North Devon

LYNTON & LYNMOUTH

These fascinating twin villages in north Devon are together known as ‘Little Switzerland’ and are linked by a water-powered funicular railway, opened in 1890, that carries passengers 600 feet from the sea-level harbour of Lynmouth to its cliff top sister, Lynton.

Funicular railway -
Photo: Janine Forbes

Lynton - Photo: Marion Dutcher

Victorian-Edwardian Lynton offers breathtaking views and the Lyn and Exmoor Museum. 

Lynmouth, with its boats, narrow streets and promenade, has the attraction of seashore.




It inspired the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s tale of the Ancient Mariner.




Coleridge visited Lynmouth in 1812 after his fellow poet, Shelley, stayed here for several weeks with his runaway schoolgirl bride.

Lynmouth -
Photo: Catherine Edwards

Valley of the Rocks - Photo: John Phillips

The area has spectacular scenery, notably the Valley of the Rocks (home of Mother Meldrum in R. D. Blackmore’s novel ‘Lorna Doone’) and Watersmeet Valley, run by the National Trust.





In the 1950s Lynmouth was struck by a cataclysmic flood that sparked a rock fall, killing more than 30 people.