Why Glamping in South Devon Feels Different Here

What Glamping Near Dartmouth Actually Looks Like

The view arrives before anything else does. The Channel, broad and shifting below the clifftop. Light moves across it in a way that changes by the hour. On clear mornings, it is the kind of thing that makes people reach for their cameras and share selfies on their socials.

The wide variety of accommodation at Leonards Cove means you have every option available. From a cabin and a large caravan to our glamping bell tents and a beautiful yurt. All of them put you close to that view. Patio doors open onto it. The coast path runs alongside the park. Blackpool Sands is 15-minutes on foot to the south, through gorse and clifftop air that smells of salt and, on warmer days, something faintly warm and herbal from the scrubland.

If your accommodation has a hot tub, the evening version of this view is its own thing entirely… the last light going off the headland, the Channel darkening below, the warmth of the water against the cool of the air, while you sit lazily under the stars, enjoying every moment.

The Special Sounds and Textures of a Stay

Glamping in the South West tends to trade on scenery. Leonards Cove has that, but it’s the sensory side of a stay that guests remember and tend to mention when they come back.

The sounds experienced along the South West Coast Path, the particular quiet of a clifftop morning, with seagulls and the breeze whipping by. It’s not silence exactly, as you can always hear the sea, but it’s more like a melody from nature and the quietest place most guests have been in a while. The smell of the air when you first step outside in the morning… or the coolness of the evening after a warm afternoon on the path… those are the memorable moments.

These are not grand experiences. They are the small, specific ones that turn out to be what you were actually craving all along.

Blackpool Sands and the South West Coast Path

Blackpool Sands is 15-minutes south on the South West Coast Path from Leonards Cove. It’s the kind of walk that can take longer, as you will find yourself constantly stopping to take pictures all the way there. The sea below, the sheer cliffs, the endless horizon and the flora and fauna along the way. The South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty folds away to the right. You may also see the occasional dog and their owner moving ahead of you on the path with the confident air of someone who has done this before. They are the lucky ones.

The bay itself earns the word beautiful without making a fuss about it. Clear water. A curve of sea meeting land. The wooded valley rises behind. Dartmouth is ten minutes by road in the other direction, worth an evening out or a day trip if you’ve not been before.

Returning guests often say the same thing about the walk… they had forgotten how good it felt to go somewhere without pressure, appointments or things to do,  and so often they ask if they can extend their stay slightly because just as they start to feel properly relaxed, they have to pack their bags and head home again.

Photographs You Will Actually Use

There’s a difference between a view you photograph because it seems like the right thing to do, and a view you photograph because you genuinely cannot help it. When you go Glamping near Dartmouth at Leonards Cove, you will find it difficult to put your camera down.

The experience of being under canvas is so special that even those who aren’t true campers still love to go glamping and record everything about their stay.

The clifftop light changes quickly. Mornings are soft. Late afternoon turns the Channel golden. The South West Coast Path offers the same view from twenty slightly different angles. The hot tub at dusk. The fire pit. The patio doors open wide. Blackpool Sands before the tide comes in. The cosy places you can book to eat.

Guests who stay once fall under the spell of this relatively undiscovered part of South Devon and can’t wait to return, bringing their friends and family. 

Why People Come Back

Ask returning guests what brings them back to Leonards Cove, and most of them find it difficult to be precise. The place is the answer… the particular combination of the view, the South West Coast Path, the evening quiet, the proximity to Dartmouth and Blackpool Sands, the sense of being properly out of the way for a few days, immersed in nature.

Glamping in this part of South Devon is a wonderful way to experience the area, and guests who have tried it already understand this.