Short answer: Dartmoor starts a short drive north of Plymouth, and a car is effectively required — bus services are sparse and stop short of the good walking. Dartmoor Zoo is the easiest first stop, and its annual pass costs about the same as a day ticket.
Closer than people expect. Plymouth sits at the southern edge of Dartmoor and you can be on open moor within half an hour of leaving the city. That proximity is one of the real arguments for Plymouth as a base — few cities in England have a national park that near.
This is the honest part. Bus services onto the moor from Plymouth are sparse and seasonal, and they stop short of where the walking gets good. If you are car-free, Dartmoor is the one thing a Plymouth trip cannot easily deliver.
The easiest moor-edge day with children, with big cats and a drive-up option if walking is difficult. The annual pass costs about the same as a single day ticket, which makes it absurd value if there is any chance of a second visit.
River swimming for children, wild ponies, and £5 all-day parking. It is forest and river rather than open moor, which makes it more sheltered and a better bet with a family or in poor weather.
Access is free and unrestricted across most of Dartmoor. The car parks fill early at the popular points, and the weather changes faster than visitors expect — it can be bright in Plymouth and low cloud with horizontal rain on the moor forty minutes later.
If you only have an afternoon, the moor edge rather than the middle is the right call: Dartmoor Zoo or Bellever gets you the landscape and back in time for dinner on the Barbican.
See the full Plymouth guide, filtered by who's with you.
Plan your day near Plymouth →