Princetown

Princetown is a village in Dartmoor, in the English county of Devon. The village sits within the Dartmoor National Park. At around above sea level, Princetown is the highest settlement on the moor. It is a popular destination and hub for hikers, walkers and cyclists traversing the moors.

Get in
Connected by the B3212 with Yelverton, where it joins the A386 to Plymouth. The B3357 connects it with Tavistock and, further east, to some outstanding moorland scenery.

Thrre is no train service. Details of buses can be found from

If you are reliant on public transport, Plymouth is the nearest city, with trains and coaches linking it to many other cities within the UK. From the Bretonside bus station in Plymouth there are buses (routes 83, 84 and 86, and route 82 on summer Sundays) to either Tavistock or Yelverton, from either of these places you can get the bus number 98 to Princetown (although it does not run on Sundays).

From Plymouth Airport you can walk to a bus stop to get any of the buses (82/83/84 or 86), although it would be a lot easier to get a taxi to Princetown from there. A taxi from the airport to Princetown would cost about £20, from Plymouth city centre it would be around £30 (prices as of July 2010).

Get around
Princetown is not a large place, walking (or pushing a pram or wheelchair, or using another mobility aid) will get you around the place just fine. The main road that runs through Princetown has adequate pavements, in a good state of repair, you won't have to walk in the road (which is common in a lot of the smaller villages).

See


In the middle of Princetown there is a war memorial. There is an interesting granite drinking fountain just on the right-hand-side of the Prince Of Wales pub, although apparently it ran dry shortly after being installed, over a century ago. A large monument (by Princetown standards) commemorates the Silver Jubilee of Queen Victoria, this stands right outside the Visitor Centre. There is an original K6 red telephone booth in Princetown, directly across the road from the Old Police Station cafe.



The Arts and Crafts Centre is directly across the road from the Visitor Centre. It contains small units available for people to rent and use as studios, for a variety of arts, such as painting in a variety of media, photography, felt making, jewellery making, and fabric work. It is open on most days for members of the public to look around. 

Do
Princetown is ideally situated as a base to walk and hike from. Even if you don't want a long hike, a 15 minute walk from the Visitor Centre car park, going along the former railway line (now a path for walkers and cyclists) will reward you with marvellous views across Dartmoor - providing it is a clear day! Also this little walk has a good view of Princetown Brewery (not normally open for public visits) - the highest brewery in England.

Eat


The general store (which also has the post office in it) is useful for purchasing general grocery items, it also has hot snacks such as pasties and sausage rolls available.

Drink
There are two pubs in Princetown which provide a range of hot meals, these being The Prince Of Wales and The Plume of Feathers. The Prince Of Wales has its own brewery, and supplies many other pubs with its own ales. These are Jail Ale, Dartmoor IPA and Legend.



Go next
Whichever way you go, the scenery is startlingly good.