are the remotest coastline in England, at points inaccessible by land or sea.

Devon is perhaps most famous for giving the world Devonshire tea, known locally as a ‘cream tea’. However, this seemingly innocuous tradition is the subject of fierce debate in the West Country, with Devon and Cornwall strongly disputing both which county originated the tea, and how best to serve it: Devonians place the clotted cream directly onto the scone, before topping it with jam, while the Cornish place jam first, then cream.

Tour Highlights

Legends of King Arthur

Our tour of Devon and Cornwall is steeped in legends and myths. Beneath Tintagel Castle is Merlin's Cave, named after the legendary wizard of Camelot, who was believed to have once lived here.

In addition to Tintagel Castle, we will also be visiting Glastonbury Tor, a hill believed to be the "Avalon" mentioned in Arthurian legend and the location of the Holy Grail. A Celtic story also says the hill, which is topped by a roofless tower, is said to hide an entrance into the fairy realm.

Coastal Walks

We will appreciate the natural beauty of the destinations we will visit through scenic walks. We will enjoy a stroll through Dartmoor National Park and a walking tour of the Valley of Rocks, a dry valley that runs parallel to the sea, and is famous for its wild goats that roam freely around the valley, even on its cliff edges!

We will also enjoy the magnificent ocean views on a coastal walk from Godrevy Beach to Hell's Mouth, following a cliff-top pathway along the Cornish coastline.

Gardens

In addition to natural scenery we will also explore spectacular man-made environments. We will visit the Hestercombe House and Gardens, which covers 50 acres and spans three centuries of garden history and design.

This small group tour also visits Coleton Fishacre house and gardens. Built by Rupert D'Oyly Carter and his wife Dororthy in the 1920's a blend of Art deco and arts and craft but wrapped in history of the 1920's.D' Oyly Carter family was instrumental in bringing Gilbert & Sullivan and so much more to the middle classes in Britain and America, as well as links to scandals of the day from Oscar Wilde and murders at the Savoy hotel that the family owned. It is a fascinating house and garden with an amazing back story.

We will have a guided tour of the Lost Gardens of Heligan, a thriving estate in the 19th century that was neglected for decades as its workforce left to fight in World War I, with many dying in the trenches or unable to return. The gardens would not be restored until its rediscovery in 1990.

We will also visit the Eden Project, a reclaimed china clay pit that is now home to the largest indoor rainforest in the world, complete with a walkway and a waterfall. The Project's co-founder, Sir Tim Smit KBE, was also involved in the rediscovery and restoration of the Lost Gardens of Heligan.

Isles

We will sail from the mainland to St Mary's Island, where we will visit Hugh Town. Hugh Town is the capital of the Isles of Scilly, sitting on a sandy peninsula in southwestern St Mary's with only a thousand or so residents.

We will visit St Michael’s Mount, a tidal island in Mount's Bay, Cornwall, which may remind some of Normandy's Mont-Saint-Michel.

Tresco Island is one of the five inhabited islands of the Scilly Isles and measures only two and a half miles long and a mile wide. In this car-free island, visitors can explore on foot or by hiring bikes. Here we will visit the subtropical Tresco Abbey Gardens, with flora that would not survive in the mainland but thrive here.

Farthest Points

We will visit two of mainland Britain's farthest points. The Lizard is a peninsula in southern Cornwall, with the Lizard Point marking the most southerly point in mainland Britain. It is famous for its serpentine stone, a unique, dark-green-veined metamorphic rock. We will continue to Land's End, the westernmost point of mainland Britain and where we will stand between the English Channel and the Celtic Sea.

For more details, click the ‘Top 5’ or ‘Itinerary’ buttons above! If you’re keen to experience this tour, please call or send an email. Or, to book, simply fill in the form on the right hand side of this page.

Other Odyssey Tours

This tour of Devon and Cornwall is only one of many tours of Britain for mature-aged and senior travellers offered by Odyssey Traveller. Click through to see our other offerings departing in 2020.

Articles published by Odyssey Traveller to assist you on your visit to Britain

The following list of articles published by Odyssey Traveller for mature aged and senior travellers to maximise their knowledge and enjoyment of Britain when visiting:

• Why Join a Small Group Tour?
• Ten Things We Never Knew About London
• Exploring Newcastle upon Tyne
• Traveller's Guide to Medieval England
• Life in the Medieval British Village
• Victorian England Rural Life
• Queen Victoria's Britain
• New Discoveries About Britain's Stone Circles
• Dry Stone Walls: An Alternative History of the British Isles
• British Village Icons: Pubs and Cottages
• Roman Roads in Britain

Click here to see our other articles of the British Isles.

External Articles to assist you on your visit to Britain

• Getting Around Devon
• Travel Devon
• 10 Must Visit Beaches in Devon
• Visiting the Beautiful Cornwall Region of England
• 48 hours in. . . Cornwall, an insider guide to England's wild west
• Ten books about Walking in Britain from the Guardian
• UNESCO World Heritage sites of Britain
• Neolithic Britain (British Museum)
• Guide to Neolithic Britain (Country File)
• History: Middle Ages (BBC)
• An Introduction to Medieval England (English Heritage)
• The top 9 UK countryside breaks for 2018 (Country Living)
• 21 Most Beautiful Villages in the UK (Travel Away)
• These are the top 10 most picturesque towns, villages and cities in England (House Beautiful)

Odyssey Traveller has more information on England.