Start Point Lighthouse

Top choice


Sitting on one of England's most exposed peninsulas, the 815,000 candela beam of this bright-white lighthouse can be seen for 25 nautical miles. Tours (on the hour, from 11am to 4pm) last 45 minutes and wind up hundreds of steps, through tiny circular rooms. The highlight is the final climb, by ladder, to the top platform, where you stand alongside the massive optics and look out with 360-degree views and down on to a boiling sea.

The lighthouse was built in 1836, went electric in 1959, and was staffed right up until 1993; it's now controlled automatically from Trinity House's HQ in Essex. The lighthouse is sometimes open on additional days – check the website for details.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. South Hallsands

1.05 MILES

The shells of a handful of houses clinging to the cliff at South Hallsands are the remains of a thriving fishing village. In 1917 a severe storm literally…

2. Sherman Tank

3.23 MILES

Wave-dashed as they are today, Slapton Sands have an even more dramatic past. During WWII, thousands of American servicemen trained here for D-Day using…

3. Slapton Sands

4.44 MILES

The name is misleading: Slapton Sands is actually a spectacular pebble ridge that's 3 miles long. You can find solitude here on even the busiest days. It…

4. Slapton Ley

4.5 MILES

Slapton Ley's broad sweep of water is ringed by a nature reserve and fringed by reed beds and woods. A 1.75-mile trail skirts the ley, crossing the reed…

5. Mill Bay

5.47 MILES

Salcombe's best high-tide beach, sand-filled Mill Bay sits across the water on the east side of the estuary. It's reached by either walking the lane south…

6. Maritime Museum

5.65 MILES

Here be treasure: the highlight of the hauls from local shipwrecks are the 500 glittering Moroccan gold dinars from the Salcombe Cannon wreck site, dating…

7. North Sands

6.16 MILES

Compact North Sands lies a short walk or drive (1.5 miles) south along Cliff Rd from the centre of Salcombe (on the same side of the estuary as the town)…

8. Overbeck’s

6.28 MILES

An Aladdin's cave of curios, Edwardian country house Overbeck’s crowns the cliffs at Salcombe's estuary mouth. It's set in 3 hectares of lush, subtropical…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "england/start-bay/attractions/start-point-lighthouse/a/poi-sig/1350653/1341798",
      "position": "superzone"
    }