Hi,
we are visiting Lynton and Lynmouth next week and really want to get a cream tea at Watersmeet House. My parents are coming and struggle to walk up hill so the car park at the top will be no good.
Is there somewhere on the same level as Watersmeet house we could park and it be no more than a 20 min walk?
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118 helpful votes Not really as the river is in a steeply wooded valley.
You could ring the National Park tourist office at Lynmouth and see if you would be granted permission to park at the tea rooms and they could tell you who to contact.
http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/enjoying/national-park-centres/lynmouth-national-park-centre
It may be Blue Badge Holders only but there's a chance so it's always worth asking.
It's a very narrow access so you need to be confident of driving in lanes.
Your parents may enjoy tea or lunch at the Pavillion (NP office) which has lifts to the second floor and a stunning view of the coast line and sea while you eat.
Edited: 1 year agoThere's a disabled parking area at Watersmeet, which you can get to off the A39 on a narrow lane with sharp bends - there's also a drop to one side towards the end. The numbers for permission (National Trust) are 01598 752648 or 753348.
An alternative might be to park at Hillsford Bridge (there is an NT car park there, through some stone gateposts). Watersmeet is about half a mile away along the river and there is a gradient (the height difference is about 250ft), but it's a good path and there are no steps or very steep sections.
The Pavilion in Lynmouth is nice as Toopaz says, and it has good views across the coast. An alternative which is leafy and rural is the Lee Abbey tea room, on the toll road beyond the Valley of the Rocks, which has a small car park very close by. (It's beyond the abbey itself, in a cottage-style building).