🏛️ 🏰 A Visit to Totnes: Heritage Festival, Castle & The River Dart 🌊 🥾 🌳 🌿

Join us for a full day in Totnes as the town comes alive for its 2026 Totnes Heritage Festival, taking place on Saturday 19 September as part of Heritage Open Days. With historic buildings opening their doors, special heritage activities taking place around the town, a Norman castle, independent shops and cafés, followed by a beautiful riverside walk towards Sharpham Estate, this promises to be a wonderfully varied South Devon day. 🌿 🏛️ Totnes Heritage Festival — Our Morning Highlight We'll start by exploring Totnes during its Heritage Festival, discovering some of the town's fascinating history and historic buildings. The festival includes free heritage activities, special openings, talks and demonstrations across the town. Possible stops include: 🏛️ Totnes Guildhall — explore this historic building and its fascinating history. ⛪ St Mary's Church — with heritage activities and traditional crafts taking place. 🏺 Totnes Museum — explore the town's history and special Heritage Open Days activities. 🏘️ The Butterwalk, Fore Street & High Street — discover Totnes' distinctive medieval and historic streets. 📚 Plenty of time to browse the town's independent shops, bookshops, galleries, antique shops and cafés. We'll keep the morning flexible so everyone can enjoy the festival at their own pace. 🏰 Totnes Castle We'll also visit Totnes Castle, the impressive Norman castle overlooking the town. The castle is taking part in Heritage Open Days on Saturday 19 September, giving us the opportunity to explore the castle and its medieval remains. From the castle there are fantastic views across Totnes, the River Dart and the surrounding countryside. 🍽️ Lunch in Totnes We'll stop for lunch in town before heading out into the countryside for the afternoon. 🌿 River Dart & Sharpham Estate Walk After lunch, we'll follow the River Dart towards Sharpham Estate, enjoying a mixture of riverside paths and countryside scenery before returning towards Totnes. The route may include uneven, muddy or wet sections and occasional inclines, depending on conditions. 🥾 Walking boots or sturdy shoes recommended. 🥾 Optional Ashprington Extension Want more walking? For those who fancy a longer countryside adventure, there'll be an optional extension towards Ashprington, adding around 1 hour extra to the walk. 🍽️ Dinner We'll return to Totnes for a group dinner before heading to the station. Totnes has a fantastic independent food and pub scene, from cosy traditional pubs and local ales to independent cafés, restaurants and artisan food. 🚆 Travel Outbound 08:55 — Bristol Temple Meads → Totnes 11:04 — Arrive Totnes Return options 19:17 — Totnes → Bristol 20:17 — Totnes → Bristol 🚆 Latest planned arrival in Bristol: 21:50 We must travel on GWR services only for group save. 💷 Cost £27 per person with GroupSave, please note without group save or Railcard the rail fare will be much more expensive. Drivers are welcome to join us at Totnes but consider where to park in advance due to the festival. 🎒 Bring 🥾 Walking boots or sturdy shoes 🧥 Waterproof jacket 💧 Water 🎒 Small backpack 🍂 Weather-appropriate clothing ✨ A day of history, heritage, medieval streets, a Norman castle, independent Totnes, the River Dart and beautiful South Devon countryside — with the special bonus of experiencing Totnes Heritage Festival itself. 🌿 Heritage in the morning. Castle at midday. River and countryside in the afternoon. Dinner together before heading home. Totnes is the destination — and 19 September is the day to do it. 🏰🌿