Make the most of Mid Devon this Easter...

We are fortunate that our award-winning glamping site here at Blackdown Yurts is located in the middle of it all. Despite being tucked away in a hidden rural valley, when you holiday here it is easy to get out and visit places within Mid-Devon or venture slightly further afield into East, North or South Devon and even into Somerset, Dorset or Cornwall too! We provide a file with leaflets to numerous holiday attractions in the communal barn, but in this digital age there are number of online offerings visitors will find useful in deciding where to go and what to see and do.

​The newest of these is a brand new resource for visitors to Mid Devon in the form of the Visit Mid Devon website. I went to the launch a couple of nights ago in Tiverton, Mid-Devon's district town. The website is super easy to use and has listings of What's On in the region, places to visit and stay (here obviously!), food and drink, cycling and walking routes and more. I've listed a few more online resources and apps at the end of the blog. 

​We've picked out a few events that are coming up during the Easter holidays and places to visit year round too. One thing we can't control for is the weather so we've included plenty of indoor options too. Hopefully it will cheer up in March though. Fingers crossed! 

Family friendly

Children of the Forest has a family festival on Saturday 5th April. This fabulous local forest school also runs holiday days you might like to book your kids onto.

Knightshayes (National Trust near Tiverton) has loads on over Easter including Batty about Bats trails, Easter egg trails and crafting bug houses. See their website for specific dates and times of each. Killerton (also National Trust, south of Cullompton) also has Easter egg trails.   

Tiverton Canal Company's wonderful horse drawn barge starts its open season in April, check their timetable as they don't operate every day. There is also a wonderful cream tea cafe, a canal side bar, canoe and row boat hire, a gorgeous little playground and a fascinating interactive visitor centre. The Grand Western Canal is also a good place to walk with or without dogs and the towpath is accessible and flat for walking, cycling or running. What's not to love?!  ​

Indoors

Tiverton's Museum of Mid-Devon Life is a great place to escape from the rain, should you need to, with lots of items from the region's past. It also hosts the Tourist Information Centre for the region so a top place to visit if you need inspiration on where to go. 

A little further afield The Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) in Exeter is fascinating and alongside its substantial permanent collection it has an exhibition celebrating Devon lacemakers until 31st May. They have lots of different children's workshops scheduled in coming months, including lace art, Ancient Egyptian activities and lots of dressing up!

Honiton's pottery painting shop and milkshake bar is a fab place to while away a few hours if it's raining. It has a diner-style cafe too so you can stay for lunch or enjoy a coffee while the little darlings paint.

Get active indoors!

If the kids have got way too much energy and it's raining then head for one of the nearby leisure centres to go swimming. Both Honiton LED and Tiverton's Exe Valley leisure centre have an inflatable floating obstacle courses on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Check their timetables for exact details.

Another fantastic way to wear out the children is at one of the trampoline parks. We have been to FlipOut Somerset in Wellington on numerous occasions and it's brilliant. There is also an i-bounce trampoline park in Exeter. 

Clip n Climb in Exeter is a fantastic climbing centre with a huge variety of walls. You might also like to try Wall in the Hall in Tiverton as they may have drop in sessions during school holidays. Check their Facebook page for details. It's much smaller than Clip n Climb but a good introduction and perhaps less daunting. 

Shopping and food

Cullompton, our local market town, holds its annual Springfest food, craft and music festival on Saturday 11th April, the Saturday of Easter weekend. 

Tiverton Pannier market is worth a visit, with different sorts of items offered each day of the week, more 50% of which are sourced from Devon and the West Country. It's also the venue for the Electric Nights Streetfood market on the first Saturday of the month (starting in May).

Vitamin Sea, Cullompton's brand new seafood restaurant and cocktail bar opened its doors in mid-February. We've not tried it yet but we can't wait! The menu looks fantastic. 

One of the great things about the Visit Mid Devon website is I think we are going to discover new places to visit too. For example I've walked past Tiverton Castle but have never been in. And I've never heard of Fursdon, a historic house and garden in between Exeter and Tiverton but will put that on the list after picking up their stunning leaflet at the event last week. And I'm definitely going to pop to Tiverton Museum of Mid Devon Life, do you know they have a steam train? And when looking at their exhibits we will be able to imagine what life was like for the people who lived in our farmhouse in the past. 

If you find a fabulous place to go in Mid Devon or in Devon more widely do let us know about it in the comments below. 

Online resources to help you get the most of your holiday: 

Visit Mid Devon
Visit Devon
Visit South Devon
East Devon Excellence
Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Visit Exeter

There are also several apps you might like to get to help plan your trip. App for Devon, Devon Walks and South West Coast Path are just a few I found with a quick search. 

Most of all, have fun exploring!