Places to stay
Where to stay in Lynton and Lynmouth: hotels, guest houses, cottages and camping between the moor and the sea
The first decision is not which hotel. It is whether you want to wake up at sea level or five hundred feet above it.
Deciding where to stay in Lynton and Lynmouth starts with geography rather than price. The two villages are half a mile apart horizontally and five hundred feet apart vertically, and which one you sleep in changes the shape of the whole trip.
The short version: hotels and guest houses in both villages, cottages and farmhouses for self-catering, and camping in the valley and out on the moor. The rest of this page is how to choose between them.
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Where to stay in Lynton and Lynmouth: which village
Lynmouth, at sea level
The harbour village. You are on the water, the two rivers arrive at the end of the street, and every walk along the East Lyn or the coast path east starts from your door. The trade-off is that Lynmouth is in a gorge - it loses the sun earlier, it is busier by day with visitors who have driven down, and getting up to the shops means the cliff railway or a climb.
Lynton, on the clifftop
Wider streets, most of the shops, long views out over the Channel, and evenings that stay light longer. It is the quieter of the two after the day visitors go, and it puts the Valley of the Rocks within a level mile. The trade-off is that anything at the harbour involves a descent and a return.
Outside the villages
Farmhouses, inns and small hotels are scattered across the moor at Brendon, Rockford, Martinhoe, Countisbury, Parracombe, Simonsbath and Porlock. They are quieter, usually cheaper, often better for dogs and walkers, and they need a car. See staying outside the villages.
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Hotels, guest houses, cottages and camping
Hotels and inns
A number of the Victorian hotels built when this coast was first fashionable are still hotels, several of them with dining rooms open to non-residents and views that justify the position. The inns - in the villages and out along the valleys - offer rooms above a bar and are generally the best value for walkers. See hotels, inns and guest houses.
Guesthouses and B&Bs
The largest category by number, and mostly family-run in converted Victorian and Edwardian houses. Breakfast is a serious matter here. Rooms are often small and stairs are often steep - both villages are built on a slope and the buildings are old.
Self-catering
Cottages, farmhouses, converted barns and apartments, in the villages and across the moor, usually let by the week in summer and with short breaks available out of season. Best if you want to cook, walk long days or bring a dog. See self-catering.
Camping and caravans
Valley sites near Lynbridge and Barbrook and a scatter of farm and moorland pitches further out. See camping and caravan sites.
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When to book where to stay in Lynton and Lynmouth
July and August, half terms and event weekends fill early - both villages are small and the total number of beds is finite. If your trip is built around the regatta or a walking festival, book the room first and everything else afterwards.
Outside those weeks, where to stay in Lynton and Lynmouth becomes a matter of preference rather than availability. Spring and autumn are the best value and, for walking, the better seasons. Winter has the fewest options open and the shortest days, and some places close entirely for part of it, so confirm rather than assume.
The pattern is set by two things: the size of the villages and the walking season. There is no volume of beds here to absorb a busy weekend, so the good properties go early for school holidays, for the late-May and August bank holidays, and for the walking weeks of May, June and September. Winter is the opposite - quiet, cheaper, and with a real chance that the place you wanted is available at a fortnight's notice, though some of the smaller guest houses close for part of it.
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Booking direct, or through a platform
Almost everything here is independently owned. The hotels are family businesses or small groups, the guest houses are people’s homes, and the cottages are let by their owners or through a regional agency. That has two practical consequences.
The first is that a telephone call still works, and often works better than a form. Parking, a ground-floor room, a dog, a late arrival over Countisbury in the dark - none of these fit a booking platform’s fields, and all of them are settled in two minutes by asking.
The second is that the person answering has usually lived here for years. They know which walks are running with water, which pub is doing food on a Tuesday in February, and whether the cliff railway is on its winter timetable. That is worth more than a loyalty scheme, and it is the reason the local advice on this site keeps pointing back to the people you are staying with.
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Practical things worth asking about
Whatever else you settle, these five questions decide whether where to stay in Lynton and Lynmouth turns out to be the right choice on arrival rather than a compromise you live with for a week.
- Parking. Both villages are short of it. Ask whether the room comes with a space, especially in Lynmouth.
- Stairs. Buildings here are tall, old and narrow. Ask about ground-floor rooms if that matters.
- Dogs. Widely accepted, particularly in the inns and self-catering, but confirm rather than turn up.
- Evening meals. Out of season the eating options contract sharply, so a hotel with a dining room is worth more in February than in August.
- Arrival. If you are coming over Countisbury or Porlock Hill for the first time, allow more time than the mileage suggests - see getting here.
One more question is worth asking than most people ask: how the property handles arrival. Several of the older buildings in both villages sit up steps or along lanes a car cannot reach, and hosts who deal with that every week will have an answer ready. It is a two-minute conversation that decides whether the first hour of the holiday is spent carrying bags uphill.
Common questions
Is it better to stay in Lynton or Lynmouth?
Lynmouth if you want the harbour, the rivers and walks from the door, and do not mind the gorge losing the light early. Lynton if you want the shops, long views, quieter evenings and a level mile to the Valley of the Rocks. The cliff railway makes either workable.
When should you book accommodation in Lynton and Lynmouth?
Months ahead for July, August, half terms and event weekends - the total number of beds in both villages is small. Spring and autumn are easier and better value, and better for walking.
Is there parking at hotels in Lynmouth?
Sometimes, and it is worth asking before booking. Both villages are short of parking and Lynmouth in particular fills early on summer days.
Are dogs welcome in Lynton and Lynmouth accommodation?
Widely, especially in the inns and self-catering cottages, but confirm when booking rather than arriving with a dog and hoping.
