Take a road trip on the Southwest 660
Escape the office early on a Friday and head straight for the coast. The UK’s newest long-distance road trip, the Southwest 660, wraps 660 miles along the seafront from Bournemouth in Dorset through Devon and Cornwall, finishing at Watchet in Somerset. It is conveniently divided into 50-mile-long sections, several of which can be completed in a long weekend, so throw a bag in the boot and get behind the wheel. The beach is calling!
Leaving London
Leave central London well before rush hour, and it is a three hour drive straight down the M3 to Bournemouth, Dorset’s largest town and the starting point of the Southwest 660. Bournemouth’s Victorian heyday came with the arrival of the railways in 1870, after which this quintessential English seaside resort attracted five million visitors a year. Ambitious hoteliers opened grand hotels along the clifftop, including the recently renovated The Nici (thenici.com; rooms from £155) where the styling is an eclectic mix of 19th century heritage and the sexiness of Miami Beach. Guest rooms look directly out to sea, with only the hotel’s outdoor pool and the beach between the windows and the water.
Once you have checked into the hotel, take a walk along the promenade. Bournemouth Pier has definitely seen better days, but the Grade II listed Bournemouth Gardens are a fine example of a Victorian pleasure garden. Don’t miss the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum (russellcotes.com), either. It is a magnificent house with French, Japanese, and North African influences, and inside are the equally remarkable private collections of Sir Merton and Lady Russell-Cotes, who travelled the world at the turn of the 20th century, shopping obsessively in every destination they visited.
For dinner, book a table at the very lively Old Harry on the Rocks (oldharryrocks.com), a new bar and restaurant in the gardens of The Nici. Old Harry’s signature cocktail is a frozen margarita, so whatever the English weather is doing outside, order one and toast the start of your long weekend.
Breakfast on Route 1
Breakfast on The Terrace at The Nici, then follow routes 1 and 2 of the Southwest 660 via Weymouth to Lyme Regis. Much of the drive is along the Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the best place in Britain for fossil hunting.
Lyme Regis is one of the southwest’s most unexpected cultural hotspots. The Marine Theatre is home to the local comedy club and theatrical performances are most weekends; Lyme Regis Museum tells the story of local fossil hunters, including the famous Mary Anning; and renowned chef, food writer, and restaurateur Mark Hix has his Oyster & Fish House (theoysterandfishhouse.co.uk) overlooking the harbour. Much of the menu is dependent on the day’s catch, so it changes twice a day: you won’t find seafood fresher or tastier than this. Stretch your legs with a walk along the Cobb, the harbour’s wall and breakwater, before you get back in the car.
Carry on past Sidmouth, Exeter, and Paignton to Dartmouth, a colourful little town in an area of outstanding natural beauty on the bank of the Dart River Estuary. Dartmouth looks across the water at the equally pretty Kingswear, which you can see from the Dart Marina Hotel (dartmarina.com; rooms from £210). It is likely that you’ll arrive late in the day, so enjoy a drink at waterside pop-up Cloud Nine, then dine at Zephyr, kicking off your meal with half a dozen oysters with shallot vinegar and lemon.
A walk through Dartmouth
Have a lazy start on Sunday: take breakfast in the hotel, then a walk through Dartmouth to the castle, which dates from the 1380s and was built to defend the town in case of an attack from France. The Cherub Inn and St Saviour’s Church are both of a similar age to the castle, and there are plenty of photogenic houses painted in pastel shades on the streets leading down to the harbour. When you are finally ready to leave, cross the Dart on the shuttle car ferry and carry on your way.
To break your journey on the way back to London, stop at Darts Farms (dartsfarm.co.uk) in Topsham near Exeter. George Dart represents the third generation to run his family’s farm and farm shop, which has grown to include multiple restaurants, a cidery and tastings bar, wellness spa, artisan school, and a vineyard. Stop for lunch at The Farm Table, do your weekly shop in the farm shop (the meat counter is exceptional!), and whether you are a passenger or the designated driver, pick up a few bottles of Dart’s Pebblebed wine to enjoy once you get home.
• Plan your own Southwest 600 roadtrip at southwest660.com, the route’s official website, which includes detailed itineraries and trip notes.