Dartmouth

Wedged boldly on a rocky promontory at the mouth of the River Dart, Dartmouth Castle looks suspiciously like the sort of place eccentric Englishmen would have dreamt up after too many pints of warm ale. Built with a cheerful disregard for invading Spaniards in the late 15th century, this sturdy fortress whispers maritime stories sprinkled with cannon smoke, smugglers, and sailors whose vocabularies consisted mostly of colorful profanity. Get there early-late morning light will make your photographs look suitably dramatic-and if possible, plan ahead by a day or two, especially in summer when the castle attracts history buffs, Instagram influencers, and bored children in equal measure. Set aside at least £10 per adult for entry and bring along sturdy shoes and an irreverent sense of humor-both equally necessary for navigating medieval stone staircases without compromising dignity. Sure, castles are a dime a dozen in Britain, but Dartmouth's seafront fortification packs in naval history, dizzying coastal views, and the undeniable bragging rights of exploring a stronghold that once protected the town from French raiders-and might still be frowning suspiciously down on visiting tourists.

Boarding an antique steam train to Paignton is like stepping onto the set of an Agatha Christie mystery-minus the murder (hopefully). As your impressively moustachioed conductor punches tickets with practiced flourish, you'll chug serenely past postcard-perfect coastline, rolling hills, and villages so quaint they should come with a warning label about excessive charm. Aim for an early morning departure, when the steam and sunlight blend into Instagram-worthy mistiness and the views are still fresh (and you haven't yet been elbowed by camera-toting tour groups). Book your seat at least two weeks out-nostalgia, it turns out, is hotter than coal-fired engines-and budget around £30 per person for a comfortable round-trip with enough leftover for a tea and a flaky Cornish pasty. Pack along a vintage paperback, a scarf against unexpected chills, and sunglasses for an effortlessly cool, cinematic vibe. Sure, it's touristy and borderline cliche, but rumbling along historic rails through a backdrop that stirs romantic visions of Victorian escapism is worth every puff of soot-if only because afterwards you'll have a perfectly eccentric anecdote at your fingertips.

Hiking Britain's legendary South West Coast Path is rather like diving headfirst into a windswept romance novel-equal parts breathtaking beauty and blister-induced regret, garnished liberally with seagull heckling. Stretching languidly over 600 miles from Somerset's genteel shores, through Cornwall's pirate-infested coves, into Devon's cream-tea-fueled villages, this cliffside amble has seen smugglers, shipwrecks, and enough scandalous Victorian bathing antics to keep historians chuckling for decades. Ideally, start early-dawn patrol provides the best selfies and a fighting chance at solitude before hordes of day-trippers sporting brand-new hiking boots appear around brunch-time. Plan at least a month ahead if you're staying overnight, as rustic inns and B&Bs fill faster than your pint disappears post-hike. Budget at least £50 per day if you're sleeping indoors, less if you're brave enough-or broke enough-to wild-camp beneath stars brighter than a Cornish fisherman's tall tale. Bring sturdy shoes, a waterproof jacket (the skies here change their minds more often than Parliament), plenty of snacks, and an irreverent attitude toward changing weather forecasts. Sure, your knees might creak, and you may curse your overly optimistic planning by mile six, but the epic views, hidden beaches, and pub-side bragging rights alone are well worth the pain-perhaps even more so when recounted grandly at the bar afterward to anyone polite enough to listen.

If your idea of adventure is wandering through a foggy, wind-swept expanse best known for swallowing hikers in Sherlock Holmes novels and spawning enough ghost stories to fuel generations of terrified children, welcome to Dartmoor National Park-England's wonderfully moody, slightly sinister playground. Navigating Dartmoor overnight feels like stumbling headfirst into a gothic novel, complete with eerie standing stones, spectral hounds, and the occasional sheep that clearly knows something you don't. Plan ahead (at least a couple weeks, unless your idea of accommodation involves a drafty moorland bivvy under a drizzly midnight sky), and budget around £30-£50 for basic camping fees or up your game with a cozy inn if gothic chill isn't your style. Pack layers (because Dartmoor weather changes quicker than British prime ministers), sturdy boots, a torch with spare batteries, and a flask of something reliably warming. Aim to arrive by late afternoon to savor dusk's ethereal light and stake out your viewing spot for an uninterrupted stargazing session. Above all, embrace the eeriness and the solitude: you'll emerge sleep-deprived, muddy, and mildly suspicious about that distant howl, but you'll have a cracking good story to tell-with or without spectral hounds nipping at your heels.