Exeter

Introduction

Exeter is a cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England, set on the River Exe. It lies roughly 36 miles northeast of Plymouth and 65 miles southwest of Bristol, making it a natural base for exploring this part of the West Country.

The city is the second largest settlement in Devon after Plymouth. Under local government restructuring plans, Exeter will become a unitary authority from 2028, taking in parishes from East Devon, Teignbridge and Mid Devon.

Before you go

Exeter sits at a strategic crossing point on the river Exe, where a Roman military base was established in AD 50. Parts of the original Roman walls can still be seen today, and the city’s Roman name, Isca Dumnomiorum, means “town of the Dumnonii (Devonian) tribe”. The city continued to hold regional significance through the Dark Ages, was twice captured by invading Vikings, and after the Norman Conquest its inhabitants rebelled against William the Conqueror, who laid siege and built Rougemount Castle to ensure future compliance. During the Renaissance it became an economically powerful city through the wool industry, and later, at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, its industry was driven by water power from the river. It remained a significant seaport courtesy of its ship canal until the age of steam, though there was no major industrialisation in the later 19th century. The city was badly damaged in an incendiary bombing raid on the High Street and surrounding areas in 1942, and although post-war reconstruction has been limited, a number of interesting buildings remain.

Now Exeter is the commercial and service centre for a largely agricultural hinterland. Good facilities for tourists exist, but tourism does not dominate. Exeter is very safe compared to other cities in the UK. There is a slight likelihood that you will be asked for money by homeless people at some point, but most of them are not aggressive and will simply move to the next person if you tell them, “No, sorry.”

Getting there

Exeter Airport (EXT) sits about five miles east of the city off the A30 at Clyst Honiton. Aurigny connects Exeter with Guernsey, Blue Islands serves Jersey, and Loganair flies from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle upon Tyne, while Ryanair and TUI Airways cover Mediterranean destinations. Skybus links St Mary's on the Isles of Scilly between March and October, Monday to Saturday. To reach town, Stagecoach Bus 56 runs hourly between Exeter St David's railway station and Exmouth, taking around 20 minutes; a taxi is the quicker alternative.

Exeter is on the London Paddington to Penzance line, with roughly hourly trains from Paddington through most of the day; the journey to Exeter St David's takes two to three hours. St David's is the main station, a 15-minute walk or bus ride from the centre, with national services to Bristol, South Wales, Birmingham, the north of England and Scotland, plus local trains to Barnstaple and Exmouth. Exeter Central is a five-minute walk into the centre along Queen Street and is served by a slower London Waterloo service via Salisbury, roughly every two hours and taking up to four hours. The Dartmoor Line runs daily every two hours from Okehampton via Crediton in about 45 minutes. By coach, National Express runs several times a day from London Victoria via Heathrow, continuing to Bodmin, Newquay and Penzance, and from Birmingham via Bristol, with services originating further north including Edinburgh, Leicester, Sheffield, Newcastle upon Tyne and Blackpool. Exeter Bus Station, just off Paris Street, is a few minutes' walk from the High Street and cathedral green.

Getting around

The central area of Exeter is fairly small, so walking is the simplest way to get around, and you can cross the city east-to-west in around two hours if you want to cover the whole thing. For longer trips around the city and the wider area, the train can work out more cost-effective than the bus; Great Western Railway operates most of the network, with South Western Railway running trains to the eastern suburbs and beyond. An extensive bus network covers the city too, most of it operated by Stagecoach, which also serves most regional destinations, while some regional routes are run by smaller independent operators.

Taxis can be flagged down if you see one, and stands sit at the north-eastern intersection of the High Street and by Exeter St Davids station; licensed hackney carriages are red with the city coat of arms, an illuminated "TAXI" sign and yellow "Hackney carriage" plates on the rear. Private hire is separate — registered vehicles show a green plate next to the rear licence plate, but cannot be flagged down and do not stop at stands, so you must book ahead. Uber ride-sharing is available, though taxis cannot be booked through it. You cannot drive onto the High Street and must park in a neighbouring car park, and traffic can be slow. Cycle paths of varying quality run through the city, with the most scenic route following the canal towpath.

Where to stay

Exeter has plenty of places to stay, with the greatest concentration close to the centre and the main railway station. For budget travellers, there's a central hostel on Holloway Street with rooms and dorms, though the cleanliness of facilities and clientele is variable. A three-star chain hotel sits on Bonhay Road near the main station, and the same chain has another property in the city centre plus two on the edge of town. Near the station you'll also find the simple two-star Great Western Hotel, about a kilometre north of the centre.

Mid-range options cluster around the centre. The Hotel Indigo occupies the former House of Fraser department store a short walk north of the cathedral, while the City Gate is a three-star pub with quirky, stylish rooms next to the Guildhall shopping centre. The Leonardo is a reliable chain choice near the centre, and the four-star Hotel du Vin on Magdalen Street has a spa and bistro, though room sizes vary — "cosy" means rather small. Silver Springs offers serviced apartments in St David's, and the University of Exeter runs an accommodation agency that may have B&B rooms on the Streatham Campus during the Easter and summer vacations. Further out, the Nobody Inn at Doddiscombesleigh is an old-style country inn with a handful of comfy but not spacious rooms. At the upper end, the Mercure Southgate Hotel on Southernhay East serves a great breakfast, and St Olaves is a three-star in a Georgian house with a restaurant and tapas bar. Southernhay House, a small hotel in a Georgian townhouse by the cathedral, is another appealing choice.

Food & drink

Exeter's eating options range from budget cafés to modern British dining, with a strong showing of independent places alongside the national chains clustered around Cathedral Green. For something inexpensive, the Dinosaur Café on New North Road is a small family-owned Turkish and English café known for generous portions of meze and a bookshop on the side, while the Plant near Cathedral Yard offers vegetarian snacks and light meals. The Gandhi, also on New North Road, serves traditional British-Indian food. Among mid-range choices, Al-Farid on Cathedral Yard cooks Moroccan dishes, the Hour Glass on Melbourne Street is a wood-panelled pub with real ale and traditional fare, and On The Water Front occupies a 19th-century brick warehouse on the quayside, where the pizzas are notably large. The Fat Pig on John Street has a rustic feel and rears its own pigs. For a splurge, try the Olive Tree for modern British cooking, St Olave's Court for tapas, Angela's for modern British and French dishes made with local produce, or the Conservatory, where the light lunch and early bird dinner come recommended.

Drinking is just as varied. The Angel on Queen Street is an independent bar that is relaxed by day and turns into a party bar at night, while the Cavern on the same street is a live music venue with bands most evenings and a reputation as a nursery for new talent. The Old Firehouse on New North Road stays open into the small hours with local ales, ciders and food, and its large pizzas are a late-night draw; live folk, jazz and flamenco guitar feature through the week. The Double Locks sits on the edge of Exeter Canal, about a 20-minute walk from the quayside, with real ales, a reasonable menu and a beer festival over the May Day bank holiday. The Well House Tavern on Cathedral Yard keeps a good selection of real ales, and in Topsham, the Bridge Inn is a remarkable 16th-century pub with a restaurant. Topsham itself, a short way south on the estuary, has a good range of restaurants.

What to see and do

Start at Exeter Cathedral, the city's headline sight and a very fine Gothic building, which claims the longest unbroken stone roof beam of any building in the world. The adjoining Cathedral Green is a pleasant spot to relax in summer and well suited to an inexpensive picnic. Nearby on High Street stands the Guildhall, said to be the oldest municipal building in England still serving its original purpose, and remnants of the city walls, some dating to Roman times, are easily reached beside Rougemont Gardens. The grounds and surviving Norman structures of Rougemont Castle are open to the public. In the city centre you can also visit a cluster of medieval churches — St Martin's, St Mary Arches, St Mary Steps, St Olave's, St Petrock's and St Stephen's — and walk Parliament Street, the world's second most narrow street. For indoor interest, the Royal Albert Memorial Museum is a museum and art gallery, and St Nicholas Priory is the centuries-old guest wing of a former Benedictine house, furnished as the home of a prosperous family. Guided tours of the city's medieval underground water passages can be arranged, though they are not for the claustrophobic, and the entrance sits next to the Princesshay shopping development.

To get your bearings, join a free guided tour led by the city's volunteer Redcoat guides, which leave from the Cathedral Green or the Quay and last one to two hours. The canal and river are the focus for watersports and cycling, with bikes and canoes available for hire from Saddles and Paddles on the Quay, along with local route maps; cycle paths run on both banks, reaching Starcross and Dawlish Warren on the west side and Topsham, Lympstone and Exmouth on the east. For evenings, the city has several theatres — the Northcott on the university's Streatham campus, the Barnfield, the Cygnet and the Bikeshed, the last with a cocktail bar — plus cinemas including the Odeon, the Picture House and the Vue. The University of Exeter's parkland campuses have a sculpture walk, and further afield you can visit Killerton to the north or Crealy Great Adventure Park, aimed mainly at younger children, to the east. Sport is well covered: Exeter City FC play at St James Park, a short walk from the centre; Exeter Chiefs play rugby union at Sandy Park east of the city; and Exeter Racecourse on the Haldon hills hosts National Hunt meetings through the winter.

When to go

Exeter has a mild, oceanic climate, and the nearby sea keeps seasonal swings gentler than in much of the UK. Cloudy skies are common at any time of year, and rain is spread across the seasons rather than confined to one. If you want the best odds of warm, dry weather, aim for summer, though you should still pack for occasional rain and grey days.

Summer is generally warm, with July the hottest month, and recent years have brought increasingly long and frequent heat waves and droughts, so pronounced spells of heat are now part of the pattern. Winter is mild but often grey, with rain driven by Atlantic depressions; January is the coldest month, but snow and hard frost are not the norm, so expect wet, changeable days rather than deep cold. Autumn, along with winter, is one of the wetter stretches of the year, with frequent cloud and rain as temperatures ease back from their summer warmth but stay moderated by the sea.

Three days in Exeter

Day one: Start in Exeter itself, getting your bearings along the River Exe and the High Street, which remains the spine of the modern city. As you walk, keep an eye out for traces of the layers beneath: Exeter began as the Roman settlement of Isca Dumnomiorum, home to the Dumnonii, and later passed through the Dark Ages and Viking raids before the Norman Conquest under William the Conqueror, whose Rougemount Castle still stands over the city.

Day two: Use Exeter as your base for exploring Devon and the wider South West England. The county around you takes in East Devon, Teignbridge and Mid Devon, and the West Country stretches beyond toward Plymouth and Bristol. If you arrive by air, Exeter Airport at Clyst Honiton serves the city, with Aurigny among the airlines linking it to Guernsey.

Day three: Spend your last day in Exeter, filling in the parts of its story you have not yet seen, from the Renaissance and Industrial Revolution layers of the city to the riverside. End with a slow wander through the centre, letting the High Street carry you back toward the Exe.