Alison Howell's Foot Trails, the walking holiday specialist in England's South West, has expanded its trails into Devon.

On its first self-guided walking tour in the county, “Devon – Far Side of Wessex”, guests will explore the South Hams, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Guests will follow coastal paths and cross sandy beaches, visit a lost village, call at Agatha Christie's former home, and even ride a ferry boat and a steam train. Along the way, they will learn about the nature all around them, delve into histories stretching back to Saxon times, and discover ancient tales of the sea that has shaped local lives and landscape.

Guests will be based at Chillington House, a hand-picked guesthouse set in the village of Chillington, where they will enjoy cosy and comfortable accommodation and tasty breakfasts of locally sourced produce. From here, guests will step out on trails of between five and eight miles or more, as preferred, armed with Foot Trails' recommendations of inns and cafes to stop for lunch and snacks

“Devon – The Far Side of Wessex” is available for three, four, five or six nights, midweek and over weekends, from 1 April 2015. It costs from £380 per person, based on two sharing, including en-suite accommodation, transport drop-off services to the start of the trail, breakfast, self-guided walking days tailored to the guest and season, and a Walk and Explore Box including waterproof maps and notes, local information about nature and culture, plus sweets for a boost en route.

Foot Trails, which was recently named Best Local Low-Impact Tour Operator by Greentraveller, offers the holiday as a car-free option, too, with the guesthouse located just a 20-minute taxi ride from Totnes railway station.

Foot Trails specialises in designing walks to suit individual tastes, for adults and families. Routes are plotted to avoid the crowded national trails, instead following local paths, with notes provided about local history and nature to immerse guests in the cultural landscape and put them back in touch with the natural environment. Country cafes and inns are hand-picked for award-winning food and drink and stylish, comfortable accommodation, to add a touch of luxury and promote sustainable rural tourism.

To book, visit www.foottrails.co.uk or call 01747 820626.

Follow developments at Foot Trails on Twitter: @FootTrailsUK, Instagram: www.instagram.com/foottrailsUK, and at www.facebook.com/foottrails. Blog: http://foottrails.co.uk/blog/and Vimeo http://foottrails.co.uk/our-story/we-are-foot-trails/

To request images or further information, to enquire about press trips, and to arrange interviews with Alison Howell, please contact Little Black Book Creative: Simone Kane on 07811 161839 and simone@lbbcreative.co.uk, or Kate Simon on 07939 526109 and kate@lbbcreative.co.uk.

Notes to editors:

Alison Howell's Foot Trails is an innovative and award-winning British travel company and the leading specialist provider of rural walking holidays in South-West England, with more than 900 miles of trails in Somerset, Wiltshire, The Cotswolds, Bath, Dorset and Devon. The successful Foot Trails brand, established in 2002 by Alison Howell, has been built on a passion for rural England, an unwavering determination to provide unique walking-holiday experiences and a strong commitment to ensuring tourism is sustainable and impacts positively on the landscapes and economies of rural communities.

[ends]