Hunters Lodge Caravan and Camping Site

Take your feet to Starcross ferry landing and catch the passenger ferry to Exmouth to see its seafront and the famous 16-sided house A La Ronde, then head further inland to Devon’s county town Exeter, home of Exeter Castle and the stunning Exeter Cathedral, medieval churches and a museum in the eleventh century former priory.

Old buildings and castles abound in the area: the twelfth century Powderham Castle lies just north of Starcross at the village of Kenton and there are more National Trust properties in Devon than anywhere else in the country. Topsham Museum, with period rooms, info on maritime history and exhibitions on local wildlife, is housed in seventeenth century buildings overlooking the Exe Estuary.

Kids clamouring for something a bit more suited to their tastes? There are animal parks, zoos, aquariums and adventure parks all over this area and Devon: six miles away at Exeter, there’s Go Ape! for tree swinging and zip slides, and Crealy Great Adventure Park for all sorts of crealy great capering.

Or take them to the sand instead: the acclaimed beach of Dawlish Warren is almost on the doorstep for fairground rides, summer events and old seafront standby Punch and Judy. From here it’s a scenic stroll to the Dawlish Warren nature reserve on the mouth of the Exe Estuary, with visitor centre and free admission.

Taking the bikes along to Devon? The National Cycle Network Exe Estuary Trail goes from Dawlish to Exmouth and there’s more cycling through the woods at Haldon Forest Park, with a bike hire shop there if you’re not bringing your own wheels.

Dartmoor National Park, about an hour inland from Dawlish, has cycle routes for riders of all abilities, with a cycling map available to buy from local information centres. Letterboxer or geocacher? Indulge these passions in the park too.

There are too many other day trips in and around Hunters Lodge to list, but a quick selection includes: a trip to England’s highest waterfall Canonteign Falls; sightseeing along the Torbay coast on the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway; taking in Torquay; booking a boat and seeing the Golden Hind at Brixham, or going to one of the local festivals: look under ‘Nearby events’ to the left for details of what’s coming up – no need to hunt down info here…