Blaauwberg Beach, with Table Mountain in the background

Day 1  Depart Cape Town     O/night Langebaan            Approx. 135 kms
Drive north from Cape Town, along the coastal road that leads to Bloubergstrand, which is Afrikaans for 'blue mountain beach'  -- also known as Blaauwbergstrand or Blaauwberg Beach. Take your choice. Located just twenty kilometres from downtown Cape Town, the Bloubergstrand area boasts almost fifty kilometres of white sandy beaches, all with magnificent views of Table Mountain; which dominates the landscape across Table Bay.

Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and many other political prisoners were once incarcerated, lies just off the coast at Bloubergstrand, though if you want to visit the island you will have to take the ferry that leaves from Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. Ferries depart at 09.00, 11.00, 13.00 and 15.00, weather permitting. The standard tour to Robben Island, which is now a World Heritage site and museum, takes three-and-a-half hours, including the two thirty-minute ferry rides.

It was the small (but very significant) Battle of Blaauwberg in 1806, also known as the Battle of Cape Town, that led to British rule in South Africa. The battle occurred during Europe's lengthy Napoleonic Wars. At the time, the Cape Colony belonged to the French-controlled Netherlands (then known as the Batavian Republic). As the sea route around the Cape was important to the British, they chose to seize the colony in order to prevent the route from coming under French control. The rest, as they say, is history.

Big Bay, on the west side of Bloubergstrand, is a very popular kite-surfing spot: the constant trade winds offer great surf most of the year. Big Bay hosts several kite-surfing contests each year, including Red Bull’s LEN10 Megaloop Challenge. If you fancy trying your hand at a spot of kite-surfing while in the area (or are keen to take a couple of lessons), call in at the Blaauwberg Visitor Information Centre for recommendations on accredited kite-surfing operators.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD7tLxvw0M4

While at Bloubergstrand, foodies will want to check out Ons Huisie (which translates from Afrikaans as ‘our small home’). The house has been there since shortly after the Battle of Blouberg, and is something of an icon. The menu includes several traditional Afrikaner dishes: tuck in to a potjie of fresh fish and seafood (including the local white mussels) cooked in a mild curry, or try the ostrich bobotie (based on South Africa’s national dish) – but leave some room for the souskluitjies, dumplings smothered in a cinnamon syrup, for dessert.

From Bloubergstrand continue on to Mamre, home to a Moravian mission station dating back to the beginning of the nineteenth century. It’s about a forty-five minute drive from the dune-backed coastline. The village was first known as Groene Kloof, or ‘green valley’, a Dutch East India Company post that was established at the beginning of the 1700s, but abandoned by the end of the century.

The mission station church is still used for services, and is packed to capacity on any given Sunday. The cottages, garden, parsonage and church have managed to hold on to their original charm, and there are also a few hartbeeshuisies, or reed houses, in the village, all of them whitewashed with black thatched roofs.

The donkey taxi at Mamre's Moravian church

If you arrive in Mamre in the morning, you might be tempted to explore the town in a ‘donkey taxi’ -- a four-hour guided tour that starts off at the Moravian church and takes in all the local area, with a river-side picnic included: it’s part of a ‘community tourism’ initiative, and gives you a different outlook on life in the region.

From Mamre, it’s a half-hour drive back to the coast and Grotto Bay. The beach here is excitingly wild and craggy. There are some clapboard villas standing on the dunes overlooking the beach, but not enough to spoil the dramatic windswept scenery.

The Grotto Bay Coastal and Nature Reserve is part of the Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve, which covers 378 000 hectares of coastal lowland plains – stretching from Diep River, south of Cape Town, all the way up to Velddrif, where the Berg River flows into St Helena Bay.

Feeling energetic? There are plenty of hiking trails around Grotto Bay – plus some great of bird watching opportunities too. And you’ll possibly catch a glimpse of steenbok, ostrich and large tortoises while hiking in the area.

Flowers in bloom at Grotto Bay

Darling, a small town some twenty-five kilometres inland from Grotto Bay is your next destination. One of the best times to visit is in spring (August to October), when a thousand or more different flowering plants emerge, some of them native to the region and not to be found anywhere else.

While Darling is traditionally known for its spectacular wildflowers, it has a lot more to offer visitors. Explore the town on foot, and browse through the antique and craftwork shops. The town sits between vineyards and golden wheat fields and has its own wine route, which takes visitors to five local wine cellars. The cool breezes off the Atlantic and the long, hot summers, help to produce some stunning local wines.

Head for the award-winning Groote Post winery, which is located on an historic eighteenth-century Cape Dutch farm. Groote Post has a popular restaurant called Hilda's Kitchen, where you’ll find honest country cooking -- it's open for lunch from Wednesday to Sunday year round.

The entrance to Groote Post vineyard

Cloof is another Darling winery worth visiting: it’s home to the hardly forgettable Very Sexy Shiraz label. Cloof is also the venue of Rocking The Daisies, one of South Africa’s biggest annual music festivals: held in October, the three-day mega-gig attracts thousands and is staged in the grounds of the estate. There are camping facilities available during the event.

From Darling it’s about an hour’s drive to Langebaan, an excellent base to explore the scenic West Coast National Park. Plan on staying a couple of nights.

Accommodation options: The Farmhouse Hotel, Glenfinnan Guest House, Harrison’s House

Day 2 Langebaan
Langebaan is located in an area that was once used by leaders of the indigenous Khoi nation to hold their get-togethers. The Khoi people have lived in the area since the fifth century, and were known to the early European settlers as Hottentots though some today consider this term derogatory. The oldest known footprint of a modern human, known as Eve’s Footprint, was discovered on the banks of the Langebaan lagoon in 1995. The fossil footprint is said to be about 117,000 years old.

The road into Langebaan

The European presence began in the fifteenth century, when French seal hunters arrived in the area. They were followed by British and Dutch seafarers. The early Portuguese navigators somehow missed Langebaan completely, their nearest landfall being St Helena Bay to the north.

In the late nineteenth-century, Langebaan was home to the biggest whaling station in the southern hemisphere: it only closed down in 1960. And during World War Two, giant Catalina flying boats, used to track German submarines in the Atlantic, made Langebaan one of their bases.

Boasting sunshine nearly the whole year round, safe waters and reliable winds Langebaan today has become another South African water sports paradise. Like Blouburgstrand, it’s a great destination for kite and wind surfers -- and equally popular with water-skiers and kayakers.

Langebaan’s credentials as an internationally acclaimed wetland make it a  ‘must’ with nature lovers. It is known as the ‘bird capital of South Africa and attracts thousands of migratory birds every year. The tidal mud flats of the lagoon and surrounding salt marshes are also home to numerous resident bird species, including pelicans, Cape gannets and flamingos, as well as the world’s largest breeding colony of black harriers (an almost endangered species).

You won’t come across the ‘big five’ in the West Coast National Park but you’ll most likely meet up with the ‘slow four’ -- tortoises, sand sharks, porcupines and dune moles. Langebaan is also a popular area for watching the playful antics of giant southern right whales between June and November.

Postberg Flower Reserve sits on the other side of the lagoon (which calls for a little backtracking) -- the best time to visit is in August and September, when this part of the national park shows off its spectacular rainbow coloured carpet of spring flowers. On a good day you may encounter eland, wildebeest, hartebeest, bontebok, springbok, kudu and mountain zebra grazing amongst the flowers at Postberg. Check with the local tourist office for the best ways to discover the national park, which differ from season to season.

Bontebok springing through Postberg Flower Reserve

Langebaan offers a good choice of restaurants. It would be hard to call Die Strandloper, which is something of a local icon, a ‘restaurant’ – it’s a rustic party place set on the beach: no walls, just fish nets; the seating is wooden planks; and the ‘kitchen’ is a braai, or barbecue pit. You eat off paper plates using a mussel shell as a spoon. It’s funky, and costs a couple of hundred rand per person (no credit cards) to help yourself to ten courses of traditional West Coast food for a couple of hours or so – think seafood, fish, lamb stew and so on. Bring your own drinks (or buy from the beach bar).

For something more elegant, the restaurant at the Farmhouse Hotel specialises in traditional cuisine such as oxtail, bobotie and homemade chicken pie, as well as seafood fresh from the Langebaan lagoon.

Day 3 Depart Langebaan   O/night Lamberts  Bay Approx 180 kms
Heading north, start the day by driving to Paternoster, a small, picturesque fishing village about forty-five kilometres from Langebaan. You’ll pass through Vredenburg, very much a business hub for the West Coast.

Along the way, the West Coast Fossil Park, which lies between Langebaan and Vredenburg, gives you the chance to travel back in time -- around five million years or so. A couple of hundred exotic species from the past have been uncovered in the area, including giant pigs, sabre-tooth cats, short-necked giraffes, and the three-toed ancestor of the horse (known as a hyparion). The fossil park is open weekdays from 08.00 to 16.00. Weekend opening times vary according to the season. Apart from an informative tour, visitors can watch palaeontologists at work on their excavations.

The West Coast Fossil Park

As with most of the coastline in this part of the world, May and June sees the breathtaking appearance of a tumult of wild flowers in the surrounding hills and fields; transforming a dry landscape into a sea of colour almost overnight.

On a wide bay, sheltered by rocky outcrops and backed by the Cape Columbine Nature Reserve, Paternoster is a laid-back and refreshingly offbeat place in comparison with Langebaan and Bloubergstrand.  It derives its name from the prayers of shipwrecked Portuguese sailors centuries ago. One of the last traditional fishing villages on the West Coast, Paternoster is filled with old, whitewashed houses, many of them still fishermen's homes.

Paternoster also boasts seemingly endless pristine beaches. For much of the year you’ll delight in watching whales and dolphins frolicking in the Atlantic. And for bird lovers, the area is home to more than a couple of hundred bird species. A range of seabirds, including cormorants, sacred ibis and the oystercatcher use the local coastline as a breeding ground.

Local activities include beach buggy trips along the coastline; long walks on the beaches; fishing, boat and land-based crayfishing; diving and spear fishing; hiking, mountain biking and sea kayaking. And to round it off, Paternoster has several great fish and seafood restaurants – check out the Voorstrandt, an old wooden fisherman’s house built with corrugated roofing sitting right on the beach: reservations are necessary as it’s very popular with foodies. +27 22 752 2229

Paternoster is famous for its abundant crayfish (called kreef in Afrikaans) and on a good day you can bargain for them with traders on the roadside. If possible, make Paternoster a weekday visit as the local laid back lifestyle has won over many Cape Town residents, who make this their 'second home' over weekends and holidays.

Crayfish for sale in Paternoster

From Paternoster it’s about a fifteen minute drive on to St Helena Bay, known locally as Die Agterbaai, which is Afrikaans for the ‘back bay’ – think white rocks and a cobalt sea. The bay was discovered by the Portuguese Vasco da Gama at the end of the fifteenth century while he was on his way to India.

It was on the shores of this bay that the first encounter between a European explorer and the indigenous Khoi people took place: it was not the happiest occasion as a misunderstanding arose and fearing attack, the Khois began throwing spears, wounding Da Gama in the thigh.

These days, St Helena Bay is one of the world's major fishing centres. More than half of South Africa’s annual fish processing is done here.

This beautiful bay is another home to whales and dolphins. From August to November, the southern right whales come in to the bay to calve, and can be viewed from the shore all around the bay. Humpback whales also visit the area. Dolphins are to be seen in large numbers year round, you’ll often see large groups chasing fish along the shore.

A little trivia: St Helena Bay is one of only three natural bays on the mainland coastlines of the world where one can see views of both a sunrise and a sunset over the sea.

After St Helena Bay, your road trip takes you east to Velddriff, which sits on the north bank of the Berg River, close to where it flows into the Atlantic. Like neighbouring St Helena Bay, the town is very much involved in fishing, and is part of the Crayfish Route. Bokkoms are a local speciality, salted and dried fish (usually mullet) that you will see hanging up to dry on rickety wooden jetties.

Together with the adjacent towns of Laaiplek and Port Owen (which has more than three kilometres of waterways and a thriving marina), Velddrif offers an array of leisure activities and is a very popular holiday destination. Drop by at the West Coast Gallery, which represents the work of more than a hundred artists and craftsmen in the area.

For nature lovers, the estuary is an important bird habitat, home to around thirty thousand birds, including some eighty species only to be found on the Cape coast.

It’s a couple of hours drive north to Lamberts Bay from Velddrif on R366, a road that for the most part hugs the Atlantic coastline with its long stretches of uninterrupted white beaches.

While in Lamberts Bay, foodies may want to head out to the Bosduifklip restaurant, which sits on a farm just outside of the town, and dine under the stars (or in a roofed stone kraal). Barbecued mussel kebabs, smoked snoek pate, crayfish, Cape Malay curried fish, lamb on the spit, and sweet dumplings are all on the buffet menu. The restaurant does not take credit cards.

Accommodation options: Lamberts Bay Hotel,  Raston Guest House, Sybille Guest House

Day 4 Depart Lamberts Bay  O/night Piketberg   Approx 165kms
Start the day early with a visit to the internationally famous seabird breeding colonies on Bird Island. It’s really the big attraction of Lamberts Bay, giving nature lovers the opportunity for an ‘up close and personal’ experience with Cape gannets, cormorants and African penguins. Cape fur seals still frequent the rocks on the sea side of the island.

The island is just a hundred metres offshore of Lambert’s Bay, and accessible across a breakwater. The gannet lookout at Bird Island gives you a ringside seat to the birds’ unique mating dances while you ‘tune in’ to the incredible noise of thousands of gannets on their nests. Bird Island is one of only six sites worldwide where Cape gannets breed, and it is also the only breeding site with easy access to the public.

Gannet colony on Bird Island

The signposted interpretation route on Bird Island gives interesting snippets of information about the island; and the visitor centre houses a guano museum, coffee shop, curio ship, aquarium, auditorium and penguin pool.

Visiting hours are from 07.00 to 19.00 in the summer, and until 17.00 in the winter. Entrance may be closed down if rough seas make it too risky  to cross the breakwater.

After exploring Bird Island, head south-east to Piketberg, passing through Clanwilliam and Citrusdal along the way. The dam on the Olifants River near Clanwilliam provides irrigation water to the rich agricultural region downstream.

You have reached an area know as Swaartland is Afrikaans, which means ‘black land’, a reference to the dark rhinoceros bush that thrives in this part of the world.

As you drive through this region you may wonder about the verdant green bushes that also fill the landscape: it’s rooibos (pronounced roy-boss), a remarkably versatile herb used to make tea, which is sometimes called red tea, or redbush tea.

Rooibos tea only grows in this Western Cape region: farmers have tried to grow rooibos in Australia, the United States, and even China – but each time they've failed.

Rooibos tea remained virtually unheard of for centuries, known only to the Khoi people, who used it as an herbal remedy for a wide range of ailments. It was re-discovered in the late 1700s by a Dutch botanist, and for generations the tea was enjoyed by South Africans for it's cool, sweet, refreshing flavour: it contains no caffeine and has just a tiny amount of tannin. It has become a trendy drink worldwide in recent years, with exports from Clanwilliam’s Groenkol Rooibos tea estate quadrupling over the past decade.

Citrusdal is a bustling rural town set amongst lush green citrus orchards at the foot of the Cederberg Mountains. As the name suggests, the town sits in an area dominated by citrus farming, though it is also known for its natural hot water springs.

If you fancy relaxing in the 43º C hot springs water, the self-catering Baths Natural Hot Water Springs Resort is just south-east of Citrusdal. In addition to the hot and cold water swimming pools and hot mineral spring water baths, the resort has some good hiking trails and bird watching. Something you should know: there are no TV's in the units, and the nearest cell phone reception is about a kilometre away.

Hot springs at Citrusdal

Piketberg stands in the middle of undulating fields of wheat, green vineyards and flowering yellow canola in the foothills of the Piketberg Mountains, a range of low sandstone mountains.

A perfect way to view the town and surrounding areas is to take the tarred road through the Versveld pass to the top of Piket-bo-Berg, the mountain behind the town, winding your way through an area of beautiful farms, where protea and an abundance of apples, pears, peaches and oranges are grown, mainly for the export market.

The views from the mountain in either direction are breathtaking – to the west lies the coastline, to the east are rolling farm lands and mountain ranges: on a clear day Table Mountain can be seen in the distance from the top of the pass. The area was inhabited by the Khoi and San people long before the arrival of European settlers and there is still well preserved rock art to be explored around the mountain.

Trail riding near Piketberg

Trail riding is becoming popular in Piketberg, and can be arranged through Piquet Horse Trails at Excelsior Farm, which you will pass on the mountain drive. The rides range from a one-hour ‘mountain meander’ to a full day in the saddle. Excelsior Farm also offers accommodation if you wanted to stay a while and do some more horseback exploring – experienced riders and beginners are both catered for.

Accommodation options. Feathers Inn Guest House, Dunn’s Castle Guest House, Piketberg Hotel

Day 5. Depart Piketberg   Arrive Cape Town Approx. 170 kms
From Piketberg you head for Tulbagh and on to Wellington, first passing through picturesque Porterville at the foot of the Olifants River Mountains. The region is famous for the rarest of flowers, the disa uniflora and Porterville is the only place in South Africa where you can see large fields of these flowers.

If you want to spend more time in this area, the Dasklip Pass leads you to the Groot Winterhoek Nature Reserve. And if you feel like takinga break from driving, there are hiking trails in the area, one of the most popular being De Hel, which has one of the largest natural rock pools in South Africa. The Waterfall Trail is another favourite with hikers, so named because of the more than twenty waterfalls that flow down towards the region’s vast undulating wheat fields.

Tulbagh is a little less than fifty kilometres south-east of Porterville, nestled in amongst the Winterhoek, Witzenberg and Obiqua Mountains, which surround it on three sides --providing one of the most beautiful settings in the Western Cape. Then comes Wellington and the home run back to Cape Town via Paarl.

For more information on Tulbagh, Wellington and Paarl, and a wine route that takes you to some of the Western Cape’s best vineyards, check out our Route 62 itinerary.

If you need to hire a car to travel the Western Cape, or other parts of South Africa and neighbouring countries, Drive South Africa is recommended.

Heidelberg castle

Day 1. Depart Heidelberg  O/night Baden-Baden  Approx:140 kms
Often called one of Germany’s most romantic cities, Heidelberg is dominated by its castle, which sits on a plateau halfway down the Königstuhl (the king's throne) mountain. Built as a fort, then converted into a residential palace, the castle is a mix of styles from Gothic to Renaissance. It offers wonderful views over the city and the Neckar river.

You can either walk to the castle using the centuries old streets and stairs or take the funicular railway (bergbahn), which goes  to the top of the mountain. Heidelberg has the distinction of having both the oldest and the most modern funicular railways in Germany.

Take a tour of the castle to learn about its history and architecture. One of the favourite attractions is the Grosses Fass, one of the world’s biggest wine barrels. Dating back to the mid-1700s, the extraordinary wooden barrel has a capacity of around 220,000 litres (the makings of a gigantic hangover). It was built because taxes in olden days were partly paid in wine.

Heidelberg’s old town (Altstadt) is another highlight, with its narrow lanes and quaint old houses. The Alte Brucke (Old Bridge) is made of nine red sandstone arches, all more than 200 years old; while the bridge spanning the Neckar has an even older medieval gateway.

As a university city with much tradition (think Student Prince), Heidelberg also has a jail just for students, known as the studentenkarze. Although it closed in 1914, you can still visit the 500-year-old jail, with its original fixtures and student graffiti from days gone by.

After enjoying the city, it’s time to head out to the attractive Baden countryside to join Baden Asparagus Route. All along the way from mid-April to June 24 the word spargel  (aparagus) on restaurant and cafe chalkboards signals the arrival of the new crop. Dive in and check out the spargelkarte, the special asparagus menu: some places offer a one-price all-you-can-eat asparagus feast.

South-west Germany takes its food. Many restaurants in the region are members of the Schmeck den Süden (A Taste of the South),  an association that guarantees  only local produce is used in the preparation of meals. All the Taste of the South restaurants are checked regularly to ensure that you enjoy local produce, prepared with care.

Nowhere is the ‘white gold’ taken more seriously than in the area around Schwetzingen, the first stop on the Baden Asparagus Route. The town is about ten kilometres south-west of Heidelberg on the L543. (Schwetzingen is 120 kilometres north-west of Stuttgart and just 80 kilometres south of Frankfurt).

The local devotion to asparagus began back in 1650 when Prince Elector Karl Ludwig planted it in the gardens of his summer residence, the elegant Schwetzingen Palace.  A large statue depicting a woman teaching a child how to sort freshly picked asparagus takes pride of place in the town centre.

Tour the palace and gardens. Among its treasures is a mosque with Moorish-style domes, a a bath house carved out of marble, and a splendid Greek-style temple.

Schwetzingen Palace

It was another prince, the arts-loving Prince Elector Karl Theodor, who extended and transformed his ancestors' hunting castle into a luxurious summer residence -- a 'mini Versailles’. Among the other things, he built was a charming rococo-style, 500-seat theatre -- one of Germany's few theatres of its type to have survived in its original state. It is still the venue for operas during the Schwetzingen Festival, which run from April to June each year.

The Tour de Spargel (Asparagus Saturday) at Schwetzingen Palace is held on May 5, and is an excuse for all sorts of fun, from food stalls to music and dancing, as well as asparagus peeling competitions and the crowning of the Asparagus King.

As well as the charming small towns and handsome palaces that you pass as you continue your drive, you will spot dozens of roadside stands (even more), all stacked high with freshly picked asparagus. And every eatery serves this delicious seasonal treat; from the plainest beer cellar to the most elegant restaurant.

Just for the record, Schwetzingen Palace is also a stop along the German Castle Route, which links more than seventy castles and historical palaces.

From Schwetzingen make a short detour from the Baden Asparagus Route and head across the Rhein to Speyer, home to Europe's largest Romanesque church: it’s a UN World Heritage site. The crypt at Speyer Cathedral, which has retained its original condition, is of special interest as eight German emperors and kings, four queens and a number of bishops were buried here.

The crypt at Speyer Cathedral

On your way to Speyer you pass through Hockenheim, where you might want to stop off for an unforgettable driving experience on the Hockenheimring, the famous Formula 1 racing track. You can take a spin on the Hockenheimring every Thursday from April to October.

Leaving Speyer, travel on to Reilingen, which has its own asparagus trail. During the season, you can meet the producers, taste their asparagus and enjoy an excellent Baden wine. Look out for the Trollinger and Spätburgunder (red) and Riesling (white). The main wine production in the area is along the Neckar river between Stuttgart and Heilbronn, not far from the Baden Asparagus Route.

Continuing to Bruchsal, take time to admire the magnificent eighteenth-century baroque palace, and, if you time it right, join in the fun of Europe's largest Asparagus Festival (May 19-21).

A five-euro admission fee gives you access to the palace, the German Museum of Mechanical Musical Instruments, and the municipal museum; all of which are housed in the one building.

The Museum of Mechanical Musical Instruments offers an exhibition of pianos, violins, organs, musical clocks, barrel organs, music boxes and mechanical figures, some dating back more than three centuries. Visitors can operate some; the museum guide will demonstrate others. There is also a silent movie theatre, where a playing piano accompanies one of the first moving pictures.

The next stop is Karlsruhe (about a half-hour drive, depending on traffic), which was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace at a time when Germany was a series of principalities and city-states. The city was planned with the palace tower at the centre and thirty-two streets radiating out from it like the spokes of a wheel, or the ribs of a folding fan – which gave Karlsruhe its German nickname is the Facherstadt, or ‘fan city’. Most of the streets survive today and are full of stores, shops and boutiques – a shopaholics delight.

In June, the stalls on Karlsruhe’s Marktplatz, or market place, are at their most colourful, with an abundance of white asparagus and red strawberries. Stop off at one of the surrounding cafes or restaurants and order braised asparagus with Hollandaise sauce, or cold with vinaigrette.

Karlsruhe is known for its castle, fine botanical garden and an array of museums. Most photographed, however, is a sandstone pyramid on the Marktplatz, marking the grave of the city’s founder. There is also a high tech side to city, with Karlsruhe’s Center for Art and Media Technology (ZKM) housing one of the world’s leading technology and new media museums.

From Karlsruhe continue on to neighbouring Rastatt (about a twenty minute drive), a baroque town with two grand palaces.

German royalty once summered at the Favorite Palace (a lovely name), which is located in the countryside southeast of Rastatt, next to the small village of Forch. It’s known as the Porzellanschloss, or China Palace , and houses a magnificent collection of porcelain. The palace was built for Margravine Sibylla Augusta of Baden-Baden back in the early 1700s -- a woman who obviously had a great eye for design. The sumptuous rooms, all adorned with precious porcelain, are a ‘must’ – especially for those interested in antiques.

From Rastatt the route leads to elegant Baden-Baden, a chic thermal spa resort located at the foothills of the Black Forest, and once favoured by the cream of Europe’s aristocracy. You have the choice of the two town’s thermal baths, the modern Caracalla Spa and the historic Roman-Irish Friedrichsbad, as well as the many up-market spa-hotels.

A tip. Nude bathing is traditional in the Friedrichsbad, while in the modern Caracalla Baths (Caracalla-Therme), everyone wears swimsuits. Both have the same healing mineral waters.

Take a walk in the Lichtentaler Allee, a formal riverside garden, where you’ll tread in the footsteps of Queen Victoria, Napoleon III and the famous nineteenth century Russian author, Fyodor Dostoevsky. For art lovers, the Museum Frieder Burda in Baden-Baden has a marvellous collection of major twentieth century artists, from Picasso to Rothko.

The casino at Baden-Baden

If you are feeling lucky and fancy a night on the town, you might want to drop by the extravagantly decorated casino. With its chandeliers, plush red velvet and ornate gilding, James Bond would feel at home here. You have to be over eighteen and carrying your passport to enter the casino.

Accommodation options: Hotel Am Markt, Hotel Belle Epoque, Hotel Roemerhof

Day 2 Depart Baden-Baden  Arrive Strasbourg   Approx  60 kms
Continue on to Scherzheim, where the Baden Asparagus Route comes to an end in an agricultural landscape with hectare after hectare of asparagus. Eat it straight from the field at a local farm restaurant: it doesn't get fresher than that.

Don’t forget -- there’s no need to feel guilty about indulging: asparagus is good for the heart - and is also claimed to be an aphrodisiac.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=js469oPF88Q

From Scherzheim, follow the Rhein river south-west to Kehl, a frontier town with France, and one with a rather tumultuous history.

Kehl was first mentioned as a village in 1038. It was taken over by France some six hundred years later and transformed into a fortress as it was considered to be part of the defence system of Strasbourg. That did not last long as it was soon annexed by France, only to change hands several times before it came under French administration after World War One. It did not return to German hands until 1953. (It’s a history that has been mirrored in many European border towns over the centuries.)

After crossing the Rhein into France, it’s a short drive to Strasbourg.

Strasbourg is the capital of the Alsace region of France and is probably best known these days for hosting a number of important European institutions, including the European Parliament. It’s also famous for its beautiful historical centre - the Grande Ile,  the first city centre to be classified entirely as a UN World Heritage Site.

Strasbourg

Driving into Strasbourg's old city is relatively easy although there are a few streets that are off limits to cars. Locals mostly get around by tram or the Velhop biking rental system, but all you'll need to explore Strasbourg’s main sights are a good pair of walking shoes.

Waterbus tours are available near the Palais des Rohans (south of the cathedral): they take about forty-five minutes and run around the town centre and the European district.

The centuries-old Cathedrale de Notre Dame soars over Strasbourg's old town, the tallest medieval building in Europe, reaching 142 metres. Work began on the cathedral in 1015, but fire destroyed most of the original Romanesque building. By the time rebuilding started at the end of the twelfth century, the Gothic style had reached Alsace, and stonemasons and master builders who had worked at Chartres were brought in to continue the job. Admission to the cathedral is free.

The other big attraction is Petite France, the popular corner of the Grand Ile, where the Ile river splits up into a number of canals, and cascades through a small area of half-timbered houses. The quarter is full of restaurants, and, of course, an array of souvenir shops.

To experience the city’s other side, head for the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, which houses the works of many artistic greats, including Monet, Picasso and Magritte. There are a dozen or so museums in Strasbourg, all with impressive collections that range from archeology to zoology.

Strasbourg is a foodie’s city, and also appeals to wine and beer lovers. If you want to know more about Alsatian wines, Cave Historique des Hopices de Strasbourg is probably the best place to start as it offers the region’s best quality wines with a free tasting. Riesling, sylvaner and gewurztraminer are among the wine varieties harvested in Alsace.

Meanwhile, Stasbourg’s proximity to Germany means the local winstubs (taverns) serve every shade of beer you can think of. Alsace is the first beer-producing region of France and Strasbourg has many breweries. Best known are Kronenbourg and Fischer, whose factories can be visited for free, with free drinks at the end of the tour.

The city’s winstubs first sprang up while Strasbourg's cathedral was being built, and have since evolved into the cosy, and often family-run, eateries that serve traditional (and sometimes fairly heavy) Alsatian cuisine.

The best foie gras, the famous (and controversial) pate is said to come from Strasbourg; it’s also known locally as ganslewer in Alsatian and gansleber in German. If foie gras is not your thing, another (less costly) local favourite is tarte flambé -- a thin pizza-like dish typically covered in cream, soft white cheese, bacon pieces and onion; often referred to by its Alsatian name flammekueche. And then there’s the omnipresent choucroute garnie, the French name for sauerkraut (pickled cabbage) which usually comes with a thick slice of ham, frankfurter sausages and boiled potatoes.

A good tip. Remember that Strasbourg is a seat of European Parliament, and hotels can be packed out with politicians during the week. But when the weekends come, the city reveals a gentler pace.

Spend the night in Strasbourg, and if you have the time, cross back over the Rhein the next day and head south to historic Freiburg, a city surrounded by vineyards, and an excellent base for trips into the nearby Black Forest.

Accommodation options. Hotel Gutenberg, Best Western Hotel de l’Europe, Comfort Hotel Strasbourg Ouest

Exeter, the old centre

Day 1 Depart Exeter   O/night Chagford   Approx 42 kms
The best way to start off on your trip across the moors and down to the English Riviera would be to spend the night before in Exeter. The M4 from London; the M6 from the northwest and the M1/M42 from the northeast – all link up with the M5 to take you to Exeter. It’s about a four-hour drive from London.

Often put in the shade by the better-known West Country cities of Bath and Bristol, Exeter is well worth exploring. Head for the old quayside with its sandstone warehouses. In days gone by they would have been laden high with Danubian corn, Swedish timber, or wool and cloth waiting to be shipped to Holland. Today, the revitalised quayside, a ten-minute stroll from the city centre, is home to an array of lively pubs, restaurants and shops specialising in arts, crafts, antiques and collectables.

Stop by at the award-winning Quay House Visitor Centre -- located in a former cloth warehouse dating back to the 17th century, where, among other things, there’s an audio-visual show that covers two thousand years of Exeter's fascinating history. It’s open daily between April and October, and at weekends the rest of the year.

The ornate Custom House next to the quayside dates back to 1681, and is said to be England’s oldest purpose-built custom house: it remained in continuous use by the customs and excise for three hundred years. The Exeter Antiques Centre is located next to the Custom House – two galleries with more than a dozen different dealers offering a vast and varied selection of antiques and collectables.

If you are making the trip during the summer, cross the River Exe with the ancient hand-operated passenger rope-ferry, one of only five left in the country: it will take you to more galleries, shops and restaurants that sit around the canal basin opposite. The original ferry began crossing the river back in 1641: these days it operates only in the summer months.

Red Coat Guided Tours operates sixteen different guided city walks every day from April until the end of September. They are free and take in everything from Ghosts and Legends to Murder and Mayhem – there is also a somewhat eerie torchlight tour of Exeter’s 19th century catacombs.

Some tours begin outside the Abode Royal Clarence Hotel in Cathedral Yard, others from the Quay House Visitor Centre. If you don’t want to join a guided tour while in Exeter, you’ll find informative leaflets for self-guided heritage trails of the city at the Visitor Information Centre.

Exeter cathedral is on the ‘must see’ list of most visitors: it boasts the longest Gothic vault in Europe. Originating from a seventh century Saxon abbey, the cathedral was built in two stages -- its two towers were built by the Normans; the nave and the facade were completed a couple of centuries later.

Exeter cathedral

Foodies visiting Exeter would probably opt to stay at the boutique Abode Hotel. It started life as the Royal Clarence Hotel back in 1769 and is said to be the oldest hotel in England: parts of the building go back to the 1500s. Celebrity chef, Michael Caines has one of his restaurants at the Adobe, a sister hotel to one of his other properties, the two Michelin star Giddleigh Park Hotel in Chagford, on the edge of Dartmoor.

Talking of food, there’s a lot more to Devon than just the well-known scones with jam and cream of Devonshire teas. Look out for succulent Red Ruby Devon beef from Clannaborough Barton; mouth-watering Devon cheeses such as Sharpham’s triple cream; and excellent Bigbury Bay oysters. Exeter Farmers Market is held just a few minute’s walk from the city centre every Thursday morning: foodies would enjoy the wide range of Devon food products on offer.

A great tip for nostalgics: from Exeter you can tour the moors and explore the stunning Devon coast behind the wheel of a legendary Morgan sports car. If reliving the romance of the great days of motoring in the quintessential British sports car appeals to you (and why wouldn’t it?), check out the options with Berrybrook -- they have a range of magnificent Morgan sports cars for hire at their showrooms in Exminster, a village just south of the city.

Drive Dartmoor in a Morgan sports car

Berrybrook also offer gift vouchers for their self-drive Morgan rentals; a great idea if a trip to Devon marks a special occasion (think honeymoons and wedding anniversaries).From Exeter head west to Dunsford, continue to Moretonhampstead, and then make a short detour to Drewsteignton and nearby Castle Drago before backtracking to Chagford.

Dunsford is a pretty little village with a number of traditional thatched cottages. It traces its history back to 1086, when it was mentioned in the Domesday Book as Dunnesforda. Nature lovers will want to stretch their legs, admire the deer and maybe spot an otter or two on a trail at the nearby Dunsford Wood Nature Reserve, which is located on the B3212 between Dunsford and Moretonhampstead.

Over the years, numerous Dartmoor walk-ways have been designated and run by conservation groups, and the Dunsford trail, developed by the Devon Trust for Nature Conservation, is a fine example. The reserve, which is very popular with bird watchers, is also home to several species of rare butterflies.

The trail sits in the north-eastern corner of Dartmoor National Park; on the steep valley side of the Teign. The nearby Steps Bridge Hotel has a large beer-garden and self-service restaurant, and the hotel’s ample parking space makes it an ideal starting and finishing point for exploring the reserve.

Moretonhampstead is a typical Devon market town dating back to the 1200s: it is often called  ‘the gateway to the high moor” as it is the access point to some of the impressive high peaks of Dartmoor National Park. A very pleasant hour can be spent wandering its streets, home to several artists’ galleries and workshops – as you can imagine, most of the local art focuses on vivid landscapes of the nearby moors.

Not far after Moretonhampstead you come to a crossroad where you turn left for Chagford and right for Drewsteignton. Take the right turn to Drewsteignton, known for  its picturesque village centre, the charming Fingle Bridge and the attractions of nearby Castle Drogo.

Stop off at the 17th century Drewe Arms, an attractive thatch-roofed pub that has retained many of its historic features. Previously known as The Druids' Arms, the name was changed in the 1920s when Julius Drewe built Castle Drogo, his family home. The Drewe Arms offers a good selection of pub grub as well as bed-and-breakfast

A tip for romantics: the Drewe Arms is also able to conduct marriages, civil partnerships, naming ceremonies and renewing of wedding vows.

It’s not far to Fingle Bridge, one of Devon’s most famous beauty spots -- it spans the River Teign, with Prestonbury Castle as a towering backdrop. Prestonbury sits on a ridge, and is one of the best examples of the Iron Age hill forts ringing the edge of Dartmoor.

Castle Drogo was built in the early 1900s for self-made millionaire, Julius Drewe, who owned the Home and Colonial Stores, once one of the England’s largest retail chains. Dramatically located above the Teign Gorge, the castle is a granite fortress and has been called 'the last castle to be built in England' -- and was probably the last private house in the country to be built entirely of granite.

Castle Drogo

Drewe evidently chose the site after discovering that a Norman baron named Drogo de Teign, from whom he claimed to be descended, once owned the land. The renowned architect Edwin Lutyens, who is often referred to as ‘the greatest British architect’; possibly best known for designing New Delhi, designed the castle. Sadly, Drewe died a year after the castle was completed in 1930.

Castle Drogo, which is now in the hands of the National Trust, has a fine formal garden also designed by Lutyens. The garden is noted for its rhododendrons and magnolias, herbaceous borders, rose garden and shrub garden – all contrasting magnificently with the nearby moorlands.

Tours are arranged throughout the year. The visitor centre and a café are in the car park.

From Castle Drogo, head back through Drewsteignton and continue to Chagford, one of four Devon stannary towns established at the beginning of the1300s. Stannary towns had the monoply on tin mining in Devon and were where miners traditionally brought their tin to be weighed and valued.

Although the tin mines are a thing of the past, Chagford continues to be a bustling little town. Sitting above the River Teign it’s a good base to explore the surrounding moorland and hillsides of Dartmoor.

One of the more bracing walks takes you from the centre of Chagford, through meadows and open moorland to the top of Nattadon Hill, and continues through woodland, farmland to the tranquil banks of the River Teign.

The whole walk is about seven kilometres. It’s not for everybody (the way to the top of Nattadon Hill is steep, and could be hard work for those not in good physical condition), but if you can make it, the view from the top on a good day is a wonderful reward. Once the big climb up Nattadon Hill is done, the rest of the route is very nearly all downhill.

If the walk seems too exerting, don’t worry: Dartmoor is a walker’s paradise, offering a huge variety of trails catering for all levels of walker.

For dedicated food lovers, it’s Michael Caines’ two Michelein star restaurant at Gidleigh Park Hotel, one of the most highly acclaimed country house hotels in England, that draws them to Chagford. Built in the 1920s by an Australian shipping tycoon, Tudor-style Gidleigh is enclosed by woodlands and immaculate gardens.

Gidleigh Park

People come to Gidleigh for the award-winning food, which the hotel describes as "classic and highly innovative, modern European yet firmly rooted in the West Country" – though there’s much more to it than that. As a fitting tribute to its cuisine Gidleigh Park has one of the most extensive wine lists in the country.  Dinner, bed and breakfast at Gidleigh does not come cheap, though it does offer occasional ‘indulgence’ specials.

Accommodation options: Gidleigh Park Hotel, Mill End Hotel, The Globe Inn

Day 2 Depart  Chagford  O/night  Plymouth  Approx: 72 kms
If you put golf before gourmet dining you might want to continue on from Chagford to Bovey Castle on the first day of your drive – it’s about a ten-kilometres from Gidleigh Park on the B3212, passing through the one-time farming village of Lettaford along the way (one of the old long houses is kept by the National Trust).

The Old Course at Bovey Castle is a beautiful eighteen-hole championship course. Designed in 1926 to rival Gleneagles and Turnberry, it meanders through the castle estate and offers golfers a truly challenging experience. Bovey also offers a fully-equipped clubhouse, driving range and golf academy.

Bovey Castle’s story began in 1880 when the famous English newsagent William Henry Smith (WHSmith) bought the land on which it stands – but it was his son Frederick who built an impressive manor house more than two decades later. A military hospital in two world wars, it was later run as a hotel by the Great Western Railway for forty years, before becoming a luxury hotel.

A foodie note: dining plays a big part of the Bovey Castle experience: fresh fish from Brixham, lamb from Launceston and excellent beef from Dartmoor.

For an experience of a different sort continue across the moor and stop off at Dartmoor Prison Museum at Princetown (phone first to let them know you are on your way). The prison is about a thirty-minute drive south-west of Bovey Castle. With its high granite walls dominating the surrounding moor, Dartmoor Prison has always had the reputation as being a dark foreboding place from which there is no escape: England’s answer to Alcatraz.

Constructed originally in the early 1800s to hold French prisoners of the Napoleonic Wars, Dartmoor Prison was also used to hold some 6,000 American prisoners from the War of 1812. The prison was later used to incarcerate some of Britain’s most most dangerous and notorious criminals; though these days it houses less violent offenders.

Dartmoor Prison Museum is located in the old dairy buildings and illustrates the prison’s long history with a series of displays. Exhibits include manacles and weapons (including the infamous cat o'nine tails, with a chilling page outlining how to achieve permanent scarring), clothing and old uniforms (the famous convict broad arrows were used until 1921), famous prisoners (including Irish revolutionary and later president, Eamon De Valera), and the Black Museum, where you’ll see items secretly made by various prisoners to aid in escape bids – very few of which were successful. The museum also has a rather incongruous souvenir shop, which sells items made by prisoners (some of the artwork is interesting) – along with the usual range of fridge magnets and coffee mugs.

Dartmoor Prison through the mist

The prison museum is open daily, but closes for lunch, and there is an admittance charge. You cannot take photographs anywhere in the museum, which may be disappointing, but understandable for security reasons.

A tip for nature lovers. Seventeen kilometres from Bovey Castle on the B3212 on the way to Dartmoor Prison you’ll come to Two Bridges. A left turn on to the B3357 and a three minute drive brings you to Prince Hall, an eclectic owner-run country house hotel with just eight rooms set amongst rolling moorland with views down towards the River Dart. Prince Hall packages include dawn and dusk wildlife walks escorted by a local expert, teacher and environmental educator – you’ll soon know your warblers from your wagtails, and possibly spot an otter or two, and see salmon in the River Dart.

A bit of trivia for Australian visitors to the area. The present Prince Hall was built in 1787 for Mr Justice Buller (later to be Sir Francis Buller) who was the first judge to send convicts to Australia.

How about a farm-stay along the way? Brimpts Farm nestles in the heart of the Dartmoor National Park at Dartmeet, one of the most popular tourist spots in the centre of Dartmoor and within easy reach of Two Bridges.

From Dartmoor Prison head west to the market town of Tavistock, which sits at the centre of the western moor. The town’s history stretches back to the founding of a Benedictine abbey more than a thousand years ago  Once the largest and wealthiest abbey in south-west England, Tavistock Abbey now lies in ruins, though some of the buildings surrounding it have survived.

When King Henry 1 of England and France needed funds to mount a campaign in Normandy in 1105 he received what must have amounted to a handsome donation by the then prosperous and abbey. Henry showed his gratitude by granting the abbey a weekly market to be held each Friday. The the Pannier Market has survived without a break for 900 years and is now open six days a week (closed on Monday): on Tuesdays the market is dedicated to antiques and collectables.

After Tavistock you head south to Plymouth. You’ll pass through Yelverton, a large village well known for ‘the rock’ -- a prominent mass of stone that sits close to the Plymouth road on the fringe of a nearby stretch of undulating moorland called Roborough Down.

Golfers may want to consider a round at Yelverton Golf Club. It started life as a nine-hole course back in 1904 and added a further nine holes six years later, when it was inaugurated with a match between J H Taylor (one of the pioneers of the modern game of golf) and the legendary Harry Vardon. The club, which is also home to a golf academy welcomes visitors on weekdays, though they should phone ahead, or check with the club’s web page to ensure there are no special events taking place. 00 44 1822 852824

The old Who'd Have Thought It Inn at Milton Combe

A Yelverton tip for foodies: there’s a quaintly named pub at Milton Combe near Yelverton that serves good old English fare: think roast rump of Dartmoor lamb, steak and stout suet pudding and Cornish smoked haddock. It’s called the Who’d Have Thought It Inn, a 16th century pub that also offers very comfortable bed and breakfast. It’s only ten minutes drive from the outskirts of Plymouth – a place to spend the night if you want to avoid a night in the city; though Plymouth is well worth exploring.

Overnight options. Holiday Inn Plymouth, Boringdon Hall Hotel, The Duke of Cornwall Hotel,

Day 3 Plymouth
Spend the day discovering Plymouth. Start off at the Barbican, which chronicles the story of the Pilgrim Fathers and their historic voyage to the New World on the Mayflower in 1620.

Then visit Prysten House on Finewell Street, the second oldest building in Plymouth. Built in 1498 (and reconstructed in the 1930s with American help), it displays a model of Plymouth in 1620 and tapestries depicting the colonization of America. It’s a ‘must’  for American visitors interested in the history of Plymouth, the city that played such a major role in their country’s early days.

Nearby Southside Street, with its many art galleries and independent shops, is home to the historic Plymouth Gin Distillery, located in a building that dates back to the early 1400s. The Refectory Room, a medieval hall with a fine hull-shaped timber roof, is the most intact part of the distillery and one of the oldest buildings in Plymouth.

Plymouth Gin offers three different tour options. The most popular is a fascinating 40-minute overview of the history of the distillery and an introduction to how Plymouth Gin is made. At the end of every tour, visitors can choose between a free miniature of Plymouth Gin or a Plymouth Gin and tonic in the distillery's bar. Call ahead for up to date-tour-availability. 00441752 665292.

Antique bargain hunters will want to rummage in the markets near Island House (which hosts the list of names of the Pilgrim Fathers), then visit New Street, the city’s oldest street, with its well-preserved Elizabethan house and gardens.

Plymouth Hoe

Continue to the Mayflower Steps; and enjoy a walk along the sea front with its recently restored colonnade as you head for the Citadel and Plymouth Hoe with its unbeatable views out to sea.

Visitors interested in English history will want to climb Smeaton's Tower and watch a game of bowls, played on the famous bowling green where the Elizabethan hero Sir Francis Drake famously finished his game before taking on the Spanish Armada in 1588.

In the afternoon, take a relaxing boat trip from the Barbican along the foreshore and the River Tamar to absorb the city’s naval heritage: or spend a leisurely afternoon at the magnificent gardens of at Mount Edgcumbe Country House. The more adventurous may want to try a little windsurfing, take a jet ski lesson or head out on a mackerel fishing trip

Plymouth is located on the border between Devon and Cornwall and you might want to extend your journey across the county border and discover some of Cornwall’s nearby attractions. The Eden Project, home to the largest indoor rainforest in the world (among other things) is about an hour’s drive into Cornwall from Plymouth.

Day 4. Depart Plymouth   O/night Torquay  Approx 85 kms
Leaving Plymouth head for Modbury on the A379, a road that will take you on to Kingsbridge. Modbury is located in a region known as the South Hams, surrounded by rolling hills, wooded glades and winding country lanes.

Modbury was once a busy town living off a thriving wool industry, growing prosperous turning raw fleece into finished cloth. But when mechanisation of the wool industry started at the start of the nineteenth century, many locals left the area – a number of them emigrating to America to seek new fortunes. John B Stetson founder of the Stetson ‘Hat of the West’ cowboy hat had family ties with Modbury.

A bit of travel trivia: Modbury became world famous in 2007 when it became the first town in the world to declare itself plastic bag free.

Just after Modury you reach a crossroads where a right turn will take you to Bigbury -- a detour that golfers and foodies will want to make.

Bigbury Golf Club is a friendly cliff-top golf course boasting superb views across the south Devon coastline. Apart from the eighteen-hole course, Bigbury has a dedicated practise putting green, a chipping area and a full length driving range. Visiting golfers are welcome on weekdays and weekends, but it’s worth checking ahead to ensure tee-time availability. Handicap certificates are preferred. 44 1548 810 412

The view from the golf course at Bigbury

The golf club is just a few minutes from Bigbury Bay Oysters, which farms some of the best oysters to be found in Devon – it does not have visitors facilities or a shop, but if you were passing though before midday and wanted to buy a dozen or so oysters just call ahead and let them know you are coming. 44 1548 811 130

Nearby Bigbury-on-Sea is a small seaside village with large sandy beaches, one of the main beaches for surfing in the area. A tidal causeway links the mainland to Burgh Island, famous as one of the places where crime writer Agatha Christie wrote her novels. You get wonderful views across the bay to Burgh Island from the golf course.

From Bigbury, rejoin the A379 and continue to the ancient market town Kingsbridge. A popular farmers’ market is held on the town square on the first and third Saturdays of each month -- the monks at Buckfast abbey were first granted the right to hold a market in Kingsbridge back in the early thirteenth century to sell their honey, fruit, vegetables and thick Devon cream: today it’s freshly baked delicacies, cheeses, smoked goods, chillies, chocolates and hampers filled with local produce that tempt visiting foodies.

Travelling on from Kingbridge, take the A 381 to Totnes. Along the way you  pass through The Mounts, a small hamlet of only seventeen houses (including the very popular Tor Cottage, an award winning bed and breakfast with beautiful grounds). It’s a good base to discover the moor, and maybe do a little pony trekking.

A bit of history trivia. During World War Two many of the local houses were evacuated so that secret rehearsals for the D-Day landings (Operation Tiger) could be carried out on the beach at Slapton Sands some ten kilometres to the south.

Totnes, sitting on a hill rising from the west bank of the River Dart, is a smallish country town that has often been voted one of the funkiest, grooviest, hippest places to be. Time magazine once declared Totnes ‘the capital of new age chic’, while other magazines have added it to their lists of the world's Top 10 Funky Towns: the town describes itself as ‘home to a cosmopolitan mix of people with a passion for new ideas’.

It may have a hippy label, but Totnes retains a strong hold on its rich heritage. In Anglo-Saxon days, Totnes was the largest place in south Devon, after Exeter, and enjoyed the status of being a coin-minting town under the kings Ethelred the Unready (an unfortunate nickname for a king) and Canute (the king who famously tried to make the tides obey his command).

The view from Totnes Castle

One of the town’s  attractions is Totnes Castle with its commanding views of the Dart Valley. Now owned by English Heritage, it was built in the early years of the Norman conquest of England and is a fine example of a 'motte-and-bailey' castle, with impressive earthworks. The present stone keep replaced the original Norman timber defences in the early fourteenth century.

A travel tip. With English Heritage annual membership you can explore more than 400 castles, stately homes, ruins and more for free. Membership costs £46 a year and is well worth it if you are planning to tour England’s historic sites

Totnes Museum is housed in one of the many authentic Elizabethan merchant's houses in the town, dating back to the late 1500s. It has twelve interesting galleries: see some of the coins minted in Saxon times, and find out what Elizabethans ate for dinner. Computer geeks will want to stop by the Babbage Room while at Totnes Museum: it’s dedicated to Charles Babbage the Victorian mathematician who invented an early precursor of the modern computer.

Another prominent feature of the town is Eastgate—an arch spanning the middle of the main street. (This Elizabethan entrance to the walled town was destroyed in a fire in September 1990, but has been restored). The ancient Leechwell, so named because of the supposed medicinal properties of its water, and apparently where lepers once came to wash, still provides fresh water. The Butterwalk is a Tudor covered walkway that was built to sell dairy products.

Australian visitors to Totnes will be interested to know that the town was the birthplace of William John Wills -- of the famous Burke and Wills expedition back in the1860s. There is a memorial to Wills close to the banks of the River Dart just five minutes walk from the town centre.

Tucked away in a deep wooded valley close to Totnes lie the romantic ruins of Berry Pomeroy Castle. The lands around the castle were originally given to Ralph de Pomeroy by William the Conqueror, as reward for his loyalty and support at the Battle of Hastings during the Norman invasion in 1066.

It later became a mansion for Sir Edward Seymour, brother of Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII. He intended it to become the most spectacular house in Devon, a match for Longleat and Audley End – but it was never completed, and was later abandoned. Berry Pomeroy Castle has numerous legends associated with it -- and is reputed to be one of the most haunted in the Britain; blood-curdling ghost stories are recounted in an audio tour of the property.

Continue east from Totnes to Paignton, about a fifteen-minute drive in good traffic, then follow the coastal road along the English Riviera to Torquay. Paignton is a fairly lively seaside town with a different pace to other parts of Devon in summer: think water slides at Quaywest, crazy golf and the popular beach at nearby Goodrington – all very much geared to a family holiday experience.

Golfers may want to make a small detour just before arriving in Paignton and head south for ten-minute drive on the Brixham Road to Churston Golf Club, an undulating course set along the red cliffs of Devon: the views of the surrounding area and out to sea are stunning.

Established in the late 1800s, Churston Golf Club was rebuilt in 1998, and contains all the facilities expected of a modern golf club, including two beautifully manicured practice putting greens, three driving nets and a chipping area. The club welcomes visiting golfers and tee times can be booked on line

From Paignton, it’s another fifteen minutes or so to Torquay, often referred to as the ‘Queen of the Riviera’. Stop off along the way at thatched Cockington Village, which takes you back to a by-gone age: take a walk in ancient parkland, or a romantic drive around the village in a horse-drawn carriage. Seemingly little has changed in Cockington since medieval times – though its chocolate box cottages are now mainly curio shops and tearooms.

The harbour at Torquay

With its many sheltered pebbly coves, Torquay is known for having one of the balmiest climates in England: it's so temperate that the entire town is filled with parks and gardens all trying to outdo each other with palm trees and colourful arrays of subtropical vegetation.

In many ways, Torquay lives in something of a Thirties time warp: at night, concerts, theatrical productions from London's West End, even and old-fashioned ballroom dancing, keep visitors entertained.

Agatha Christie came from Torquay and is the star attraction at Torquay Museum, which exhibits many of her fascinating personal photos and artefacts. The statistics behind her life are impressive. In her lifetime she wrote more than eighty books, many of them bestsellers, altogether selling an estimated two billion copies worldwide and making her the best-selling fiction author of all time: her stories have been translated into more than 45 languages. A great asset for promoting Torquay, and the local tourist officials don’t mis a trick.

The museum is on the Agatha Christie Mile, which fans of her many famous crime novels will want to follow  -- it takes in ten iconic landmarks dotted around the Torquay harbour and seafront area, and there’s even a mystery to solve.

The trail begins starts at Torquay's tourism information centre by the harbour, where you can pick up the Agatha Christie Mile leaflet. As you follow the trail, eight of the landmarks visited spell out the name of a character linked with her books.

The Agatha Christie Mile is a gentle stroll around the harbour and main beach, with plenty of opportunities to stop for a cup of tea (make that a Devonshire cream tea). Ardent Christie fans will also want to cross the Dart River on the Dittisham Ferry to Greenway (pedestrians only), which was once her home. They may also want to plan their Devon road trip to tie in with the highly popular Agatha Christie festival, which is held every September.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=up-r2wHZOWY

A foodie tip: The award winning Hanburys fish and chips restaurant is situated in Babbacombe, a five minute drive from Torquay. You can eat in the restaurant or go for a take away and enjoy it while watching the sunset from Babbacombe down.

Accommodation options: The Palace Hotel, The Imperial Hotel, Riviera Lodge Hotel

Day 5  Depart: Torquay  Arrive: Exeter  Approx  42 kms
Leaving Torquay you head for Teignmouth, passing through the charming fishing village of Shaldon along the way -- a popular holiday destination that has two sandy beaches, a well-lit smugglers tunnel that leads to a picturesque cove and traditional picture-postcard stone cottages. Shaldon Wildlife Trust has a unique collection of endangered species and is well worth a visit.

Teignmouth gets its name from being situated on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign. It became a top holiday destination in Victorian times when seaside holidays became popular; as in many other English seaside towns, the Victorian influences are still visible through much of the town and especially the pier.

Several centuries ago Teignmouth was a major port, though its significance waned when the harbour silted up as a result of tin mining on nearby Dartmoor. Cod fishing boats set out for Newfoundland from Teignmouth at one time, and smuggling became an important part of day-to-day life at another stage in Teignmouth’s history.

The Teignmouth Folk Festival is staged every June at various places around the town and attracts a fairly wide audience: probably one of the largest gatherings of traditional Morris dancers in this part of the world.

From Teignmouth it is only an hour’s drive back to Exeter: along the way golfers would enjoy eighteen holes at Warren Golf Club in Dawlish, and wine lovers will want to stop off at the award-winning vineyard in Kenton.

Warren Golf Club, which welcomes visiting golfers, offers the only links course In south Devon, and is situated in an internationally renowned wildlife conservation area, bordered by water on three sides. Huge flocks of migratory birds and wildfowl grace the sandy dunes throughout the seasons, and the course is also known for its array of rare orchids and plants.

The club is more than a hundred years old and has an interesting history. During World War Two the army took it over and constructed defences on the beach and gun emplacements on the course, two of which still remain. Despite this, golf continued to be played, but retrieval of balls from the minefield was not allowed.

Kenton Vineyard, with more than 8,000 vines, produces thousands of bottles of wine a year; think mellow reds and aromatic whites.

Free wine tastings take place inside the vineyards wine shop with panoramic views of the vineyard. There is also a Vine Trail, which allows you to experience the vineyard and its views first hand. Tickets are available inside the wine shop and cost £2 for an adult (children free). The price includes a leaflet which guides you around the various sights in the vineyard.

There is also an informative guided vineyard and winery tour every Sunday afternoon from the end of May through to the end of  September. Tours are guided by a viticulturist and winemaker and are limited to a maximum of twenty people -- so pre-booking is advisable. The one-hour tour costs £7 per person, with a complimentary glass of wine to round off the tour.

Before reaching Exeter you will also pass through the old village of Exminster. The nearby Exminster Marshes, to the east of the village, are a major site for birds, especially migratory ones. (If you hired a classic Morgan sports car for the road trip, return it here to Berrybrook)

Perth

Day 1 Depart: Perth  O/night: Dunsborough  Approx 265 kms
The drive to the attractive seaside town of Dunsborough normally takes a little more than three hours, but as there is so much to see along the way, the journey could take you the best part of the day. You’ll come to the Fremantle exit almost as soon as you  leave Perth. Drive on: plan to visit the historic port city at the end of your trip.

Soon after Fremantle comes Rockingham. where you could be tempted to spend the whole day on an exciting sea-kayaking trip around Shoalwater Marine Park. You’ll encounter sea lions, penguins, pelicans and dolphins while rowing near the aptly named Seal and Penguin islands. The Australian sea lion is the rarest in the world, and the species is given special protection

You can also make the trip with the Penguin Island Ferry, which departs from the Mersey Point Jetty in Rockingham daily: departures on the hour from 09.00 to 15.00 (the last ferry returns at 16.00).

Penguin Island is home to Western Australia's largest colony of little penguins (the smallest penguins in the world). Hundreds of them nest on the island, spending most of their day feeding in the crystal clear waters of the marine park. Penguin Island is open daily from mid September through to June: it is closed over the winter months to ensure the penguins are not disturbed during their nesting time.

Seal Island near Rockingham

Next up is Mandurah -- once a small fishing village, it is now a lively city with more than 130 square kilometres of inland waterways – that’s twice the size of Sydney Harbour. One-hour cruises depart every hour from 10.00 to 16.00, taking you out to the diverse marine life and myriad of birdlife to be found in Creery Wetlands Nature Reserve. Pods of local dolphins often follow the tour boats and play in their wake.

Driving on you will want to visit the Bunbury Dolphin Discovery Centre, which is dedicated to carrying out valuable dolphin research – the first of its type in Australia. The centre faces Koombana Bay, home to more than a hundred bottlenose dolphins: groups of them regularly visit the shallow waters in front of the centre. Remember that the dolphins are wild and not in an enclosure, so there's no guarantee of getting up close and friendly: your chances are best in the morning.

Back in the 1800s, American whaling ships hunted in the area; and tall ships sailed around Koombana Bay, loaded with wool, timber and horses, sometimes heading off on a four-month journey to England. Some were ill fated. Koombana Bay witnessed no less than twenty-nine shipwrecks in those times, a dozen or so of which are still half-buried around the bay: a couple can be seen from near the Dolphin Discovery Centre.

Halfway between Bunbury and Busselton, you’ll come to the small town of Capel and the nearby Tuart Forest National Park, traditionally known as the Ludlow State Forest.

The road through Tuart Forest National Park

There are four dominant tree species to be found throughout Australia's South West: karri, jarrah, tingle and tuart. Tuart forest is one of the rarest eco-systems left in the world: the trees are a type of eucalypt found only in this region of Western Australia. Take a leisurely drive through the forest and capture its beauty. And keep an eye out for the tree-dwelling western ringtail possum: Tuart Forest National Park is home to this endangered species.

Busselton was one of the first European settlements in Western Australia. The early history of Busselton centres on the French expedition at the start of the 19th century led by explorer, map-maker and naturalist, Nicholas Baudin, He named Geographe Bay and Cape Naturaliste after his two ships.

On reaching Busselton, make for the jetty – you can’t miss it. Stretching for almost two kilometres across Geographe Bay, Busselton Jetty is home to the spectacular Underwater Observatory, Descending eight metres below sea level, the observatory offers an amazing view of highly colourful corals, sponges, fish and other creatures of the deep. With more than 300 marine species, it’s rightly described as Australia's greatest artificial reef. Recommended.

Take the popular Jetty Train to the Underwater Observatory. Admission costs A$29.50 for adults (A$14 for children up to fourteen) and includes a return train journey, an informative 40-minute guided tour of the observatory and all day jetty access. Tours are conducted on the hour, weather permitting. As it can accommodate only 40 people at a time bookings are essential.

Busselton Observatory

From Busselton continue on to Dunsborough, which overlooks the beautiful turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean and the stunning rocky outcrops of Geographe Bay.

Proclaimed as a town in 1877, Dunsborough remained little more than a few beach shacks until the mid-1950s. It’s grown since then to become a chilled out town with a great buzz – and that means a vibrant arts scene, a large canvas of well-respected art galleries and live music and market days during the summer months.

Local beaches, such as Meelup, Eagle Bay and Bunker Bay are great for swimming, snorkelling (or just lazing around in the sun). Meelup has its seasonal attractions: in spring, it’s the colourful wildflowers and migrating whales; in summer, for a few nights each month, there is a spectacular evening view of the full moon rising on the Indian ocean horizon; and in winter the whales return.

Divers will want to head for Eagle Bay to explore the scuttled HMAS Swan, the most popular dive wreck in Australia. HMAS Swan is about a fifteen-minute boat ride out to sea from Meelup Beach. One or two professional dive operators offer tours out to the wreck -- check them out at the Dunsborough Visitor Centre.

Diving HMAS Swan

Foodie directions: grab a filling ‘veggie brekkie’ at Artezan – try the the house-made baked beans with spinach, crumbled feta and toasted rye bread; sip a soy latte at the casual and colourful Evviva; head for Samutra, where it’s pancakes with bananas and cashew butter cream; and for dinner, go for the tiger prawns at Assisi,  a popular family-owned Italian restaurant.

Spend the night in Dunsborough or nearby Yallingup, eight kilometres further on. An alternative would be to stay the night in Busselton; it’s only a fifteen-minute drive short of Dunsborough.

Accommodation options: Quay West Bunker Bay Resort, Seashells Resort Yallingup, Abbey Beach Resort (Busselton).

Day 2 Depart: Dunsborough  O/night:  Pemberton  Approx 232 kms
From Dunsborough drive on to Yallingup, where you pick up Caves Road and head south to Margaret River. Caves Road is the scenic link that runs from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin at the far end of Australia's South West coast.

There’s an adventure to be had on the way to Yallingup: the 500,000-year old Ngilgi Cave. Ngilgi Cave is tied to an Aboriginal legend, a Dreamtime story that tells of a battle between a good and an evil spirit. It may not be the oldest cave in the region, but it is definitely one of the most interesting.

As you enter and the lights are switched on, thousands of massive stalactites take centre stage. Descend further into the depths of the cave and you come across eerie hollow strands of helictite extending from the walls and silk-like shawls hanging from above. Ngilgi offers a range of exciting cave tours – for some you have to be pretty fit.

Ngilgi Cave

For views of a different kind continue to nearby Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse. From the top balcony you’ll get a spectacular panoramic view of the Indian Ocean, Cape Naturaliste and the stunning Geographe Bay coastline.

Beer lovers will want to stop off at Yallingup’s family run Bush Shack Brewery. It’s not your every day brewery, as you’ll discover when faced with unique brews such as Yallingup Chilli Beer, Bus Shack’s Chocolate Beer and Pharaoh's Spelt Beer, which is made with unmalted spelt wheat, mandarin peel and Munich malt. The Bush Shack Brewery is open from Sunday to Thursday from 10.00 to 17.00, and closes an hour later on Friday and Saturday.

Something to think about: along with the many wineries, there is a growing number of small breweries popping up in Australia’s South West, and usually they offer a potent brew – so it would be a good idea to have a dedicated driver as you travel on.

A small town nestled in amongst the trees along the coast, Yallingup boasts that it has given the world many of its greatest surfers. And it’s not an exaggeration. Yallingup (the name comes from an Aboriginal word meaning ‘place of love’) is surfers’ heaven. If you are a surfer check out the waves at Smiths and Supertubes beaches just to the south and Yallingup Beach and Rabbit Hill to the north. But it’s not just about surfing: Yallingup Beach also has a sheltered lagoon with calm waters for swimming.

If art is more your thing, stop by at Gunyulgup Galleries, off Caves Road just south of Yallingup, which has a diverse range of Western Australian art and design. More than 70 artists are represented at any one time; and the eye-catching displays of paintings, prints, sculpture, ceramics, glass, jewellery and textiles change regularly.

Overlooking a tranquil lake, Gunyulgup Galleries has one of Western Australia’s leading winery restaurants as a neighbour: Lamont’s, which offers a wine tasting and tapas menu from 11.00 to 17.00, Thursday till Monday.

Here’s a statistic Margaret River winemakers love to quote: while the region accounts for no more than three percent of total Australian grape production, it comes up with more than twenty percent of Australia's premium wine. There are some 200 vineyards in the region – so if wine is your passion, you should plan to add a night or two in Margaret River to your itinerary.

As you drive down Caves Road you come to a Wilyabrup, home to a dozen or so small family-run wineries. At Saracen Estates you have the best of both worlds, as it not only comes up with great wines, but also boasts an on-site brewery producing traditionally crafted German beers. The Duckstein Brewery has gained a reputation for its hearty traditional German food as well – think schnitzel, bratwurst and eisbein.

A little further on is Brookland Valley, a highly regarded winery that regularly walks away with awards for its stylish wines. The cellar door overlooks Wilyabrup Brook, a pretty fresh water stream that runs into the nearby Indian Ocean. The proximity of the ocean has a resounding effect on local climatic conditions, which, in turn, intensifies the character of the grapes.

Wine tasting at Margaret River

After Brookland Valley comes Cullens, the first winery to introduce the merlot grape to Margaret River, and a pioneer of biodynamic wine production. And then you reach the doyen of Margaret River’s wine world: Vasse Felix, a modern state-of-the-art winery with striking architecture and fine manicured grounds. Vasse Felix has an enviable worldwide reputation, having come a long way since starting out as a humble two-acre business back in 1967 as Margaret River’s first vineyard and winery.

If you visit no other winery, it should be Vasse Felix, not just for its wines, but also for its notable restaurant, where fine food is matched to fine wines. There is also an art gallery, which, with the restaurant, shares sweeping views of the magnificent vineyard landscape.

A little trivia: the Vasse part of the winery name came from a French sailor named Thomas Vasse who was lost overboard off the nearby coast in 1801 while serving on Nicholas Baudin’s Naturaliste: Felix is Latin for ‘fortunate’ -- which can hardly be said about poor Thomas Vasse.

A little further on by the town of Margaret River, Xanadu also has a track record of regularly producing wines of distinction since opening in 1977. Xanadu also boasts one of the most awarded restaurants in the region. Another Margaret River winery known for its cuisine is Voyager Estate: foodies will not want to miss the excellent six-course degustation menu.

The region’s thriving culinary scene does not end with the restaurants dotted among the vineyards. The Margaret River Chocolate Company at Metricup and the Fudge Factory in Margaret River are a couple of extra calorific treats that will prove hard to pass up on. There’s also a pretty full calendar of farmers’ markets throughout the region.

Just as you leave the town of Margaret River, you come to another of its wine ‘giants’ -- Leeuwin Estate. Its history, like all wineries in the area, is young, dating back to 1972, when the legendary Californian winemaker, Robert Mondavi, identified what was once a cattle farm, as a great place to produce wines. And he was right, of course.

It’s not only the wines that sets Leeuwin Estate apart: it is also known around the world for its spectacular yearly alfresco concerts; staged in the winery’s picturesque grounds. The concerts have attracted an eclectic mix musicians and entertainers, including Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Ray Charles and Tom Jones.Visitors from all over Australia turn up for this annual event on the winery's sprawling lawns.

The world’s surfing elite also descend on Margaret River in March each year to take on the big waves at Surfer's Point: the week-long Margaret River Pro Surfing event is Western Australia's biggest surfing competitions; and once of the most important events for surfers from around the world. For the rest of the year, the easily accessible main is popular for snorkelling and swimming.

From Margaret River travel south on the Bussel Highway until you reach Karridale, where you turn left on State Route 10 and head for Pemberton. From Karridale the drive will take a little less than a couple of hours, much of it through beautiful state forests.

An alternative when reaching Karridale would be to continue further south on the Bussel Highway to Augusta, a fishing town near Cape Leeuwin. The main attraction is the historic Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, which sits at the point where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet. After visiting the lighthouse, and gaining boasting rights for visiting the most south-western point of Western Australia, you would need to backtrack to Karridale to continue on to Pemberton. From Karridale to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse is a 45-kilometre round trip.

If you did decide to make the detour down to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, you would be better off adding an extra day to your journey, staying in Margaret River overnight (foodies would enjoy that) and starting out the next morning.

Accommodation options (Margaret River) The Comfort Inn Grange on Farrelly, Vintages Accommodation, Australis Margaret River. (Pemberton) Karri Valley Resort, Old Picture Theatre, Best Western Pemberton Hotel

Day 3  Depart: Pemberton  O/night: Denmark  Approx 186 kms
Pemberton is nestled in a valley lush with green pastures and vineyards, surrounded by magnificent karri forests. The town enjoys a growing reputation for its wine and food, and is appreciated by foodies-in-the-know for its river trout and the local marron (a small freshwater crayfish).

But food and wine are not front and foremost in Pemberton – that privilege goes to the nearby Gloucester Tree, a giant karri tree in Gloucester National Park, just three kilometres from the town. Back in the middle of the last century, a series of fire lookouts were constructed in the top of the region’s most majestic karri trees -- an ingenious way of spotting fires in such tall forest.

The Gloucester Tree  is 61 metres high, one the world's tallest fire-lookout trees, another being the Bicentennial Tree, in nearby Warren National Park, which is ten metres taller. Thrill seekers can climb up to a platform in the upper branches of these trees for a spectacular view of the surrounding karri forest.

There is nothing more jaw-dropping than standing next to an ancient, towering karri tree and gazing up into its lofty crown. Nothing perhaps, except peering down from the top of such a giant.

If you decide to make the climb, focus on what is above you, you’ll relax as you get into the rhythm of the climb. It’s a thrill seeker’s dream, but not for the faint hearted. The relief that you feel as you make it to the steel and aluminium cabin is followed by exuberance as you peer out over the vast karri forest.  Karri trees are the third tallest trees in the world and being able to conquer the Gloucester Tree and stand above them with a bird's-eye view of the rest of the forest gives you an awesome feeling.

The Gloucester National Park is also home to The Cascades -- tranquil in mid-summer, a raging torrent in winter. At the right time of year, its rocky rapids are a great place for a picnic and a leisurely stroll.

The towering Gloucester Tree

Back in town, Pemberton’s long timber heritage is highlighted in the unique handcrafted wood sculptures found in the local galleries. Worth browsing before driving on as they make great souvenirs.

From Pemberton you head for Walpole and The Valley of The Giants, which gets its name from the large red tingle trees in the area. It’s home to another of Australia’s great nature experiences – the amazing Tree Top Walk.

Before getting to Walpole, about half-an-hour after leaving Pemberton on State Route 10, you’ll come to Northcliffe, which is close to the extensive and unspoilt coastline of the D'Entrecasteaux National Park. You might be tempted to make a detour south of Northcliffe to the tiny settlement of Windy Harbour, the only point on the south coast between Walpole and Augusta that can be reached by conventional vehicles.

You will have to return to to Northcliffe to continue the drive to Walpole and Denmark, but it’s worth it for the spectacular views of the rugged southern coastline -- the limestone cliffs at Point D'Entrecasteaux. The drive from Northcliffe to Windy Harbour is 27 kilometres each way.

Windy Harbour is good for snorkelling (head for Salmon Beach) – and judging by all the boats and fishing gear, it also seems to be synonymous with great fishing.

Most treetop walks around the world use suspension bridge structures that tend to wobble – they were not built for those who get nervous when it comes to heights. That’s not the case with the amazing Tree Top Walk near Walpole. The walkway was constructed as a series of 60-metre, lightweight steel trusses built on steel pylons to form a secure ramp. It means everybody can experience the excitement of exploring the canopy of the tingle forest, not just Indiana Jones wannabes. The highest point in the 600-metre loop is about 40 metres.

Tree Walk at Walpole

The drive up to the Tree Top Walk from Walpole is an experience in itself as it passes through the breathtaking Valley of the Giants and its formidable karri and tingle trees. The walk is not long, or strenuous: allow about twenty minutes to complete it  -- it’s a slow but steady incline until you are at the very top of the tingle trees. The highest point in the 600-metre loop is about 40 metres.

Back on the ground, be sure to walk through the Ancient Empire Walk (you can walk this for free if you do not want to pay for the tree walk). It’s a boardwalk that runs alongside the Tree Top Walk, taking you through a grove of aged tingle trees. They are huge: some of the trees in the Ancient Empire are up to sixteen metres in circumference at their base.

The Tree Top Walk is open every day of the year except Christmas Day (09.00 to 17.00, with last tickets sold at 16.15). The only other time it may close is during extreme weather conditions. The admission fee for adults is A$10.00 (children under fifteen at half price), and there is a family ticket (two adults and two children) at A$25.00.

Situated between Walpole and Denmark, the extraordinary William Bay National Park is home to Greens Pool and Elephant Rocks, where rounded granite boulders (shaped like an elephant) form a reef that stretches about a hundred metres out to sea. Greens Pool is wonderfully sheltered and a great place to swim. There are a dozen other beaches around Denmark, all with their own attractions, including surfing, bird-watching and hang-gliding.

Denmark has no romantic Scandinavian or Hamlet connection, but was named after a naval surgeon by a fellow surgeon who explored the local coastline. Once a timber-milling town, Denmark provided much of the wood that adorned 19th-century London. Now it carves out a reputation for eco-tourism.

Accommodation options: Karma Chalets, Chimes Spa Retreat, The Cove

Day 4  Depart: Denmark  O/night: Albany  Approx 68 kms
Surrounded by hills and karri forests, Denmark spreads along the western bank of the lower Denmark River and the Wilson Inlet to Ocean Beach. The town’s slogan is ‘where the forest meets the sea’ and a rugged coastline with great beaches and sweeping headlands provides much of its scenic beauty.

Denmark has a wide range of landscapes that include granite outcrops, tall eucalypt forests, wildflowers in spring, endless pristine beaches, mountain views and the beauty of Wilson Inlet. All are accessible by walk trails and paths, many of which start in town.

The Bibbulmun Track is close to the town. Named after the Aboriginal Bibbulmun, who inhabited some of the areas on the south coast through which the track passes, it is one of the world’s longest walking tracks and stretches for around a thousand kilometres. Experience a small part of it while in Denmark.

Top tip: locally based Wilderness Getaways will put together a walk that fits your schedule and level of fitness and supply a very knowledgeable guide. Wilderness Getaways has advanced certification from Eco-tourism Australia – the seal of good housekeeping for nature lovers. Highly recommended.

Wine lovers will want to check out the several family-run wineries that are spread out in Denmark’s hilly surrounds. There are more than twenty wineries offering tastings in the area. One not to miss is award-winning Forest Hill, a cool-climate vineyard that boasts the oldest Riesling vines in Western Australia.

After stretching your legs on the Bibbulman Track, or taking time out at Denmark’s wineries (or maybe both) continue on to Albany, which is a short drive of less than an hour.

Accommodation options:The Rocks, The Beach House at Bayside, Dog Rock Motel

Day 5  Albany
Albany, a thriving coastal city, had a strange beginning: it was founded at the beginning of 1827 as a military outpost of the then New South Wales colony -- part of a plan to frustrate French ambitions in the region. Its settlement as a town predates that of Perth and Fremantle by a couple of years, and some fifty colonial buildings remain in its historic centre, including the convict-built jail.

While it is Albany’s history that attracts many visitors, the dramatic coastline on which it sits is its biggest draw. Nearby Torndirrup National Park on the west side of King George Sound has many impressive rock formations, including include the Gap, Natural Bridge and the Blowholes, all shaped from the local granite.

Pushed up from deep beneath the earth and pummelled constantly for centuries by the powerful Southern Ocean, the granite shore has become an impressive gallery of giant natural sculptures The Gap is a 24-metre drop to the sea where the ocean rushes into a large cavern in the rocks. Natural Bridge is a rock formation sculpted into a bridge shape by the Southern Ocean.

Torndirrup National Park’s rugged rock formations are what were left behind when Gondwanaland, the super continent of Antarctica and Australia, broke apart some forty-five million years ago.

For many years Albany was an important whaling port. The whalers have long since gone, but their history lives on. Whale World offers an informative interactive journey through the last operating whaling station in Australia. It’s located on the site of the old Cheynes Beach Whaling Station, which stopped whaling operations towards the end of the 1970s.

Up close with a visiting whale

Whale watching has replaced whaling: there are a couple of tours that take you out to watch the whales in King George Sound. One of them is offered by Albany Whale Tours, whose catamaran Sail-A-Way is located on the Albany waterfront, just in front of the entertainment centre: the other is Albany Ocean Adventures, which also has a catamaran Silver Star II that sails from Albany New Marina.

Humpback whales come up to King George Sound from Antarctica then travel from east to west until reaching Cape Leeuwin, where they head north all the way up to Broome in Western Australia’s wild Kimberley region, where the cows give birth. You will see humpbacks off Albany between June and late August, and again during their return journey to Antarctica in November.

Southern right whales also travel from Antarctica but stay along the south coast in many of the sheltered bays until mid to late October. Bulls congregate in sizeable numbers and wait for the cows to arrive. The giant southern right whales tend to get very curious and at times come up right up close to Albany’s whale watching boats.

A foodie tip: the Squid Shack is a rustic beachfront little beach restaurant (it really is a shack) known for its fish and chips and salt and pepper squid. Popular with Albany locals, which is a good sign. Wine glasses are kept in the fridge, so bring a bottle of wine that you have picked up along the way.

Day 6  Depart: Albany   Arrive: Fremantle  Approx 417 kms
This is the longest day of this itinerary’s driving, taking close to five hours north along the Albany Highway (State Route 30).

There’s not that much to see on this stretch of your journey, though there are one or two wineries around Mount Barker, which you’ll reach about forty-five minutes after leaving Albany. The town is also home to The Banksia Farm, which is said to have one of every known species of banksia, an Australian bush plant. The farm has has wildflower gardens and there is also a cafe. The agricultural area surrounding the town is rich with old farmhouses, sheds and machinery that has often seen better days. It’s a little bit like driving through America’s rural homeland at times.

When you get to Kojonup, take the time to explore The Kodja Place. It’s a local attempt to tell the story of country Australia: sit in the school bus, drive the farm ute, walk the boards of the shearing shed, wander around a maze of Australian roses and hear Aboriginal stories from Noongar people. On a good day The Kodja Place lives up to its promise.

It’s another three hours from Kojonup to Fremantle: spend the night and explore the next day before the half hour drive back to Perth.

Freo, as the locals call it, really lives up to its claim of being a multi-cultural city -- and has a definite charm of its own. In many ways, it is a much more livelier city than Perth; while also boasting one of the best preserved examples of a 19th century port architecture in the world, with heritage maritime buildings that go hand-in-hand a fascinating convict history.

Park the car and enjoy one (or more) of the Fremantle Walking Trails. There are eleven of them, and each one takes from two to four hours: whether you enjoy history and take the Convict Trail or fancy a little retail therapy at the end of your road trip with a Fashion Trail, the trails are a great way of exploring the city. Recommended.

Fremantle Prison is a UN World Heritage-listed site. Built by convicts in the 1850s, it was kept in use for almost 140 years. You can ‘do time’ with experienced guides on a Prison Day Tour, which takes an hour-and-a-quarter and gives a good overview of what it was like to be a convict in Fremantle’s early days.

On a two-and-a-half hour Tunnels Tour, you’ll trek through sections of a disorienting labyrinth of tunnels deep below the prison, then board replica convict punts to explore submerged passageways, which are accessible only by boat. And there is also a Night Tour by Torchlight, guaranteed to make your hair stand up and send a shiver down your spine.

If you have a love of the sea, enjoy sailing boats of old, or are intrigued by the rich local maritime history and naval traditions, head for the WA Maritime Museum – amongst other things it’s now the home of the winning America's Cup yacht, Australia II; an Oberon class submarine; and several other iconic vessels.

Lunchtime in Fremantle

For foodies: Cicerello’s is a Fremantle icon, a ‘must’ for lunch or dinner, located on the harbour. Not just traditional fish and chips, but also tasty seafood chowder and battered scallops. Competing with Cicerello’s is the nearby Kailis Fish & Lobster Market Cafe, a casual, canteen-style restaurant that has been in business since 1928 and has a great reputation with seafood lovers -- try the chilli crab with sourdough bread.

Accommodation options: Esplanade Hotel, Bannister Suites Fremantle, Quest Harbour Village Apartments