The Best of the South West: The Devon estuaries and the Cornish coast

A natural World Heritage Site owing to its geological importance, the Jurassic Coast stretches 96 miles from East Devon to Dorset. Geographers and geologists believe that parts of this rocky coastline are 180 million years old. It therefore comes as no surprise that a wealth of geological vestiges and fossils (ammonites) are found here. The South West Coast Path is a wonderful hiking trail from which to discover this coastline.

This immense botanical park is more than a garden: It is home to one of the most superb collections of trees in Great Britain. Many of them are the oldest or largest of their species in the United Kingdom. The 62 acres offer a range of experiences in the varied gardens (American, Italian, Hermit, etc.). Here, you follow a path between the tree ferns; there, you contemplate the Chinese handkerchief tree or the majestic Greek fir.

The Exeter Cathedral Choir is considered one of the finest in the country. One can come and listen to its liturgical hymns that accompany the evening services (5:30 p.m. weekdays, 4:00 p.m. weekends). Under the impressive tierceron vault of the cathedral's nave, one can only be struck by Bach's St. John Passion or Handel's Messiah, recently performed to mark a successful European tour.

Some would say that this moorland was created only for grazing ponies and sheep. A tortured land dotted with waterfalls and standing stones, stone crosses and ancient ruins: It is the realm of walkers, cyclists, and horseback riders. A wonderful backdrop dominated by the tors – large granite outcrops –, Dartmoor was the inspiration for Conan Doyle's novel The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Trelissick Garden is at its best in the spring and fall. The Japanese Red Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica), planted in 1898, is magnetic, as visitors circle around it again and again until they feel dizzy. Along the carefully tended lawns, stroll between azaleas, banana and rhododendron trees, dahlias and hydrangeas. The finishing touch to the setting (and its atmosphere) is the a river thta gently flows below.