Lustleigh

Lustleigh sits in the Wrey Valley inside Dartmoor National Park, between Bovey Tracey and Moretonhampstead. Its centre of thatched cottages sits close enough to both towns for a day trip either way, while the village itself stayed small: 579 people lived there at the 2021 census, across 273 households.

The village’s main draw is Lustleigh Cleave, a deep valley mostly held as common land close by. Paths cross the Cleave and the surrounding fields, meadows and woods, and the valley holds deer, rare butterflies and the dipper, a river bird that works the fast water. In early June the slopes turn over to bluebells and foxgloves, which is worth timing a visit around if you want to see the valley at its most colourful.

A former railway line through the village is now the Wray Valley Trail, open for walking, cycling and horse riding as part of National Cycle Route 28. The line originally opened in 1866 and closed to passengers in February 1959, though freight trains kept running for a while after; the old trackbed now gives a level route along the valley that avoids the steeper Cleave paths.

Staying in Lustleigh suits a visit built around walking rather than driving between attractions, with Bovey Tracey and Moretonhampstead both close enough for shopping trips or a change of scene.