postcards from England | Dartmoor ponies

wild horse in Dartmoor National Park (c) 2018 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Looking for undiscovered places? When I was planning our trip to England, I turned to my friends at #CelebratedExperiences to help plan my time in the English countryside. I wanted to experience rural England, enjoy natural beauty, see historical artifacts, and avoid crowds of tourists. We developed an itinerary that included Devon county and Dartmoor National Park. Celebrated connected us with an expert guide, Alex, who knew Dartmoor like the back of his hand and showed us so much of this little known corner of the world.

Wild ponies, anyone? Herds of wild ponies have grazed Dartmoor for at least 3,500 years, and we frequently came across sights like the one pictured above, a pony right by the side of the road.

Alex took us to the tor pictured here. Tors are massive granite outcroppings that can be seen throughout the county. Unlike Stonehenge, you'll never see a tour bus, and you'll never be separated from the tors by ropes.

If you're seeking a less traveled corner of the world, unmarred by overtourism, ask me about Devon County and Dartmoor National Park.

copyright (c) 2018 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

a working sheepdog

Ken and Matt (c) 2018 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

The biggest advantage of having a great guide is the flexibility it affords you. You have the opportunity to change plans on the spot. Alex has been our superb private guide over the past several days whilst visiting Devon. Whilst in the midst of our tour of Dartmoor National Park on Saturday, Alex suggested a change of plans for Sunday. 

Would we be interested in visiting a working sheep farm? One phone call to Ken (pictured above) set things up. Ken is a sheep farmer who is a tenant of the Dartmoor Estate, part of the Duchy of Cornwall. His landlord? The Duke of Cornwall, otherwise known as Charles, Prince of Wales. After checking out of Lympstone Manor on Sunday morning, Alex drove us through the twisting lanes of Dartmoor to Ken's farmstead where we met Ken and his 10 year old border collie Matt. 

Matt was the star of the show. He reminded us so much of our late beloved Australian Shepherd/Border Collie, Lacey. Matt shared Lacey's boundless energy and her outgoing affectionate nature; she made friends with us right away... and herded a field full of sheep almost effortlessly.

Another advantage of a great guide? He knew the best places to have lunch. I can highly recommend both the Rugglestone Inn and the Nobody Inn where we had lunch in traditional inns with lots of locals. Thank you to Alex of Unique Devon Tours and Celebrated Experiences for making all of this possible.

copyright  (c)  2018 by Ourisman Travel LLC.  All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or