Lundy

Visiting Lundy is a proper adventure, something that most climbers dream about but few ever experience. 11 miles off the Devon coast, this tiny island is a cliff-climbers’ paradise. Acres of granite as far as the eye can see, with big, classic routes right up to the highest grades. One pub, a shop, no roads, climb on Lundy and your only company will be the birds and the seals. Bliss.

Grades

Trad: Intermediate to Expert

The Dewerstone

On the southern edge of Dartmoor national park, the Dewerstone crags rise majestically out of beautiful ancient woodland above the river Plym. Sheltered, secluded and packed with mega classics, this is a great venue to learn multi pitch techniques, with a quality collection of routes on the easy side.

Grades

Trad: Beginner to Intermediate

Baggy Point

Baggy is a cracking sea cliff venue on the north coast, packed with quality slab routes with a good spread across the easier grades. Although most lines are tide-dependent, you can almost always climb something here, and the sandstone provides excellent protection, superb friction, and great views over to Lundy island.

Grades

Trad: Beginner to Intermediate

Chudleigh Rocks

This south-facing limestone outcrop is a pretty safe bet for a dry day when other venues are hit by rain. With a mixture of single and multi pitch classics across all grades, climbing here is a real treat, on steep, technical lines but with excellent protection and easy access.

Grades

Trad: Beginner to Expert

The Culm Coast

These soaring fins of black rock are a true geological marvel, jutting out into the sea in wildly improbable formations that boggle the mind. Easy this ain’t - the top grades here are among some of the hardest and most serious trad in the world - but if you can keep a cool head and plough on through the odd bit of loose rock, you’ll be rewarded with some of the most striking, unusual and testing routes that the UK has to offer.

Grades

Trad: Intermediate to Expert

Best of the rest

The Tors - Synonymous with Dartmoor national park, these ancient, weathered granite outcrops are packed with excellent trad and bouldering across the grades. Gritstone fans will be very much at home here, with oodles of friction, slopers and wide cracks galore.

Berry Head - This monster limestone cliff is pretty out there - even just the approach involves a solo sea-level traverse on a pumpy Severe. The excellent lines that weave up through the overhangs are worth the effort and more though, plus the extraordinary rock formations are truly something to behold.