Dartmoor delights

Dartmoor is England’s most extensive area of upland landscape south of the Pennines. It rises to no great heights, yet the moor communicates a remarkable sense of wilderness — especially on dark nights and foggy days. Arthur Conan Doyle clearly appreciated the haunting power of the moor;  he set one of his most celebrated Sherlock Holmes books on Dartmoor. Be assured, though, that you’ll not run into the Hound of the Baskervilles as you wander across Dartmoor.

Dartmoor is a great granite boss, the details of which have been shaped by millions of years of erosion and weathering. The summits (locally called “tors”) are fantastic jumbles of bare rock, shaped by wind and water. Settlements hunker down in the lee of the hills or take refuge in the valleys.

Exmoor landscapes

Dartmoor belongs wholly to Devon. The county’s other national park, Exmoor, which abuts the Bristol Channel on the north coast, is shared with neighboring Somerset. Here the igneous rocks of Dartmoor are replaced by soft sedimentary rock, giving very different landscapes. There are sandstones and limestones, shales and gritstones. Acidic soils support little by way of agriculture at higher levels.

Towards the north coast, the streams and rivers draining the moor have cut deep valleys that drop down steeply towards the sea. These valleys offer some of Devon’s most distinctive landscapes. The stretch of north Devon coast around Lynton styles itself Little Switzerland (trumping its Alpine cousin in being able to boast a coastline).

Britain’s natural heritage

Dartmoor and Exmoor are two of England’s ten national parks. Devon is one of only four English counties that have, within their territory, all or part of more than one national park. Next year, Exmoor will mark 50 years of national park status. It was designated in 1954. Dartmoor secured the coveted designation slightly earlier. That was in 1951, the year in which the United Kingdom kicked off its national parks program by naming its first four parks.

Looking at those early parks from the 1950s, one has a sense of a program that was designed by men and women who had a fine sense of the relationship between rocks and relief. That ensemble of early parks offers a feast of geomorphology, a symphony of fine landscapes. Like other national parks, Devon’s two examples present fine hiking country. In both parks, open expanses of wild moorland offer every opportunity for reviving city spirits.

Travel writers Susanne Kries and Nicky Gardner have penned warm words about Devon three times this month here on EuroCheapo. See their comments on a visit to Exeter cathedral (20 November), and ways to explore Devon by bus, train and boat (27 November).

The post Rocking Out in Devon’s National Parks: Dartmoor and Exmoor appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Rumor 1: Nacionalni Park Plitvi?ka Jezera is Difficult to Reach. False. A main highway runs right through the park with bus stops near both entrances.

Rumor 2: The Hotels in the Park are Hidden Away. False. One guidebook implies the nearest bus stop is 6 km away from the main entrance as well as the three park hotels. The Hotel Bellevue is 300 meters away from a bus stop near the Second Entrance and the other two hotels, Hotel Plitvice and Hotel Jezero, are a five-minute walk from the Bellevue.

Rumor 3: Hotel Bellevue is Dreary. False. Brand new 1970s retro furnishings are not the point; the lush window views are. The outside of the hotel is freshly painted, to boot.

Rumor 4: Maps are Readily Available. False. When we visited, maps could only be purchased for a few kuna inside the Hotel Jezero gift shop. We overheard one Bellevue staff member advising a guest that maps are unimportant. Signs point in confusing directions. Signage graphics are misleading at their best and illegible at their worst.

Rumor 5: Start a Waterfall Tour at Station 1. Not really false, but a bad idea. A start at Station 4 allows for easy downhill walking. Also, the approach to the Big Waterfall at Station 1 is more dramatic.

Rumor 6: The Park is Not Handicapped Accessible. True. Venice, Italy is easier to traverse.

Rumor 7: The Waterfalls are Spectacular. True. All the confusion is well worth the trip.

Note that Plitvice hotels don’t have Web sites. You can contact the general Plitvice sales department at info@np-plitvicka-jezera.hr.

Wandering Cheapo Kari Hoerchler is a blogger, budget traveller and science fiction novelist stationed on Planet Earth. She has recently been spotted on small stages of New York coffeehouses telling tall tales of a tropical island—and future vacation hot spot—in the Bermuda Triangle. Book ahead.

The post Wandering Cheapo: Debunking the Plitvice Rumors appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.