Gaze up at one of Dartmoor's most recognisable landmarks, a great double outcrop of weathered granite rising dramatically from the open moor at 457 metres. Climb to the summit for sweeping views across the national park and a first sense of the ancient, wind-scoured landscape you are about to explore.

Approach the soaring towers of this working Benedictine abbey, rebuilt stone by stone by a small community of monks between 1882 and 1938 on foundations that date back to 1018. Step inside to experience a space that is still very much alive — a functioning monastery where the rhythm of prayer, beeswax candles, and the famous tonic wine have continued unbroken for over a century.

Pull up beside this quiet Victorian reservoir, completed in 1907 to supply the growing town of Paignton, its dark water fringed by conifer plantations and open moorland. Walk the easy trail around its perimeter and listen for the calls of moorland birds echoing across a landscape shaped as much by Victorian engineering as by ancient geology.

Step out at this rugged granite outcrop perched above the wooded Dart Valley, one of Dartmoor's quieter and less-visited tors with far-reaching views in every direction. Scramble among the lichened boulders and take in the deep river gorge below, where the East Dart has carved its way through the moor for thousands of years.

Arrive at the gates of one of Britain's most storied prisons, originally built in 1809 to hold French and American prisoners of war on this bleak and deliberately remote stretch of moorland. Explore the museum to discover the harrowing story of the 1815 Dartmoor Massacre and the extraordinary bone carvings that prisoners traded for food — intricate ship models that now rank among the finest folk art of the Napoleonic era.

Walk out across the open moor to one of Dartmoor's most remarkable Bronze Age landscapes, where stone rows, standing stones, a stone circle, and the remains of hut circles stretch across the hillside in extraordinary concentration. Stand among monuments that were already ancient when the Romans arrived and consider the thousands of years of human life that this windswept plateau once sustained.

Pick your way toward this strange and ancient fragment of Atlantic oak woodland, its gnarled trees growing low and twisted between moss-covered granite boulders at over 380 metres — one of the highest oak woodlands in Britain. Absorb the atmosphere of a place that has inspired legends of ghostly hounds and Druidic ritual for centuries, and that scientists now recognise as a living relic of Dartmoor's prehistoric forest.

Pause at one of Dartmoor's most photographed landmarks, a medieval stone slab bridge spanning the East Dart River on great granite piers that have held their ground for 700 years. Cross on foot and look upstream to where the river runs fast and clear over mossy boulders, framed by the open moorland that stretches away in every direction.

Stop beside this weathered medieval waymarker standing alone on the open moor near Warren House Inn, its arms worn smooth by centuries of wind and rain. Learn how crosses like this guided packhorse trains carrying tin and wool across trackless moorland long before roads existed, and why this one also served as a boundary marker for the ancient Headland Warren.

End your tour at this characterful attraction housed in the handsome Victorian buildings of the old Bovey Tracey pottery, where the original bottle kilns still stand. Watch glassblowers and marble makers at work, explore the museum of traditional games, and browse the rambling shop — a satisfying final stop that brings Dartmoor's industrial story quietly to life.