Somerset Dating: Meet Singles Across Somerset

A county of market towns

Somerset has no single big city at its centre. Instead it has a ring of market towns, each with its own pubs, cafés and weekly rhythm, joined by roads that are busy in summer and slow across the Levels. People tend to date close to home, and a local site makes that easy.

Taunton and West Somerset

Taunton is the county town and the most common meeting point in the west of Somerset. Wellington, Minehead and the villages around the Quantocks and Exmoor usually search towards it. Anyone looking for dating in Taunton itself will find more on our Taunton page.

Bridgwater, Burnham and Weston

Along the M5, Bridgwater, Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge make a natural group, and many members there include Weston-super-Mare and North Somerset in their search.

Yeovil, Wells and East Somerset

Yeovil sits close to the Dorset border and draws in Sherborne and Crewkerne. Wells, Glastonbury and Street are a small cluster of their own, and in the east, Frome and Shepton Mallet look towards Bath as often as towards Taunton. Bath counts as Somerset on our site and has a page of its own: Bath dating.

Somerset singles, town by town

Only Devon has more members on Westcountry Singles than Somerset does, and here they are spread unusually evenly. Taunton has the largest group, with Bridgwater, Weston-super-Mare, Bath and Yeovil close behind, and smaller numbers in Wells, Minehead, Glastonbury, Burnham-on-Sea and Frome. Most people are somewhere between their mid-thirties and mid-fifties, and those in their late forties and early fifties are the biggest single group. A good number are in their late fifties and early sixties, a smaller group is past sixty-five, and under-35s are rare. Each town has its own lean: in Bridgwater the members are mostly men in their late thirties to early fifties, while Yeovil's women tend to be a little older, often in their late fifties or early sixties.

Levels, hills and the roads between

The shape of the county matters more than its size. The Levels lie low and flat in the middle, cut by rhynes and droves, and after a wet winter the lanes between Langport and Glastonbury can be under water. The Mendips rise along the north, the Quantocks climb from Taunton up to the Bristol Channel, the Blackdowns close off the south and Exmoor fills the far west beyond Dunster. The M5 links Weston, Bridgwater and Taunton in a straight line, and the A303 does a similar job for the south, past Ilminster and on towards Wincanton. A date thirty miles up the motorway can be easier than one ten miles away across the moor roads, so when dating in Somerset, think in roads rather than miles.

First dates with a view

What Somerset lacks in big city centres it makes up for in places to walk and talk. The climb up Glastonbury Tor gives you a view over the Levels and a good excuse to stop for breath. Cheddar Gorge has a path along the cliff top, and Ebbor Gorge near Wells is the quieter alternative. On the coast, Burnham-on-Sea has its lighthouse on legs and a long stretch of sand, and Brean Down juts out into the Bristol Channel. If sitting down suits you better, the green in front of Wells Cathedral or the streets around Frome's market place work well for a coffee. On a winter evening, the starlings gathering over Shapwick Heath and Ham Wall at dusk are worth wrapping up for. Make the first meeting a busy daytime one and travel there separately. Our South West first date ideas have plenty more.

Orchards, dairy herds and long days

Plenty of Somerset is still farmed, from dairy on the Levels to sheep on the Exmoor hills and the cider orchards around Taunton Deane. Milking twice a day does not leave much room for a social life. Put a wider radius on your search than a town dweller would, say on your profile what a working week looks like, and have a read of country dating, written for rural singles across the region.

Towns to include in your search

• Taunton
• Bridgwater
• Weston-super-Mare
• Yeovil
• Wells
• Glastonbury
• Street
• Frome
• Shepton Mallet
• Burnham-on-Sea
• Minehead
• Wellington
• Chard
• Crewkerne
• Ilminster
• Langport

Meeting someone new? Our safety page covers blocking, reporting and the first meeting itself in a few minutes' reading.