Best Weekend Drives from Plymouth

Plymouth is one of the best-placed cities in England for a weekend behind the wheel. Two national parks, two rugged coastlines, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and some of the most dramatic estuary scenery in the country are all within easy reach. The challenge isn't finding somewhere to go. It's picking the right drive for the weekend you actually have.

The routes below are organised by what they deliver, not just where they go. You'll find notes on how the drives feel in practice, the realistic time they take (not the Google Maps estimate), and which ones work better as a lazy half-day versus a proper overnight trip.

Drive 1: The Tamar Valley and Calstock Loop 

Distance from Plymouth: 15 to 25 miles depending on your loop. Drive time: 30 to 50 minutes each way.

This is the most underrated drive on the list and the one closest to home. Cross the Tamar via the Tamar Bridge into Cornwall, then wind north through the valley towards Calstock. The road narrows quickly and the hedgerows close in, but that's the point. This is slow-road driving at its best, with the river appearing below you through gaps in the trees.

Calstock itself is a small riverside village that feels genuinely tucked away. There's a pub, a viaduct worth photographing, and very little else, which is exactly why it works. Park up, walk along the river for 20 minutes, and you'll have seen more actual countryside than you would on a two-hour blast to the coast.

Best for: A Saturday morning escape when you don't want to commit to a full day. It's dog-friendly, genuinely quiet, and you're back home by lunch if you want to be.

Watch out for: The lanes north of Calstock are tight. If you're in anything wider than a normal family car, have a plan for passing places. 

Drive 2: Dartmoor in a Day 

Distance from Plymouth: About 10 miles to the park boundary at Yelverton. Drive time: 20 minutes to the edge; an hour or more once you're in it.

Dartmoor is 368 square miles with over 365 tors, and the roads through it are genuinely brilliant to drive. The B3212 from Yelverton up through Princetown and across to Moretonhampstead is one of the best stretches in Devon: open moorland on both sides, long sightlines, and the occasional wild pony wandering into your lane to keep you honest.

The practical thing about Dartmoor is flexibility. You can do a fast circuit in three hours or turn it into an overnight by staying in Chagford, Moretonhampstead, or one of the villages off the eastern moor. Haytor is worth a stop if the weather is clear. Grimspound, an ancient Bronze Age settlement, takes about 20 minutes on foot and genuinely looks like the set of a historical drama.

Best for: Any season, honestly. Winter moorland in low sun is spectacular. Summer weekends get busy at the main car parks (Haytor and Burrator in particular) but the road itself never really clogs. Go early if you want the car parks.

Real talk on timing: Plymouth to Princetown is genuinely 20 to 25 minutes most days. The pinch point is the B3212 itself on August bank holidays, where you can end up crawling behind motorhomes. On a normal Saturday in May or September, it's a pleasure. 

Drive 3: South Hams, Salcombe, and Hope Cove 

Distance from Plymouth: About 22 miles to Kingsbridge; Salcombe is a further 6. Drive time: 45 minutes to an hour in good conditions.

This is the drive for when you want proper South Devon coast without committing to Cornwall. The A379 west of Plymouth towards Modbury, then south into the South Hams, gives you rolling farmland before the land tilts steeply towards the sea. Salcombe sits at the end of a long estuary and is one of the most photogenic harbour towns in England, though it's also one of the busiest on summer weekends.

Hope Cove, a few miles west, is the alternative if you want a beach without the crowds. It's smaller, quieter, and the road in is the kind of single-track descent that justifies actually driving here rather than taking any other form of transport.

Best for: Families, couples, anyone who wants a beach lunch and a proper coastal view. There's good food in Salcombe. The ferry across the estuary to East Portlemouth and back is worth doing if you're there in the warmer months.

Real talk on timing: The A379 through Modbury is fine on most days. The closer you get to Salcombe on a summer Saturday afternoon, the worse the queues. Aim to arrive before midday or after 3pm. Parking in Salcombe is limited and not cheap. Hope Cove has a smaller car park that fills up fast.

Drive 4: The South East Cornwall Coast (Polperro and Looe) 

Distance from Plymouth: About 22 miles to Looe; Polperro is a further 5. Drive time: 30 to 40 minutes, but it depends on the Saltash approach.

Cross the Tamar on the A38 into Cornwall (note: the Saltash Tunnel is mid-upgrade works as of 2026, so check the National Highways site before you go), then take the A387 south towards Looe and Polperro. Both are harbour villages that look exactly like the postcards, which is not a criticism. The fishing boats, the painted cottages, the narrow lanes down to the water: it all holds up in person.

Polperro is the more compact of the two. There's no driving into the centre proper, so you park above the village and walk down, which takes about 10 minutes and is part of the experience. Looe has more shops, a beach, and a small but reliable fish and chips scene.

Polperro vs Looe: Polperro wins on charm and atmosphere. Looe wins on practicality and beach access. If you've only got one afternoon, Polperro first, then Looe on the way back.

Best for: A half-day drive with a proper pub lunch at the end. Both villages are busiest in July and August. April, May, and September are noticeably quieter and the light is better for photos.

Drive 5: The English Riviera (Dartmouth and Torquay) 

Distance from Plymouth: About 35 miles to Torquay; Dartmouth is about 32 miles via the coast road. Drive time: 50 minutes to an hour to Torquay; longer if you take the A379 coast road through Bigbury and Torcross.

The A379 coast road east of Plymouth is one of the most enjoyable stretches of driving in Devon and one of the least mentioned in roundups. It passes above Bigbury-on-Sea, skirts the edge of the Kingsbridge Estuary, and runs along Slapton Sands, a long shingle bar with a freshwater lagoon on one side and the sea on the other. The road here is literally right next to the water. On a stormy day in autumn it's almost too dramatic.

Dartmouth is worth a detour. You can take the Lower Ferry across the River Dart (it runs regularly and takes cars) to arrive from the water side, which is by far the better entrance. The town itself has good food, a medieval castle, and a harbour that's easy to spend two hours walking around without noticing.

The English Riviera, declared a UNESCO Global Geopark in 2007 and covering 22 miles of coastline, is based around Torquay, Paignton, and Brixham. 

Brixham is the best stop of the three: a working fishing harbour with a strong seafood market and far less of the seaside-resort feel of Torquay.

Best for: An overnight trip. Dartmouth as a base, with the coast road drive as the journey itself rather than just the means to get there. The A380 is the fast route home; the A379 is the scenic one 

Drive 6: Exmoor and the North Devon Coast 

Distance from Plymouth: About 80 miles to Lynton via the A361 and A39. Drive time: 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours.

This is the big-commitment drive on the list and the one that rewards staying over. Exmoor was designated the first International Dark Sky Reserve in Europe in 2011. Its coastline includes the Great Hangman at 244 metres, the highest sea cliff in England and Wales. The drive along the A39 Atlantic Highway from Barnstaple north towards Lynton and Lynmouth is genuinely one of the best roads in the South West.

Lynton and Lynmouth are two villages connected by a Victorian water-powered cliff railway, which is still running and is worth riding for the view alone. Woolacombe and Croyde, both accessible off the A361 on the way up, are two of the best surf beaches in England.

Best for: A proper two-day weekend. Drive up on Saturday afternoon, base yourself in Barnstaple or one of the villages, explore the moor and coast on Sunday. The A361 from Plymouth is fast and mostly dual carriageway. The roads on Exmoor itself are the twisty reward at the end of it.

Real talk on timing: This drive is long enough that traffic on the A38 through Exeter on a Friday evening can add 45 minutes easily. Leave Plymouth by 3pm on Friday if you want a smooth run.

Drive 7: The Jurassic Coast (Sidmouth and Lyme Regis) 

Distance from Plymouth: About 60 miles to Sidmouth; 80 miles to Lyme Regis. Drive time: 1 hour 20 minutes to Sidmouth; 1 hour 45 minutes to Lyme Regis.

England's only natural UNESCO World Heritage Site covers 95 miles of coastline and 185 million years of Earth history, which sounds like tourism brochure language until you actually stand on the beach at Charmouth and pick up a 190-million-year-old ammonite from the foreshore.

Sidmouth is the easier destination of the two: a well-preserved Regency town on a red-cliff bay with good coffee and a long esplanade. Lyme Regis is the fossil capital of the coast and the more dramatically sited of the two, with a medieval harbour (the Cobb) and a beach where you can legitimately fossick at low tide.

The drive east of Exeter on the A3052 Sidmouth Road gives you coastal views as you drop into each river valley before climbing back out. It's slower than the A30 but far more enjoyable.

Best for: A late-spring or early-autumn weekend when you want dramatic scenery without the August crush. Fossil hunting at Charmouth is genuinely great for kids. Lyme Regis gets very busy in summer but the Cobb at low tide on a grey morning in October is an entirely different and excellent experience.

A Practical Note on Driving in This Part of England 

Visit Cornwall warns that "the main routes can become congested especially at weekends" during summer. That's an understatement. The A30 into Cornwall and the A38 through Plymouth can both slow badly on August Saturdays.

The good news is that most of the best driving happens on the secondary roads, where volume is lower and the scenery is the whole point. For any drive heading into Cornwall, check the Saltash Tunnel status before you go. For the South Hams and South Devon, the A379 coast road is consistently better than the A38 for enjoyment, if slower.

For Dartmoor and Exmoor, arriving early is the move. Both get busy at the main gateway car parks by mid-morning in summer. The moors themselves never really feel crowded.

Quick Reference: Which Drive for Which Weekend