Where to go on holiday in Devon?

[Jenjenjeny]

Hello everyone
I’ve got a week booked off work at the end of September and I was hoping to take my 2 year old dd on holiday to Devon. I’ve never been to Devon before though and was just wondering if anyone knew of any good places to go with a young child. I’d ideally like to stay in a cottage and I would like to take dd to somewhere with a beach (we live in a city so we don’t get to go to the beach often) with pretty cafes and perhaps an ice cream shop- sorry this might sound like quite a lot of criteria to fit! I thought about Salcombe but my mum went a few years ago and wasn’t too keen on it. I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions
Thank you x

Ilfracombe?

I love sidmouth

We go to the Torbay area a couple of times a year, Torquay, Paignton and Brixham. Lovely beaches, plenty to do like the zoo, Babbacombe Model Village, boat trips, pier etc. Teignmouth is also nice

Woolacombe? The beach is fab and you're in easy reach of croyde

@ILoveAnOwl have just looked at Ilfracombe on google, it does look very pretty!

Salcombe has been absolutely bonkers this summer, it is lovely when it is a bit quieter though. Totnes has some nice coffee shops and icecream shop. There is the steam train and rarebreeds farm. Dartmouth is quite nice too. Paignton and Torbay have lots of touristy things.

I like appledore all of north Devon is lovely but you need a car.

Ilfracombe is lovely. Bude is lovely too, although is Cornwall.

If you have a car staying in the buckfastleigh, totnes area can be great. There is a steam train, rare breeds farm where you can feed and pet the animals, butterfly farm and you are super close to a lovely bit of dartmoor. The beach is only 30 mins away too. Ooo and you can take the ferry to Dartmouth and go crabbing off the jetty. Wherever you go have a lovely time!

Thank you all for your suggestions! Definitely got some good suggestions now! I didn’t mention it in my original post but my dd does have health issues so I was hoping for somewhere quite quiet, in September should these places be starting to get quieter (appreciate it might be different this year!)

I was just in Ilfracombe an hour ago! Ilfracombe is pretty but the beaches aren’t amazingly sandy and it is not advised to swim in the sea from at least one beach as the water quality is not great. We are currently in Combe Martin, the next (ish) village along, which has the same issue - we don’t mind so much as there are lovely walks but if the beach has been the main draw we would probably have gone elsewhere. Woolacombe has a very sandy beach.

Salcombe is hectic but lovely when quiet

Exmouth. Sandy beach, train station and the sea is really shallow at low tide. Lots of cafes and ice cream shops. And an M&S food.

North Devon is beautiful. Bideford, Clovelly, Westward Ho Beach. All close together. Loads for kids to do too.

Exmouth looks lovely! Was just wondering if anyone has been to the village called Shaldon (I think it’s on the outskirts of Teignmouth). Have just found a lovely looking cottage there but don’t know anything about the village? Thank you

Salcombe's nice but very popular and busy. Parking is a nightmare! I had a hissy fit and swung the car round and went home the first time we went there. We were driving round and round, it was baking hot and I needed a wee!

Woolacombe is lovely, the beaches there are beautiful. Sidmouth is nice too.

Exmouth looks lovely!

I was booked to go there, then lockdown happened :(

Woolacombe is good - huge sandy beach.

I have been to the beach at Shaldon and the zoo (very small, mainly small animals from what I can remember). I am not sure how much there is to do there, Teignmouth has more going on. Not huge distances to get to Dartmoor and Torbay.

Woolacombe is lovely but can be quite crowded, there is much quieter beach - Puttsborough Beach which has large clean toilets. You can go into the sea and keep an eye on your little patch on the beach. It is great for bodyboarding and rockpooling and there are no ice-cream vans running all day long and churning out exhaust fumes. The path from the carpark to the beach is quite steep though but there is a cafe and shop halfway down.

Combe Martin is very sweet in North Devon. We have just done Exeter and surrounding areas. We liked Sidmouth it was big enough not to feel crammed with nice little shopping streets and big beach the sort of place you could just get there and it’s all out your door. Salcombe no Brixham lovely but not sure if there is a beach.

Shaldon is lovely for a stop off, the Ness pub is lovely, there’s a little zoo and can go through the tunnel to a larger beach but other than that there’s nothing there to do

We go to Torbay (Brixham, Paignton, Brixham) There’s lots to do in the area and lovely beaches even if some of it has seen better days

Don’t go anywhere near Plymouth!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-53923999

Please don't go to Combe Martin, there is very little to do and nothing to see. Went 2 years ago and the beach side pub was jumping with fleas. Bude is lovely with cafes etc and Ilfracombe has plenty to do with a 2 year old. Have a lovely time.

Another vote for Appledore and surrounding area.