A cracking day out motorcycling in the West Country

Avoid the school holidays and the roads will be quieter

The West Country sometimes gets a hard time from bikers who think it’s all congestion, caravans and crowds of cream-tea scoffing tourists. In fact, it’s a fabulous place to ride a bike. The weather in summer is some of the best in the British Isles, the scenery is wonderful and varied, there are loads of charming villages and seaside towns to enjoy and, because tourism is big business in summer, the facilities are great for visiting riders.

The secret to getting the best from the West Country is to head there a little out of season, ideally before the schools break up, when the roads are quieter. That means a visit in early June’s ideal. This one-day loop heads out from the Devon Riviera town of Torquay to the picture-postcard Cornish fishing village of Fowey, with a healthy dose of sublime riding across the wild and beautiful Dartmoor and through the quieter corners of the countryside.

Our motorcycling route from Torquay

STAGE ONE

Torquay to Yelverton: 35 miles
From Torquay, take the A3022 to Paignton and cross the town centre following signs for Totnes, picking up the A385 near Paignton Zoo. Follow this road all the way through Totnes until you get to the mini-roundabout on the outskirts of Dartington. Turn right here on the A384 to Ashburton. Cross the A38 and take the first right to Ashburton. At the end of the road, turn left by the garage and follow the road all the way to Dartmeet (where it becomes the B3357). After crossing the second bridge at Two Bridges, out on the moor, take the left-hand fork for the B3212 to Princetown and carry on to Yelverton.

Morning coffee: The Rock Inn: On the left as you approach the Yelverton roundabout is The Rock Inn, a B&B and pub with three lounge bars and local food. There’s plenty of parking too.

STAGE TWO

Yelverton to Fowey: 50 miles
From Yelverton, take the A386 to Plymouth and head for the city centre to pick up the A38 towards Liskeard. Cross the River Tamar into Cornwall. At the Trerulefoot roundabout, turn left on the A374 to Looe. After a mile, turn right on the A387 to Looe and don’t turn off this road (even when the A387 peels off to the right). At the end of the road, turn left into Looe on the A387 — again — and cross the river. After two—and—a—half miles, turn right on the B3359 to Lostwithiel. When it meets the A390, turn left towards St Austell. About a mile past Lostwithiel, turn left on the B3269 to Fowey.

Lunch: Sam’s : The trick with visiting Fowey is getting a parking space. We’d stop in one of the car parks and walk in. Plenty of options for lunch but we like Sam’s n the high street: a bit different to standard fish and chips.

STAGE THREE

Fowey to Tavistock: 50 miles
Leave Fowey the way you came in and, at the roundabout on the outskirts of the village, pick up the A3082 to St Austell. When the road reaches a T-junction, turn left to stay on the A3082, still heading towards St Austell. Turn left at the A390 roundabout and, 200m later, turn right on the A391. Stay on this road all the way to Bodmin. At the roundabout for the A30, head right on the bypass towards Liskeard. Get off at the first exit, picking up the A38 and taking it all the way to Liskeard. At the Island Shop junction, on the Liskeard bypass, leave the A38 for the A390 to Tavistock. When you get there, follow signs for the town centre and Okehampton (A386).

Afternoon tea: Café Liason There are plenty of nice cafes or restaurants in Tavistock: we particularly like Café Liason, in the pedestrianised Church Lane, behind the church.

STAGE FOUR

Tavistock to Torquay: 40 miles From Tavistock centre take the A386 towards Okehampton. Cross the river and pick up the B3357 to Princetown. It forks when it’s on the moors — turn right if you want to visit the prison museum but otherwise, carry straight on to Two Bridges. You came this way earlier – but rather than retracing your steps, take the left-turn for the B3212 to Moretonhampstead. At the crossroads in town, turn right on the A382 to Bovey Tracey. Stay on this road all the way through Newton Abbot to pick up the A380 to return to the start point, Torquay.

Stay: The Grand Hotel: The Grand has everything you want from a Torquay hotel, including a sea view, on-site parking and a pool. Sensible prices for a popular hotel, too.

THINGS TO SEE

Dartmoor Prison Museum: Dartmoor has had a reputation for being Britain’s toughest prison for more than a century. Discover what life there was like – for the astonishingly reasonable price of £3.50 a head.

The Eden Project: If the hell of prison life doesn’t appeal, the heavenly gardens of the Eden Project are just a short detour from the route, outside St Austell. It’s a huge attraction – you could happily spend a whole day exploring the fabulous biospheres created in this former china-clay pit. Has several excellent cafés on site too.

Route summary

Start/finish Torquay
Distance 175 miles
Riding time 5.5 hours
Suggested stops Morning coffee Yelverton, Lunch Fowey, Afternoon tea Tavistock
Download the GPX file

Please note: This page contains the motorcycle touring routes for The RiDE Guide To Great Britain which was published in October 2017. These website pages are not regularly updated, so please check all critical information before you travel. All route files are in .gpx format. Garmin and BMW users can download the main file, which contains all the routes. TomTom users can either download the individual routes or use the MyRouteApp (depending on the age of your device).