South Devon is very lovely but when you like life chilled out the seething crowds, murderous traffic and sunbather-strewn beaches can get a bit much. Inland the chocolate-box villages are mobbed like Disneyland. If you’re feeling faint at the very thought of Sidmouth, Exmouth, Dawlish, Teignmouth, Torquay, Dartmouth or Salcombe, point your nose north. Here’s what you need to know about North Devon, including some handy tips from the locals.
The good, the bad and the ugly bits of North Devon
The award-winning coastline is mostly an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and it lives up to the name. There’s everything from secluded coves to dizzying cliffs, golden sandy beaches to fascinating rock pools, sea swimming on safe beaches and outdoor swimming pools carved into the rock itself. The geology is astonishing. Just look at the way the rocks have been mauled and you can easily imagine the violent volcanic chaos that folded them up like cardboard all those millions of years ago.
This is the nation’s best surfing spot, with Croyde a big favourite and other little towns like Lynmouth and Woolacombe dotted along the same stretch of coast in the same league. Rugged moors and damp green woodland give walkers and wildlife lovers plenty to see and do away from the sea and there are verdant, wooded, stream-filled valleys everywhere.
Tip from the locals: In rural north Devon there are very few official footpaths and most of them don’t join up. Luckily the little roads and lanes are almost deserted. Stay off the A and B roads and you can wander for hours without coming across anything much except a few tractors, making it a fabulous way to explore the countryside on foot.
Aside from the surfing, kayaking, paddleboarding and all the other watersports loved by adrenaline junkies, there’s cycling. Bearing in mind the whole of north Devon is so up-and-downhill, bike riding is surprisingly popular. There’s a mamil every mile on the roads. So pull on your lycra (or not!), hire a bike and head out into the countryside.
The roads can be a bit scary on a bike, with blind bends and summits everywhere as well as constant hilliness, without a plain in sight. If you’re feeling farty choose the Tarka Trail, once a railway line and now popular with visitors and locals alike. It’s one of the few flat rides in the entire region and the scenery is gorgeous, weaving back and to over bridges across rivers.
Tip from the locals: The Devon banks are exaggerated hedgerows made from stone and earth, sometimes as high as fifteen feet. Walking and cycling along them is like being inside a deep tunnel. Every now and again you get a gateway into a field and the landscape opens up to give you a beautiful surprise. That’s what we call perfect photo opportunities!
Exmoor is a delight but it’s dangerous too. The weather can change in minutes, so be aware of it while you’re using the walking trails and watching wildlife. It’s always wise to bring a hiker’s emergency kit whatever the weather. This is home to Exmoor ponies, which wander wild around the moor, a lovely thing to watch. The landscapes are vast and empty and the skies are huge and wild, the air is the ultimate in fresh and the scents are magical.
Visit Ilfracombe on the coast, the home of artist Damien Hurst, these days a place where great food is on the menu. It’s a funny town with its eccentric-looking seafront Landmark Ilfracombe and Queens Theatre and strange cliff tunnels to the beach. The area around the harbour is really lovely but go further up the hill and things quickly get pretty tatty and a bit grim. But hey it’s an English seaside town, not the Riviera, and the town is packed with personality, lovely in the sunshine.
The small towns of Barnstaple and Bideford sit on broad, beautiful river estuaries spanned by ancient and modern bridges. Both have decent shopping areas and lots of independent shops as well as the essentials. The riverside areas are scenic and there are some lovely cafes to sit outside.
Locals tip: don’t miss the cafe on the big boat at Bideford. Cafe on Board is quirky and fun with great views, right on the riverbank.
Both towns have traditional Devon pannier markets, the Bideford version with a ground floor full of artist and artisan shops, little nooks full of eccentric creativity. The Barnstaple pannier market is more workaday but has a good range of hippy clothing and interesting antiques as well as local crafts. Walk along the river on either side of the water in Barnstaple for pretty strolls.
The Burton Gallery in Bideford is world-class, with visiting exhibitions from international stars from the art world as well as local artists. There’s some serious talent in the region and the annual exhibition of local artists is always worth a go. Watch out for loads of live music as well – it’s a big thing here.
There’s a wonderful walk along the riverbank towards Appledore from Bideford, leading from the main riverside car park all the way to Appledore village, which is super-quaint. There are streets of vividly colourful fishing cottages to wander along, some great pubs, a brilliant chippie and all sorts of interesting little shops. Plus regattas and rowing competitions, art exhibitions, markets and summer festivals.
Directly opposite across the estuary from Appledore you’ll find the charming village of Instow, with its posh hotel, great restaurants and pubs, and big sandy beach. Take a right where the road runs out and follow the beach around a corner to find wrecked metal ships covered in beautiful graffiti.
The coast around here isn’t always pretty – but it’s never boring. During World War Two it was a hive of activity, as revealed in the Appledore Maritime Museum, worth the climb up a steep hill. They tested the Great Panjandrum at Westward Ho! and there were some serious coastal defences strung along the water’s edge, now only hinted at in the once-more-empty landscape. GCHQ is just down the road at Bude.
Westward Ho! Beach is a monster, literally breathtaking when approached from the road high above. Surfers love it, as do paddlers and swimmers, because the tide goes out and out to leave a vast expanse of sand and the water’s shallow for a long way. There are amusements for the kids and a nice walkway along the coast to the ‘haunted house’ and beyond, part of the truly epic Coastal Path – over 600 miles of it.
Tip from the locals: the ‘Traditional Fish and Chips’ chippy just off the beach, on the Coastal Path, is a legend. Their food is absolutely superb.
Clovelly is OK if you like a place so twee and prettified it’s like something out of a theme park. Bear in mind it takes true grit to get down the extremely steep cobbled street to the harbour and beach, and even more grit to climb back up again.
There are shops and eateries, and a nice pub in the harbour, but there’s no need to pay at the visitor centre. Here’s another local’s tip for you – approach the village via the public footpath paralleling the coast and you’ll pop out part-way down the hill, avoiding the visitor centre’s steep entrance fee. It also happens to be a stunning walk in all weathers, just as dramatic when the trees are in leaf as it is when the steely sea glints through the bare branches.
Inland the biggest town in the area is Great Torrington, whose historic Civil War past is quite interesting. Sadly the town’s reputation is marred by the Boxing Day fox hunt event every Christmas, something local people hate but which carries on anyway. In fact the whole region is infested with fox hunts, hare coursing packs and stag hunts, which the summer visitors never see and mostly don’t know about. And that brings us to another tip.
Tip from local people: To avoid accidentally helping fund hunting, ask first before you visit country pubs and restaurants, book farm cottages and holiday cottages, or go to stately homes and gardens. If they host hunt events or hunt themselves, walk away and find somewhere whose owners care about wildlife.
Browns reclamation yard outside the large village of South Molton is a treasure trove of quirky wonderfulness, there’s a fantastic cheese shop and the pannier market is home to salvage fairs and antique fairs as well as regular markets.
Lundy island is a fabulous place to visit, either by helicopter if you’re not that bothered about climate change or by boat for greener folk. It’s only ten miles out and at three miles long, less than a mile wide, and it’s tiny. But it has a chequered history as well as being home to a community of puffins. One local story talks about a ship owner who was tasked with ferrying prisoners to America, but decided to dump them on Lundy instead and keep the money.
And our final tip from local people? Venture off the beaten track. Take a turn into a tiny country lane, then another, then another, and let yourself get gloriously lost in this remote, quiet and often mysterious region, the direct opposite of the madding crowds gathering in the county’s Mediterranean-feeling south.
Are there UK day tours in north Devon? Check it out and see!
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