Most visitors blast through Bodmin on the A30 en route to Cornwall's coastline, which is their loss. This inland market town, one of the county's oldest with roots back to the sixth century, sits less than an hour from Plymouth and packs in heritage buildings, a working steam railway and easy access to one of Britain's wildest uplands.

In town, the highlights are compact and walkable: Shire Hall with its old county courtroom, the 15th-century St. Petroc's Church, and Bodmin Jail — part of which has been turned into a boutique hotel where you can sleep in a former cell and eat in the converted chapel. A short drive away, the National Trust's Lanhydrock estate offers a Victorian manor, gardens and riverside paths that make an easy half-day trip.

The moor is the real draw. Bodmin Moor is a sweeping expanse of grassland and heather dotted with granite tors, and it's home to Cornwall's highest point, Brown Willy, with 360-degree views reaching the coast on clear days. Roughtor, with its stacked rock slabs and surrounding prehistoric hut circles, is equally iconic — the two can be combined on a 5.2-mile circular walk. Near the village of Minions stand The Hurlers, three ancient stone circles linked to a legend about men turned to stone for playing a game on the Sabbath. And yes, this is the terrain of the Beast of Bodmin Moor, the big cat that has been 'sighted' for decades. Also worth the trip: Jamaica Inn on the moor, the old coaching inn with smuggling history, log fires and an on-site Smuggler's Museum.

Then there's the railway. The original line opened in the 1830s to haul China Clay, and part of it now runs as a heritage steam railway from Bodmin General Station. Two branches serve Bodmin Parkway and Boscarne Junction, and the full there-and-back run covers 13 miles in roughly two hours, crossing both the River Fowey and River Camel. Book ahead in summer — seats are limited. Hop off at Boscarne to walk the Camel Trail, visit Camel Valley Vineyard or grab a cream tea at the Camel Trail Tea Garden. Spring riders get bluebells along the route; eagle-eyed passengers can also spot the Gilbert Memorial on Bodmin Beacon and the former Walker Lines barracks, where US troops trained in WWII and Cold War language students once learned Russian.

For travellers who've 'done' St Ives and Tintagel, Bodmin is a quieter, cheaper base for eastern Cornwall — history, legends and big-sky walking without the coastal crowds.