Exeter
If your image of Devon leans heavily on TV advertisments for Ambrosia custard ("Devon knows how they make it so creamy"), you might find Exeter—the county's only city—something of a disappointment. At face value, Exeter is little more than a long row of chain stores surrounded by the kind of anonymous urban sprawl you can find everywhere from Manchester to Croydon. So what about it, Exeter? What else have you got to offer?
Photo: Exeter Guildhall: Although the city was badly bombed during World War II, some historic buildings did survive.
The location
For many travellers, Exeter is the gateway to the South West. Once you're beyond Exeter, you're firmly in the world of King Arthur, Jamie Oliver restaurants, and north-Atlantic surfing. There's no getting away from the fact that Exeter is a bustling city, but it's sitting on a lovely estuary too. You're very close to the sea and to the breathtaking coastal countryside of North Devon. What you have in Exeter, arguably, is the best of all worlds. That's why the city has been voted top in more than one survey of the best, all-round place to live in Britain.
Economy
Exeter used to be an important maritime town (the Quay is one of the city's favourite areas for families on a Sunday afternoon). Now it's more important for things like forecasting Britain's weather (the Met Office relocated here from Bracknell a few years ago). The University is highly thought of (traditionally it's a place where people go when they just fail to scrape into Oxford or Cambridge) and is famous for, among other things, housing the Greenpeace scientific laboratories.
Things to do
Places nearby
One of the best things about Exeter is its location. Stay in Exeter and you're within easy reach of great countryside—in all directions. You're also within easy reach of resorts like Paignton, Torquay and Brixham (the English Riviera), Teignmouth and Shaldon, and more upmarket parts of the South-Devon coast such as Kingsbridge, Salcombe, and Dartmouth. All these places are worth a visit. Don't forget to check out Topsham (a small, upmarket maritime town about 5-10 minutes from Exeter by train), Exmouth, and Budleigh Salterton on the Exe estuary. If it's wild countryside you're after, Dartmoor is only a few miles to your west; Exmoor is a little further north.
Attractions
Photos: Exeter Cathedral is a stunning piece of architecture. The green all around the building is the city's most popular "chill-out" space for people of all ages.
There's no shortage of places to visit in and around Exeter. In the city itself, you'll probably want to see the historic cathedral and close, the ruins of Rougemont Castle, and the Museum right next door (closed for refurbishment until 2011). Other central attractions include the Quay House Visitor Centre on the "historic quayside", which traces Exeter's interesting maritime history. If you like historic houses and gardens, you'll want to make for Powderham Castle, A La Ronde near Exmouth (an unusual 16-sided National Trust house from the 18th century), and Bicton Park Gardens. For sport and leisure, try the GX Superbowl bowling alley on the Quay or the Riverside Leisure Centre in Cowick Street in the St Thomas area. For theatre and performance, try the Exeter Phoenix in Gandy Street in the city centre or Northcott Theatre, about 5 minutes walk away and near the university. Find lots more attractions on Exeter City Council's Visiting Exeter website. You can also pick up lots of leaflets at the tourist information office in Dix's Field and at Exeter Central library, which is just off Queen Street.
Shopping
In 2005, Exeter's high street was voted the most bland in Britain, and it's not hard to see why. If someone parachuted you in blindfold, you could be absolutely anywhere: the shops are virtually all anonymous chain stores and the shopping experience is the same one you'll have in Southampton, Birmingham, Bath, York, or more or less anywhere else. The brand new Princesshay shopping center has added lots more "retail units" but hasn't made the shopping experience any more individual or memorable. But don't despair. There are plenty of smaller, independent shops if you're prepared to hunt away from the High Street and into the back streets. Head down the hill to Fore Street, for example, or to Magdalen Street in St Leonards.
Photo: Looking down Exeter High Street. The more upmarket shops are at this end; the further down the High Street you go, the more anonymous it becomes.
Places to eat
There's no shortage of eating places—and there are plenty of pubs
dotted around. One of the most informal, relaxed, and enjoyable places
we've found is The Boston Tea Party, a coffee-shop set in a huge old
building with enormous tables and sofas. It's been offering a more
Bohemian version of Starbucks—without the uncleaned tables and the
nasty corporate baggage—for many years. (See this
article about the Boston
Tea Party in Bristol, which is similar.) The Cavern Club (aka "The Cavern")
in Queen Street is a great underground pub and indie music venue.
Photo: The Boston Tea Party is the biggest and most individual coffee bar in the city centre and occupies the whole of the first floor of this splendid building. Inside, it's relaxed and bohemian; well-heeled customers would probably find it a bit shabby: you're unlikely to find two chairs that match. The Cavern Club is accessed through the arch in the centre.
Places to stay
Exeter has plenty of middling hotels, none of which has ever struck me as being that special. The Rougemont Thistle is superbly convenient, about a minute off the High Street and directly opposite Exeter Central train station, but the surrounding streets can be really noisy at night (a problem given the lack of air conditioning in rooms, which obliges you to have the windows open). The Mercure Southgate is tucked away behind the Cathedral and has its own swimming pool, but never seems to score that well in customer reviews. The Abobe is right in the Cathedral Close and offers lovely views of Exeter's proudest building, but it's not the quietest location—especially in Summer. Jurys has recently built a new hotel, which seems reasonably priced, but it's on a major roundabout near the less-than-salubrious bus station and it isn't that well located if you're coming by train. The interesting, innovative, and colourful Hotel Barcelona (converted from the former Eye Infirmary) is closed for refurbishment at the time of writing this. The White Hart, not far from the Quay, is cheaper than the other hotels but slightly further from the city centre. If you're after a cheaper, more friendly, and more individual experience, try the smaller guesthouses and B&Bs. There are half a dozen of them side by side on St David's Hill (a short walk from Exeter St David's station, on the right as you walk up the hill) and the funky gothic Townhouse is a little bit further along (on the left). Silversprings seems to score highly on travel-rating websites. Exeter University runs cheap and cheerful B&B accommodation (student bedrooms let out) during the easter and summer vacations on its two campuses either side of the city centre.
Photo: The historic Royal Clarence Hotel is now called the Abode (except on the outside). Some (but not all) rooms overlook the cathedral.
Getting here
Rail
Exeter is a rail hub for the South West, with excellent, direct rail connections from London, Reading, Birmingham, Bath, Bristol, Salisbury, Basingstoke, Newbury, Cheltenham, Gloucester, and many other towns. Every train heading for darkest Devon and Cornwall has to pass through Exeter to get there. One thing not to be confused by is the names of the rail stations. Exeter Central is actually a small and fairly shabby station in the town centre where only a fraction of the services stop. The main station is actually Exeter St David's, about half a mile away (but it's an uphill climb to the city centre, so get a taxi or a bus if you have lots of baggage or get a connecting train to Exeter Central).
If you're heading to Exeter by train, make sure you don't stop there. You must (must must!) take the train out to Dawlish and Teignmouth to experience one of the world's all-time great railway journeys. Thanks to Brunel's astonishing Victorian engineering, you'll find the rail line follow the stunning estuary, then skirt along the edge of the sea, nipping in and out of tunnels with the waves crashing just beneath you on one side and the lovely deer park of Powderham Castle on the other. It's a truly memorable and utterly unmissable experience! The Wikipedia article about the Riviera Line gives you a flavour of just how close the trains run to the sea. Take the train down line the other side of the Exe estuary to the colourful maritime town of Topsham and the seaside delights of Exmouth.
Photo: Topsham is only about 10-15 minutes from Exeter by train and easy to explore on foot.
Bus and coach
Catch buses and coaches from the rather grim and gloomy bus station. Get an X53 Jurassic Coast bus and you can hop along the World Heritage Coast to Lyme Regis, and all the main towns to Wareham (for Swanage), and Bournemouth. For the most up-to-date timetable, go to the First Group website and search for X53.
Car
Exeter is easy to reach by road on the M5 (from the North), the A30 (from places further east in the South West), and the A38 (to Plymouth and beyond).
Air
Exeter has a small airport
at Clyst Honiton, just to the north-west of the city. But, honestly, if
you're coming from somewhere in the UK, get a train for goodness sake
and save those carbon dioxide emissions.
Photo: There are architectural gems dotted all over Exeter. This is the historic Iron Bridge that you'll cross if you walk straight up from Exeter St David's station to the city centre.
Map
Here's a map of Exeter from Google Images. You can use the "Find businesses" tab and search box to find local businesses, places to stay, and so on.More information
- Visiting Exeter: Official tourist information site.
- Exeter in photos: Take a look at some of the images people are posting in the Flickr Exeter pool.
- Exeter: A background article from Wikipedia.
