Getting To River Cottage HQ By Train

I recently traveled to River Cottage HQ by train and I thought I’d share my experience about the practicalities of it. The previous time I’d visited I’d come by car and there is a large car park at the top of the site.  From the car park you are ferried down in a rather bumpy trailer pulled by a tractor.

The nearest train station is Axminster.  I got a train to Exeter St.Davids and changed onto a London Waterloo bound train which stopped at Axminster. There is a taxi rank outside the station, but I wouldn’t rely on that, although there were plenty there when we left at 10am in the morning.  We found taxis were in short supply and apparently quite a few of them are used for school transport, so it might be worth booking ahead. In fact, I would suggest booking a taxi well before you need it and even a day in advance.   If you have problems getting an Axminster taxi firm to come out, consider using one from a neighbouring town like Chard, but be aware that you will pay extra to cover the distance involved to get to you.

We got a taxi from our B&B in Axminster to the River Cottage HQ carpark (you can’t get any closer than that without going by tractor as the track is very rough).  This cost £12 and it was the same on the return journey too, even though that was after 10pm.