This two-day road trip through Devon and Dorset is a route built around roads that ask to be driven. From the baron, exposed straights and sharp cambers of Dartmoor to the coastal climbs and plunging descents of Exmoor. Every section brings something to the table: changes in surface, shifts in pace, and that satisfying sense of progression as the landscape opens, tightens, and flows again. 

Day one opens with wide, easy tarmac along the A30, a prelude to the tighter, characterful B-roads that lead into Dartmoor. Once on the B3212 and B3357, the road narrows and rises, sightlines dance with the contours of the moor, and every bend feels purposeful. From Moretonhampstead to Two Bridges, the surface undulates gently, flanked by tors and wild ponies, with the road demanding just enough attention to stay in flow.

Climbing up to Haytor and curling past Burrator Reservoir, the route tightens and softens in equal measure. It’s not fast driving, but it’s deeply satisfying, every gear change part of a quiet conversation between car and countryside. As the road flattens and sweeps north through Beaford and Great Torrington, the landscape eases, and the long bends invite a relaxed stride. The descent to Saunton Sands is the final run along the B3231 to the surf-washed Atlantic.

Day two heads straight into Exmoor, where the A399 and A39 commonly know as the Atlantic Highway) twists and climb through high coastal lanes and moorland ridges. Porlock Hill is a standout: steep, tight, and rewarding when approached with intent.

The A39 and local lanes carry you inland toward Tarr Steps, the surface narrowing and the tempo slowing as you approach this ancient crossing. The approach is gentle, the road’s cadence calming, and the moorland air cool and still. Tarr Steps itself is a pause for reflection – a place where time seems to slow, and the journey’s pace softens.

Inland, the roads slow, narrower, calmer , until the final push east toward Lyme Regis, where the surface opens out once more and the Jurassic Coast rises into view.

The Dower House Hotel at Rousdon is the journey’s last anchor, a place to pause and reflect on the route’s shifting moods.