Transport
Road
The county has more than 8,000 miles of road - the largest road network anywhere in the country, although (it has to be said) many are narrow Devon lanes.
Devon’s network of main roads provides ready access across the county and further afield. The principal arterial roads include the M5, A30, A38 Devon Expressway and the A361 North Devon Link Road. Average journey times from Exeter to London Heathrow or Birmingham are under three hours.
Devon’s cities and some of the larger towns have Park & Ride Services. There are good bus connections between the bigger centres of population and tourist towns but rural bus services are patchy.
Bus
Our main towns and cities are connected by bus routes, including some of our more rural areas that have less frequent services, but are still reachable.
Frequent bus services from Exeter provides a cost-effective connection to Bristol Airport which offers a wider choice of destinations.
Rail
From Exeter’s main station, Exeter St David’s, there are fast and frequent rail services to Bristol (1 hour), London (around 2 hours to Paddington) and Birmingham (under 3 hours to Birmingham New Street).
A second, scenic South West Trains route to London Waterloo, a slower journey stopping at numerous stations, operates from Exeter Central.
Exeter itself has an impressive rail network with no fewer than nine stations serving different parts of the city. There are a number of branch lines providing services to Mid and North Devon, Dartmoor and the Exe Estuary.
Air and sea
Air
Exeter International Airport provides flights to numerous destinations throughout the UK, Europe and even North America.
Sea
The port of Plymouth offers the shortest sailing to France and Spain with regular services through Brittany Ferries. The commercial ports of Plymouth and Teignmouth also ship goods.
From North Devon there are boat services to Lundy Island, and there is a regular passenger ferry service between Appledore and Instow in peak season.
A network of passenger and vehicle ferries link up many of Devon’s estuary communities.
