A car-free tour of Devon? Just the train journey there would be an adventure | Rail fares

Re Phoebe Taplin’s article (Coves, caves and Agatha Christie – a car-free tour along the English Riviera in Devon, 19 August), my in-laws live in Devon and we visit often from our home in the East Midlands. It is a long drive, with little to look at along the M6/M5, and Phoebe’s trip sounded so charming that I thought perhaps the train would provide us with an alternative. A quick look on a tickets app advises me that for the bargain price of £450 the four of us could travel to Torquay in seven hours and six minutes with four changes (each way), which would probably be an adventure in itself, possibly with fewer charming spots and seafood snacks. I could read an entire Christie novel in that time, however, provided the kids’ electronics stayed charged for long enough.
Briony Mason
Rowston, Lincolnshire