Short answer: Tavistock is a stannary town built on tin and copper on the western edge of Dartmoor. The Meadows is a large free park, the Pannier Market runs Tuesday to Saturday, and the Cornish Arms does near-Michelin cooking at pub prices.
A handsome stannary town on the western edge of Dartmoor, built first on tin and then on copper, and a genuinely good base for the moor. It is a working town rather than a tourist village, which means proper shops, a market and pubs that are busy in February.
The Meadows is a large free park between the River Tavy and the Tavistock Canal, with a zip wire, playground and BMX pump track. Dartmoor itself begins at the edge of town — 368 square miles of open access land, free to walk.
A Victorian covered market hall running Tuesday to Saturday with a different theme most days — antiques, crafts, produce. It is indoors, which makes it the wet-day answer as well as a reason to come.
The Cornish Arms is the standout — near-Michelin cooking at pub prices, with a mango soufflé people travel for. The Annex on Drake Road is a tapas and wine bar and the highest-rated restaurant in the town. Malthouse does burgers and proper cocktails with a good outdoor area. Granito Lounge is the all-day option.
Tavistock has no railway station. The nearest mainline station is Plymouth, about half an hour south, with buses on to Tavistock. Okehampton, on the reopened Dartmoor Line, is the other rail option for the moor.
Tavistock sits a few miles from the Tamar, and Cornwall starts on the other bank. Our sister guide, Cornwall Days Out, covers the far side.
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