7miles/
11kms

In the Footsteps of the Romantic Poet Coleridge Way

About this route

The Coleridge Way is a 51 mile route following the footsteps of the romantic poet Samuel Coleridge, from Lynmouth in Devon to Nether Stowey in Somerset and crosses both Exmoor and the Quantocks.  The first 7 miles from Lynmouth to the county boundary near Oare are in Devon.

The route is waymarked with Quill signs and can be followed in either direction by using the detailed route guides and maps.   The route can be extended to the Valley of Rocks near Lynton using the South West Coast Path, to visit the Poets Shelter. Details of this are included in the route directions.

Getting Around

 

Although it is possible to use buses to access the start and finish of the route (and some intermediary points), this is only on certain days and at limited times.

Traveline

 

 

Facilities
Lynmouth
Terrain
Route covers variety of terrains, some of which can be very muddy after heavy rain. Some areas on the route are very remote and the weather can change quickly.
Accessibility
Explore more, click to download pdf
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OS Maps

Explorer (1:25,000) No.OL9 Exmoor and No. 140 Quantock Hills and Bridgewater
Landranger (1:50,000) No. 180 Barnstaple and Ilfracombe and No. 181 Minehead and Brendon Hills

Interesting information

The route is quite a different experience in each direction.

“It’s a completely different route heading from Lynmouth to Nether Stowey, away from the coast, across the moor, over the edge of the Quantocks and into rural, pastoral, gentle Nether-Stowey-land. There’s a totally different focus and feeling, heading away from the busy open coastline into the secretive hinterland”. Ruth Luckhurst, travel writer.

There is a route guide available for either direction.  Each guide contains some words highlighted in bold purple – these are points of interest – all referred to in the ‘Things to Discover’ pages and selected ones in each direction have some additional info in boxes on the route guides.

Certificates are available from Coleridge Cottage and Lynmouth Pavilion along with visitor books that people can sign before, during and at the end of the  route at Coleridge Cottage, Porlock Visitor Centre and Lynmouth Pavilion.

There is also a Coleridge Way Path Companion guide (£10 plus £2.50 P&P) that takes the reader along the 51 miles of the path with facts, stories and anecdotes about the great poet himself, the people who live (and lived) along the path and the places Coleridge would have visited.

Walk on:

 

Photo of a sunny woodland scene at Wester Wood in the East Lyn valley near Lynmouth
Wester Wood near Lynmouth Copyright Derek Harper

You can explore more in this area

Photo of the coast path and North Devon coastal cliffs east of Lynmouth approaching Countisbury Hill
4miles/
6.5kms

Count To A Thousand

Lynton and Lynmouth are situated, one above the other, in some of the most dramatic landscapes in Devon, with deep
View of the north Devon coastal cliffs and sea at Valley of the Rocks
5miles/
8kms

Lynton and the Valley of Rocks

The spectacular landscape of the Lynton area, where Exmoor meets the sea, lends itself to superb walking. Lynton itself is
Photo of the north Devon coast, looking out over rocks and sea at Valley of the Rocks

Lynmouth area

This area on the beautiful coast of Exmoor National Park is home to a number of fascinating geological features. To