Taunton (England)

town in Somerset, England

Taunton is the county town of Somerset, a county in the south-west of England. Taunton has several landmarks room its thousand-year history, and is famous for its cider.

Taunton

Get in

By air

The nearest airports are at Bristol Airport (BRS), to the north-west and Exeter Airport (EXT), to the south-west, both about 35 mi (56 km) away.

By road

By road, leave the M5 motorway at exit 25. Taunton has a railway station on the main line from London Paddington (typical journey time 2 hr 5 min) to Exeter (25 min), Plymouth (1 hr 30 min), and Penzance (3 hr 40 min). Bristol is 35 min away by rail.

By train

🌍 Taunton station has many rail connections:

By bus

Buses link to Wellington, Bridgwater, Yeovil, Exeter, and Chard.

South West Falcon operates a service connecting Bristol, Taunton, Exeter and Plymouth. A single fare from Plymouth to Bristol is £28. Tickets can be booked online in advance, but reservations are not strictly required.

Get around

Traffic in Taunton is awful. A park and ride service (the Taunton Flyer) provides transport between the town centre and a large car park at Silk Mills.

The best options are to walk or take a bus. However, the bus and railway stations are a good 15 minutes' walk apart!

By bus

Buses are frequent during the week, but evenings and Sundays are very limited. Buses operated by Firstbus - They are expensive.

See

Do

  • 🌍 Brewhouse Theatre, Coal Orchard TA1 1JL, ☏ +44 1823 283244. Professional and community theatre. (updated Apr 2019)
  • Cricket at 🌍 County Ground, St James St TA1 1JT (just east of river). Somerset CCC play in the First Division of the County Championship. (updated Apr 2019)
  • 🌍 Taunton Racecourse, Orchard Portman TA3 7BL (B3170 two miles south of town), ☏ +44 1823 337172, . Only in winter, as (unusually) this is solely a jumps course, with meetings every fortnight or so Oct-Mar. The course is near M5 but there's no junction with B3170, you need to exit at jcn 25 onto A358 west, then left onto Bridgewater Rd to zigzag around town. (updated Jan 2019)
  • Rugby Union: Taunton Titans play in National League 1, the third tier. Their home ground is Veritas Park on Hyde Lane, two miles east of town centre.

Buy

  • 🌍 Taunton Deane services. Taunton Deane services both northbound and southbound have a WH Smith that sell all kinds of supplies and souvenirs including wooden carvings, aluminium lettering and even Buddha statues. (updated Jan 2018)
  • Farmers Market is held on High St on Thursdays.

Eat

All of the major fast food chains are represented, including two branches each of Subway and McDonalds. The town has a range of coffee shops, including the major chains Starbucks, Costa and Caffè Nero.

  • 🌍 Pizza Express, 20 Bridge Street, TA1 1UB, ☏ +44 1823 352245. Su-Th 11:30AM-10PM, F Sa 11:30AM-11PM. (updated Jan 2018)
  • 🌍 @Tristans, 11 East Reach, TA1 3EW, ☏ +44 1823 332117. Tu-Th 6:30PM-midnight, F Sa 6PM-midnight, Su M closed. (updated Jan 2018)
  • Castle Bow Restaurant, in Castle Hotel, see Sleep, ☏ +44 1823 272671. W-Sa 6:30-9PM. Has a national reputation for cooking excellence, although the prices and formality reflect its fame. The hotel also has Brazz (open daily, breakfast 8-10AM, lunch noon-3PM, dinner 6-9PM, two-course set menu £12). tasting menu £64, a la carte mains from £20. (updated Apr 2019)
  • 🌍 Willow Tree, 3 Tower Lane, ☏ +44 1823-352835. Tu W F Sa from 6:30PM. Cozy restaurant with superb food, open only in the evening. from £28. (updated Aug 2017)
  • The Skewer House, 41 Bridge Street TA1 1TP, ☏ +44 1823 335711. Traditional and authentic Portuguese food. (updated Mar 2018)
  • 🌍 The Barn, opened in 2021, is on Pound Lane in Bishop's Lydeard 8 miles northwest of Taunton. It's modern British cuisine, served Th-Sa 12:00-23:00, W & Su 12:00-16:00.

Drink

Sleep

Connect

As of May 2022, Taunton has 5G from EE and Three, and 4G from O2 and Vodafone.

Go next

Routes through Taunton
Plymouth ← Tiverton ←  SW  NE  → Bridgwater → Bristol



This article is issued from Wikivoyage. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.