Devon has some of Britain’s best beaches and they don’t get much better than Breakwater, Broadsands, Paignton or Meadfoot. So bring your digging gear. Enjoy a day out with Thomas the Tank Engine on the South Devon Railway. Or ride the steam train and paddles steamer with the Dartmouth Steam Rail and River Boat Company.
Complete the strange sense of being somewhere more exotic at the Splashdown Quaywest Waterpark, complete with lazy river, twisting tyre rides and slippery waterslides. Or meet 2500 animals in 80 acres at Paignton Zoo, full of natural-themed enclosures home to everything from Asiatic lions to Western grey kangaroos.
Have a day out at Occombe Farm, a mix of farm attractions, indoor play, animal encounters, and an animal-paddocks trail. Refresh in the café and exit through the farm shop. Or step straight into the Stone Age at Kents Cavern, a huge network of labyrinthine caves winding through 400-million-year-old rocks.
Visit a life-size Victorian street and immerse yourself in a long-lost age at Bygones Victorian Museum. Climb the walls at Torquay’s first and only dedicated bouldering gym, Boulder Bunker. See everything in miniature, from Stonehenge to a medieval castle, at Babbacombe Model Village. Or take a fun ferry trip over to Brixham.
No need to look much beyond the English Riviera for holiday frolics. Once synonymous with Fawlty Towers, Torbay is now all grown-up, with its palms, international marina, sandy beach and array of continental-style cafes and cocktail bars. Basil would very much approve of the yachts in the harbour and the Michelin-starred restaurants.
Walk the South West Coast Path. Take the Agatha Christie Trail. Enjoy a short walk into Torquay or Cockington Manor or get the lead out and take the dog down to Paignton. Enjoy a river cruise or take a sea-fishing trip aboard the Silver Halo. Or consider coasteering, canoeing or paddleboarding with Reach Outdoors.
Visit Cockington Court, a hive of creative activity with its sculpture trail, artist in residence, exhibitions and outdoor theatre. Keep the creativity coming at Torre Abbey, with world-class exhibitions shown with creative work from local emerging talent. Or see Buckfast Abbey, home to beautiful gardens, a restaurant and quirky shops.
Come in August for the steam fair, or in July for Paignton Festival. Come for the treetop adventures at Tamar Trails or for seal encounters underwater with Easy Divers. Come to shop along Union Street in Torquay, for cocktails at Soho Bar, karaoke at Seamus O’Donnell’s, or live music at Griffin Bar.
