Exmouth has been a popular tourist resort since the eighteenth century, when its Assembly rooms and seafront houses with stables and views attracted some illustrious members of fashionable Georgian society, including Lady Byron and Lady Nelson (who is buried in the churchyard at Littleham).

In 1861, the arrival of the railway, linking the town with Exeter, brought with it a dramatic population explosion. In the first 5 days after the railway opened 10,000 people travelled on it.

Around Exmouth there are great walks up the Exe Estuary, along the coast to Budleigh Salterton and even, via a ferry journey, over to Dawlish Warren and Starcross.

Here are three examples starting fom Exmouth Station.

Orcombe Point

Distance 3.75 miles Difficulty - moderate

Travel above a red sandstone/mudstone coastline formed over 250 million years ago in a desert near the Equator. Walk through the sand dunes and check out the wildlife of the Maer Local Nature Reserve. Discover the famous Geoneedle at Orcombe Point.

Exmouth Seafront

Distance 5.25 miles Difficulty - moderate

Easy strolling along the mostly level South West Coast Path in Exmouth, with fantastic views over the cliffs and beaches at the start of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site coastline.There are also vistas across the Exe Estuary, a place of international importance for wildlife, especially birds.

Lympstone

Distance 2.5 miles Difficulty - easy

A gentle stroll along the eastern bank of the Exe Estuary, whose mudflats, sandbanks and marshes are of
international importance. Look out for avocets, curlews and lapwings. Pause for lunch in the picturesque village of Lympstone before catching the train back to Exmouth.