West Bagborough

West Bagborough is not a village of big hotels, and that is part of its charm. Its own accommodation is limited to a scattering of self-catering cottages, B&B rooms and the rooms above The Rising Sun, the 16th-century thatched pub at its centre, so anyone wanting a proper choice of hotels should look five miles south to Taunton. Somerset's county town has a good spread of options, from budget chain hotels near the railway station to more characterful coaching inns and boutique guest houses in the town centre, all within a short drive of the Quantock Hills.

Staying in Taunton also makes sense logistically: it puts you on the mainline railway, close to the A358 and M5, and within easy reach not just of West Bagborough and the Quantocks but of the Blackdown Hills, the Somerset Levels and the coast around Minehead and Watchet. Alternatively, the villages immediately around West Bagborough, such as Bishops Lydeard, Crowcombe and Kingston St Mary, have their own smaller guest houses and inns with rooms, offering a quieter, more rural base right under the hills themselves, closer to the walking trails than a town-centre hotel would be.

Wherever you base yourself, West Bagborough works well as a day-visit destination for walking Wills Neck and Cothelstone Hill, calling in at The Rising Sun, and exploring the wider Quantock Hills National Landscape, before heading back to more substantial accommodation nearby for the night.

• Wills Neck — the highest point on the Quantock Hills at 384m (1,261ft), reached by a steady climb from the village. On a clear day the summit gives views across Exmoor, Dartmoor, the Mendips, the Brecon Beacons and the Blackdown Hills.
• Church of St Pancras — a Grade II* listed 15th-century church set apart from the village, with 17th-century additions and a Victorian restoration; its isolated position is one of the most-told local stories in the Quantocks.
• The Rising Sun — a 16th-century thatched inn at the heart of the village (built in 1573 as the Shepherd's Crook), rebuilt after a fire in 2000 and reopened under new management in 2024. Thick cob walls and a genuinely old front door.
• Triscombe Stone and Quarry — a Bronze Age standing stone a short walk above the village, marking the old drovers' route between Watchet and Taunton, with a disused quarry and quiet ridge-top paths nearby.
• Cothelstone Hill — a couple of miles south, a lower but equally scenic Quantock summit (332m) known for its panoramic views and resident herd of Exmoor ponies.
• Quantocks Greenway — a long-distance walking and riding trail that loops around the Quantock Hills and passes close to West Bagborough, linking the village to Triscombe, Crowcombe and the wider AONB.
• Vale of Taunton Deane views — the lanes and field paths on the village's western edge look straight out over the vale to the Blackdown Hills, a classic Somerset view without having to climb anything at all.

The Rising Sun is the village's own pub, a 16th-century thatched inn serving food and drink at the heart of the community, having reopened under new management in late 2024 after a period of closure. Beyond the village, Taunton offers a much fuller range of restaurants, cafes and pubs, while nearby Quantock villages such as Crowcombe and Bishops Lydeard have their own well-regarded country pubs worth the short drive.

West Bagborough sits right on the edge of open access land on the Quantock Hills, which makes it a good, low-key base for a camping trip, though a word of warning first: wild camping without the landowner's permission is illegal in England, including across the Quantocks, so plan to stay on a proper site rather than pitching up on the open hill. The nearest option is Quantock Camping at Lower Toollands, a small, family-run site right in West Bagborough itself, offering grassed touring and tent pitches alongside a handful of glamping units, including a shepherd's hut with its own shower. It sits just off the Quantocks Greenway, making it an easy walk-out base for exploring the hills without needing to drive first.

The terrain around West Bagborough rewards campers who like their hills close by: Wills Neck, Triscombe Stone and Cothelstone Hill are all within comfortable walking or short driving distance, and the network of bridleways and footpaths across the AONB means a tent here gives genuinely quick access to some of the best short walking in Somerset, without the crowds of Exmoor or Dartmoor. Ground can be uneven and exposed higher up, so most sites, including Quantock Camping, keep pitches on the gentler, more sheltered lower slopes near the village rather than up on the open moor.

Camping season here runs broadly from spring to early autumn, mirroring the opening dates of local sites; April to August is typical, taking in bluebell season, long summer evenings and the purple heather of late summer on the higher ground. Midges and biting insects can be an issue in still, warm weather near the streams that run off the hills, so repellent is worth packing. For those who want the hills without full canvas, the shepherd's hut and glamping pitches at Quantock Camping offer a warmer, more sheltered alternative that still puts you on the doorstep of the AONB, with proper bathroom facilities rather than a shared camp toilet block.