Devon serves as the backdrop for the latest film adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, heading a 15-stop autumn travel guide to the English county.
Compiled by a travel writer with nearly three decades of experience covering Devon, the seasonal guide highlights the quieter months after summer crowds leave, when woodsmoke curls from thatched cottages, mist drifts through wooded valleys and deserted beaches face the Atlantic. From October into November, ancient woodlands turn copper and gold while the county's coastline, gardens and moorlands host wildlife spectacles, heritage railways and harvest festivals.
Visitors tracing the fictional Dashwood sisters from the new Sense and Sensibility adaptation can visit Mothecombe Beach on the south coast, about 10 miles south-east of Plymouth, as well as the inland granite outcrops and moorland around Gutter Tor on Dartmoor.
A short stroll from Mothecombe Beach, the former village school at Schoolhouse (schoolhouse-devon.com) serves lunch as a restaurant, while the Rose and Crown village inn in Yealmpton (theroseandcrown.co.uk) offers double rooms from £80 for bed and breakfast.
Devon also featured in the 1995 film version of Sense and Sensibility starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet. Saltram (nationaltrust.org.uk), a National Trust Georgian mansion near Plymouth that doubled as Norland Park, features a lime avenue that turns golden yellow in autumn and interiors including Robert Adam's neoclassical Saloon. Nearby in Plympton, the boutique country-house hotel St Elizabeth's House (stelizabeths.co.uk) has doubles from £95 B&B.
Lundy Island bird migration and South Devon Railway
On Lundy Island, famous puffins depart by August, but thousands of migrant birds stop to refuel in autumn. Gusty weather can blow rarities off course, including yellow-browed warblers, Lapland buntings and red-breasted flycatchers, while cliffs above the Bristol Channel offer views of Manx and sooty shearwaters, grey seals, common dolphins and minke whales. Sightings are tracked by Lundy Bird Observatory (lundybirdobs.org.uk), late autumn and winter helicopters fly from Hartland Point from £184, and four-night self-catering stays in a Landmark Trust cottage or lighthouse (landmarktrust.org.uk) start from £372.
Inland, the South Devon Railway (southdevonrailway.co.uk) runs steam trains for seven miles between Buckfastleigh and Totnes along the River Dart through farmland and wooded valleys. From October 24 to 31, its family-orientated Enchanted Pumpkin Express includes entry to Totnes Rare Breeds Farm and its pumpkin patch, while the award-winning organic pub the Bull Inn in Totnes (bullinntotnes.co.uk) has nine bedrooms with doubles from £95 B&B.
Dartmoor woodland walks, artisans and autumn gardens
In October, the Teign Gorge on Dartmoor rivals New England as oaks, beeches and birches turn amber, russet and bronze above the clean, peaty river. A woodland trail runs from Mill End, near Chagford, to Fingle Bridge Inn, with an uphill detour to Castle Drogo. Walkers can afterwards use Wilder Sauna (wildersauna.com), a wood-fired riverside sauna in the grounds of Mill End Hotel (millendhotel.com), which has doubles from £185 B&B.
During fickle weather, the not-for-profit Dartmoor Artisan Trail (dartmoor-artisan-trail.co.uk), founded by the guide's author in 2017, lets visitors book workshops directly with makers to turn a wooden bowl on a pole lathe, throw a pot or work beside a blacksmith at a traditional forge. In North Bovey, the thatched Ring of Bells inn (ringofbells.uk) has doubles from £105 B&B.
On Dartmoor's western fringes, the 12-acre Garden House (thegardenhouse.org.uk) has a walled garden, historic ruins and a Japanese maple glade turning crimson, orange and gold from mid-October into November. Visitors can pair it with Keith Wiley's naturalistic garden at Wildside (wileyatwildside.com) after checking opening times, and stay near Tavistock at the Horn of Plenty country-house hotel (thehornofplenty.co.uk) overlooking the Tamar Valley from £150 B&B.
Exeter underground tunnels, fungi walks and Knightshayes
On rainy days in Exeter, guided tours booked in advance through Exeter Corn Exchange (exetercornexchange.co.uk), especially during school holidays, visit the medieval underground tunnels built to bring fresh water into the city. They are the only passages of their kind open to the public in Britain, though snug sections are unsuitable for claustrophobic visitors. Above ground sit Exeter Cathedral, Gandy Street's shops and the Mill on the Exe pub (millontheexe.co.uk) beside the River Exe, with doubles from £100 B&B.
At Arlington Court near Barnstaple, the National Trust (nationaltrust.org.uk) hosts free 90-minute guided fungi identification walks on November 3, 7 and 15 for visitors with advance bookings and sturdy footwear, while Victorian country-house hotel Kentisbury Grange (kentisburygrange.com) offers doubles from £265 B&B.
Just north of Tiverton, the Gothic Revival mansion Knightshayes (nationaltrust.org.uk) has eccentric interiors, a burnt-sugar-scented katsura tree and the only National Trust pick-your-own pumpkin patch in the South West inside its walled kitchen garden until November 2. Nearby Hartnoll Hotel (hartnollhotel.uk) has doubles from £140 B&B.
Exmoor deer rut, RHS Rosemoor and North Devon coast
On Exmoor, autumn brings the annual rut as red deer stags roar, strut and clash antlers for females. Red Stag Safari (redstagsafari.co.uk) runs 2.5-hour guided safaris requiring walking boots, and the restored Exmoor Forest Inn (exmoorforestinn.com), which holds a Michelin Green Star, has doubles from £146 B&B.
Two miles south of Great Torrington, RHS Rosemoor (rhs.org.uk) trades summer roses for October displays of crimson and gold Japanese maples, ornamental grasses and late perennials, alongside fresh soup in its restaurant and stays from £120 B&B at the Mole Resort near Chittlehamholt (themoleresort.co.uk).
On the North Devon coast, Woolacombe's three-mile beach draws surfers to autumn swells before November brings quieter sands, walks towards Morte Point to spot grey seals and clifftop stays at Watersmeet Hotel (watersmeethotel.co.uk) from £290 B&B. Westward, car-free Clovelly holds its Herring Festival on November 15 (clovelly.co.uk) celebrating the fish called "silver darlings", with rooms at the harbourside Red Lion Hotel (redlion-clovelly.co.uk) from £225 B&B, while Hartland Quay, 15 miles west of Bideford, pairs low-tide rock formations and Atlantic waves crashing on contorted cliffs with rooms at Hartland Quay Hotel (hartlandquayhotel.co.uk) from £135 B&B.
