Short answer: Chagford is built around a medieval square and everything is on it, so you park once and walk. Both pubs, both cafés and the shops are a minute apart — which in December weather is the whole argument.
Dartmoor, free and on the doorstep. And the village itself, which is a working one rather than a tourist one, so it has life in it between Christmas and New Year.
Park at Fingle Bridge and take the Hunter's Path up through the Teign gorge towards Castle Drogo. The best walk on Dartmoor's eastern edge, and it makes a proper morning of it. The castle itself will be closed, but the path and the gorge are free.
Out on the high moor — stunted oaks covered in rare mosses, and one of the last temperate rainforests in England. Extraordinary in December mist, and a proper moorland walk with no shelter.
The square and the lanes around it. Twenty minutes, and the granite looks exactly right under a winter sky.
Ring before you set off. Boxing Day hours are decided late, change year to year, and are the single thing most likely to be wrong online. A two-minute call beats a wasted drive.
Narrow, high-hedged and not built for two cars. Take them slowly, particularly in the wet, and be ready to reverse to a passing place.
One Dartmoor warning that matters more on Boxing Day than any other day: the roads are unfenced with ponies and sheep standing on them, the weather turns fast, and the light goes by four. Start early and tell someone where you are going.
If you want to eat out, book now rather than in December. The places that do serve on Boxing Day fill weeks ahead, and the ones that do not take bookings have queues instead.
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