The old Duchy Hotel is the home to the main Dartmoor National Park Visitor centre. With wide ranging and interactive exhibitions on cultural heritage and the natural environment you can discover what makes Dartmoor so special and delve in to the thousands of years of history.

Entering the former hotel’s ballroom you can enjoy regularly changing exhibitions from local artists and groups. The ballroom also has Conan Doyle’s ‘study’.

A former hotel guest, Conan Doyle was inspired by his surroundings and subsequently wrote some of ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’ whilst staying here. As well as also having the opportunity to dress up as Sherlock or Dr Watson, you can also have your photo taken in the guise of other famous Princetown residents, the inmates of Dartmoor Prison!

From the ballroom you can also explore the Dartmoor Conservation garden, a microsm of Dartmoor with bronze age cists, medieval crosses, and a Quern stone. An area to explore or simply relax and have your picnic.

Further on, the Centre (which has a Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence) currently has Dartmoor artefacts ‘Finding Prehistory’ on loan from Plymouth Museum. There is a also a dedicated ‘childrens’ room for children of all ages where you can dress up, find out about the National Park Junior Ranger club and also learn more about Dartmoor myths and legends. Finally, the Centre also has a cinema room which has a changing programme of short films.

Having discovered so much about Dartmoor there is the opportunity to take home a Dartmoor souvenir, a present from one of the Dartmoor Range producers or buy a map or guide book to discover more.

Open year round this centre is a must on your Dartmoor itinerary!

Opening Hours –

From 1 -31st October
Princetown – open daily 10am-4pm
Postbridge – open daily 10am-4pm
Haytor – open daily 10am-4pm

Please note:
Staff may need to close the Centre briefly for lunch – re-opening times will be made clear on the door sign.