Cheddar Gorge is the largest gorge in Britain, a 137-meter-deep limestone canyon in the Mendip Hills with a road running through the bottom of it, show caves at the village end, and a clifftop loop above.
A clear winter morning. Frost holds on the Mendip fields and hedgerow lanes well past sunrise, the gorge road is nearly empty of coaches, and the low sun reaches down between the cliffs rather than flattening them out.
Buy a wedge of cave-matured cheddar at the village end of the gorge, aged in Gough's Cave, and eat it with local cider rather than in a sit-down restaurant.
Cheddar village puts you at the mouth of the gorge for an early start, though Wells, fifteen minutes away, has better pubs and dinner options.
Walk the gorge, don't drive it. There is no pavement through the narrow section, and the pull-ins fill early, so parking in Cheddar village and walking up costs you twenty minutes and saves the whole experience.
Read more in Cheddar Gorge & Wells: England's Deepest Gorge and Smallest City.
