Descovering the beauties of Exeter, United Kingdom

    

EXETER, England- personal view-Location

Exeter is located in the southwest of England, Devon County and on the banks of the river Exe.

Getting there

It is an easy destination to get to. If you fly in to one of London’s airports you can take the bus to Exeter or rent a car and drive on Route 108.

It is a typical English town with Victorian and Georgian architecture, those interested in history and architecture have a lot to do and see here. There are no blocks of flats, there are only houses and the original atmosphere of the town was in a major part kept so you can still see some old thatched roof houses.

Downtown is beautiful and best seen on foot as it is quite compact and the major attractions can within walking distance. It is full of shops, restaurants and pubs, lots of pubs. It also has a famous cathedral, very impressive and around it a nice lawn locals call the “Cathedral Green”. It is the gathering place where people come to eat their lunch, and don’t imagine some terrace, of course there are but when I say people come here to have their lunch I mean they sit on the grass and have a sandwich as most of those who work in the offices in the area do this.

It is here on the Cathedral green that the volunteer guides come to take you on some fabulous tours of the town. You can pick the tour you like and meet your Red Coat Guide and spend about 90 minutes discovering Exeter. There are tours that last 30 minutes: the Custom House tour or a tour that last longer about 2 hours: the Exeter’s City Wall tour. Other tours are: Topsham Tours, Exeter Old and New, Forgotten Exeter, Roman Exeter, The Catacomb Tour, Cathedral Close and Palace Garden, The Port of Exeter, Oddities and Curiosities, Medieval Exeter, Murder and Mayhem, Exeter through the Ages, City on Sunday, Cathedral to Quay and Exeter Blitz. There is even a ghost tour called Ghosts and Legends that takes you to all the haunted places! If you go on all the tours you will definitely learn everything there is to know about Exeter. There is a schedule for the tours posted and if about ten people happen to be there at the appointed time the guide will start the tour so no booking is required. You will easily recognize them because they are dressed in red coats.

Shops are opened till 5 pm which is pretty bad for a visitor but pubs are opened till late at night.

Shops are very stylish but you won’t find the chic things you would expect to find in London maybe. The shops I really enjoyed were the ones that sold hats. There were all types of hats and it was fun trying them out but watch out, no photo taking as it is forbidden. The English ladies’ taste for hats is well known, one of the greatest hats fan is the queen.

The riverside is beautiful and it is a pleasure to walk on the waterfront, you may even see some Old Dutch houses.

Nearby area

The beach is not far as are not other very interesting places to visit like: Torquay, Dawlish, Teignmouth, Exmouth and Paignton resorts. They are all enchanting and with nice beaches and a beautiful waterfront.

Transport

Public transport includes busses there are no trams and I have not seen many double deckers around (they are typical busses for London but can be seen in other major cities too). The bus service is so good that there is really no need to drive your car in the city centre you may leave it at the Car Park off Western Way.

Entertainment

There are few clubs around and young people usually go in pubs. And you can see a lot of youth around ad there is an important university and many other schools both for the locals and for the foreigners who come here to learn English.

There are places where you can have some dancing lessons but there are few people in Exeter who go dancing, the favorite places are the pubs. The young generations are heavy drinkers and you can see girls drink as much as boys. Girls are not ashamed to go in pubs, they are considered respectable places in pubs are no shame.

Food

If English people are not well known for something that is food, I’m talking about home coking. The vegetables are mainly boiled and maybe some gravy is added on them (a kind of traditional sauce). It is definitely healthy but the taste is not so good. They don’t eat soup much. If you eat out you can taste some delicious food and the one dish they are known for: fish and chips is really delicious.

England - overview

1. Jul 4, 2007 Descovering the beauties of Exeter (Exeter)  ( 3)

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