Day 6 - South West Coast - Ilfracombe - The 1 place to stay, things to do...

For excellent value for money, The Collingdale Guest House in Ilfracombe offers a smart, comfortable, laid-back, spacious and homely stay. It's a four-star, four-storey building overlooking the old town and harbour, as well as a nature reserve called the Hillsborough Leisure Area, which is a bad name for a beautiful high peninsula with great views itself.

The Collingdale has been a hotel or guest house since 1882, and owners Daryl and Sharon Furmston have owned it since then...only joking. They have owned it for seven years, and brought a freshness to what must have been a very old-fashioned and moth-balled Victorian building.

Views are unsurprisingly good from all nine rooms, and the downstairs lounge and bar area have big comfy leather couches, fire places, big sash windows, through which you can look down the hill onto the ocean and parkland. And prices are even better. You can stay for as little as £30 a night, including breakfast.

I'm off to bed now, but Sharon's given me a list of things to do in Ilfracombe...including staying in a lighthouse on an island out to sea!


View of Ilfracombe from harbour wall


View from the Collingdale Guest House


Room at Collingdale Guest House...that window looks out onto the harbour.


Click on this panorama of Ilfracombe to get a full screen version..