A compact landscape where wild hills meet the Somerset coast.
The Quantock Hills National Landscape, in Somerset, was the first area in England to be designated for protection back in 1956. Though modest in size, the Quantocks pack in an incredible variety of landscapes: open heather moorland, ancient oak woodlands, rolling farmland, and sea views from high ridges. It’s a place of quiet beauty and big horizons, perfect for walking holidays and outdoor adventures.
This landscape is threaded with ancient trackways and hollow lanes, many immortalised in the Romantic poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth, who once lived and walked here. From windswept summits like Wills Neck to the coastal villages of Kilve and St Audries, the Quantocks invite both short circular walks and long-distance routes linking into Exmoor and the Somerset Levels.
Counties: Somerset
Coleridge Way
A 51-mile trail from Nether Stowey to Lynmouth on the Exmoor coast, celebrating the landscapes that inspired the Romantic poets.
Quantock Greenway
A 36-mile circuit through the Quantock Hills, passing through woodlands, ridges, and rural villages.
South West Coast Path (nearby)
While not running directly through the Quantocks, the path touches the coastal edge at Minehead and Kilve, linking the hills with Exmoor and the wider coast.
Wills Neck & Lydeard Hill Circular
A classic short walk to the highest point in the Quantocks (386m), with panoramic views across Exmoor, the Mendips, and South Wales.
They lie in west Somerset, stretching from the town of Taunton to the Bristol Channel coast.
The Coleridge Way is the signature long-distance trail, while Wills Neck and Lydeard Hill offer the best short ridge-top circuits.
Yes — there are easy woodland and heathland walks, as well as short coastal routes around Kilve.
Late summer brings purple heather on the ridges; spring offers bluebells in the woodlands; autumn colours are especially vivid.
Red deer, buzzards, skylarks, and butterflies are commonly spotted, especially on the open heath and in wooded combes.