Moving to Devon Advice

[PiscesHoneyBee]

Hi everyone 👋

My fiancé and I have always dreamed of moving to the coast, and after recently selling our house we’ve had a very “why not now?” moment. We’re currently based in the East Midlands. I’m an Assistant Headteacher at a primary school, and my other half is a Class 1 HGV driver.

We’re trying to be sensible and make sure we’ve really done our research, so any advice or experiences would be hugely appreciated.

At the moment, we’re thinking East Devon might be the best fit. Being within commuting distance of Exeter feels reassuring job-wise for both of us, especially as we’re aware that lorry driving roles might be more limited in more rural coastal areas. We absolutely love seaside towns like Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth, and Beer/Seaton, but we’re also very open to the idea of living slightly inland in one of the villages nearer Exeter and benefiting from easier commuting.

We recently took a trip down in February (2026) to explore some of the villages and, if I’m honest, we came away feeling a bit underwhelmed. We’re not sure whether that was the miserable weather making everything feel a bit grey and run down, or whether we’ve taken for granted how pretty the villages are where we currently live.

I’d love to hear from anyone who lives in (or has lived in) places like Ottery St Mary, Tipton St John, Newton Poppleford, or similar — what are these places actually like day to day? Do they feel friendly and connected, or a bit sleepy and isolated? Would it be best to move to the coastal towns that we know we love at all times of the year?

One of our worries is that if we chose a more coastal town, we might end up feeling cut off, and that commuting (especially in summer) could become a real headache. On the other hand, we don’t currently have children but are hoping to start a family in the next couple of years, and living by the sea feels like it could offer a really lovely upbringing.

So I suppose my big questions are:

• What is East Devon like for young families?
• Is moving 3.5 hours away from all family a mistake at this stage of life, especially with children hopefully on the horizon?
• Are we romanticising coastal life too much?
• Should we be considering an entirely different area altogether?

As you can probably tell, we’re having a bit of a millennial anxiety crisis over this 😅 Any thoughts, lived experiences, or gentle reality checks would be unbelievably appreciated.

Thank you so much if you’ve read this far ❤️

Can’t help you with Devon I’m afraid OP, but are there not any coastal areas near t where you currently are that you could move to? Does it have to be Devon?

I think if you’re wanting to start a family, moving 3.5 hours away from any family support you would regret (unless your family wouldn’t be very hands on)

It doesn’t have to be Devon. If anything, we really want to move to Cornwall as we are in love with it but is just too far and isolated for us at this point in our lives! We are much nearer Norfolk beaches (around 2-2.5 hours) but the conclusion we came to was that Exeter is probably are preferred city to be near over Norwich and we prefer the beauty of the Devon landscape and beaches. Also, 2-2.5 hours didn’t feel considerably closer in the grand scheme of things! Happy to be proved wrong though, we’ve not really explored the Norfolk coastline/villages as much as we have down south.

That grey wet bleakness is what most coastal areas are like from Nov to March. You'll get lovely days, but lots of not lovely ones too.
Maybe start looking at jobs in the area and see what's on offer.

Lived in Mid & East Devon all my life (except for 3 years when at uni).

Anywhere very close to the coast is expensive - eg: Beer, Seaton, Budleigh etc. Also coastal towns get very busy with holiday makers making a quick trip to the supermarket a bit of a nightmare in high season.

East Devon is good for families there are the beaches, the moors within easy driving distance (Exmoor and Dartmoor), beautiful country-side, good family-friendly pubs & excellent (if expensive) farm shops with animals for the children to look at.

Exmouth is good, relatively close to the M5 junction (about 20-40 minutes drive depending on the time of day & time of year), with a train station (I recommend the journey along the estuary into Exeter) & good bus links into Exeter. But the more affordable houses are a long way from the actual beach & you'd have to get in the car, get a bus or cycle to get to the beach. However, we lived in Exmouth for many years & it's a good place to bring up children - we used to cycle to the beach for body boarding, swimming & BBQs after school, much better than being indoors on computer games! There is plenty for growing children to do - sports, leisure centre, the usual Scouts, Guides, children's theatre club etc.

Exeter Exeter has a least 3 leisure centres with pools, 3 cinemas, good restaurants, 2 theatres a really good museum & the canal & Quay has all kinds of activity centres with climbing, canoeing, kayaking, paddle boards etc. The canal & Quay & is a good place for a walk & lunch or a coffee on a dry day.

Ottery St Mary also has good public transport links into Exeter, some good independent shops, facilities for families, a decent-sized Sainsburys & is quite affordable.

The problem with Newton Pop is the busy road running through the village which can be a real problem in the summer & the part close to the river can flood. Also there isn't much in the village for older children so you would be having to drive children around to activities once they get older.

You may like to take a look at Cullompton, small friendly town with good shops, a leisure centre (no swimming pool as yet) on an M5 junction, regular buses into Exeter (about 30 minutes away) & the train station is due to be re-opened. Or Crediton on the other side of Exeter going towards N. Devon which again has good facilities for growing families & teens & good public transport links.

I would suggest looking at the small towns to the west of Exeter. Okehampton. Bovey Tracy. Moretonhampstead. All have good facilities not far from coast or Exeter and good HGV jobs locally Message me if needed my husband is HGV driver

Keep the greyness, rain and damp at the forefront of your decision. Devon and Cornwall is only truly lovely a few days/weeks of the year. Fabulous if you are on holiday and you get the weather but living there is an entirely different experience.

Agree with this in part. It's rained everyday since the beginning of the year - possibly longer than that.

However, it's stopped raining, the sun has come out & we have DH's GC (aged 9 and 11) with us today. We've just got home from a long walk in local woods with the dogs looking for bears, badgers & deer & playing 'Robin Hood'. No chance of seeing any wildlife with 2 excited little girls crashing around LOL! but we saw deer hoof prints, some fox 'scat', a badger's den (we knew that as there were grey hairs on nearby branches & bramble) & where badgers & probably other wildlife had been digging for worms & grubs. While eating lunch my GC have been watching the spotted woodpecker, the pair of Nuthatches & myriad of tits & finches on our birdfeeders outside the kitchen window. This afternoon we're going on a bike ride along a local cycle path to a local farm shop where we will look at the animals & choose some cakes for them to take home to mum & dad to have after tea.

Yes, I know all this is available all over the country, but I love living in Devon - rain or shine.

East Devon fantastic for children, loads to do, the sea and the moors.

Agree with PP, avoid Newton Pop. Also really funny lay out to village and high elderly population.

Healthcare better than anywhere else I've lived.

Only you can really answer the question about being far away from your family with a new baby, people have different tolerances to this.

Hi, this is our ‘patch’. We moved here when DD was a baby (now also have DS). DH from Exeter.

Upsides:

1. Beautiful beaches. We use them a lot, if it’s dry then we’re going. We have a dog and the kids can bin ages just messing around with buckets and spades. We get a coffee and sit watching! Lots of people regularly sea swim, and there’s also water sports galore, but I’m not into all that. You might be though!
2. The villages are beautiful in the summer. It’s got a quaint, old worldly feel to it. Nothing better than a cream tea and listening to the birds on a summer’s day. It’s so peaceful.
3. Exeter is a decent safe city for teens and shopping. Not the most exciting, but serves its purpose, and easily accessible from outside.
4. Lots of great, cheap days out for kids. Bicton, Word of Country Life, lovely parks, Greendale Farm, stuff like that. Season passes for locals are very cheap and we get our moneys worth ten times over.
5. Houses aren’t hideously expensive. Budleigh is, but Newton Pop and Exmouth much more reasonable.
6. Friendly people. Honestly, don’t believe about Devon being insular. It isn’t. There’s a lot of blow ins and everyone seems to know everyone. Super friendly. I never made friends where I was before, I have here.
7. Dartmoor!! If you love a good hike in bracing conditions, or camping, or just want a scenic drive, it’s gorgeous and not far away. For DH birthday we went to a rural hotel in the middle of nowhere and had an amazing time. Log fires, local food, felt like I was in a (comfier) Wuthering Heights.
8. The secondary schools are mainly okay and there are grammars in Torquay and Colyton.

Downsides:

1. Don’t expect Uber or any of that convenience type stuff
2. If you don’t want to be outdoors and enjoy expensive shopping etc, this is not the place for you
3. Yes, getting from A to B can be a bit of a pain, but no more so than any other rural area
4. In the rain, mud and wind, living here can be a bit tough.

My kids have had a proper outdoor childhood which I really wanted for them, and their local primary is lovely. I’m very happy with my decision but I do know people who have moved here only to move back. They didn’t give it long enough in my opinion but also I think they’d been reading too many novels.

It has rained every day this year…
I like Sidmouth and Budleigh, not so keen on Seaton. Exmouth has a fabulous beach, good connections to Exeter, bus to Colyton grammar, M&S food, leisure centre runs loads of classes and is very reasonable. Town centre is imo pretty depressing though- mainly charity shops, and some barbers/vape shops and ‘European shops’ that are probably money laundering operations.
I love topsham but it’s ££££

Meh, Topsham loves itself and isn't afraid to know it. And no parking.

I do feel very safe where we live.

Couldn't put it better myself.

Possibly as a farmer's daughter, I was used to being outside & bad weather doesn't bother me.

I've been on Exmouth beach with a 3 year old in November, me shivering & huddled against the sea wall hugging a flask of tea - him happily digging in the sand wearing swimming trunks, an anorak & wellies.

Yes, agree with Uber etc, we live in a village just outside of Exmouth & most of the delivery companies don't deliver to our area. However, Greendale do &, although it's expensive their fish & chips are the best!😍

I've lived in Devon for more than three decades and can't wait to move away. The winter are so gruelling, constant dark skies, winds and continual rain. Far too much traffic. I'm looking at the east coast, not overly bothered where!

Have you considered the Tamar Valley Op? Towns like Saltash, Tavistock or villages like Cargreen, Calstock, Bere Ferrers?

Prices are generally lower than the coast but you have the benefit of the Tamar for watersports. We are 20 mins to the beach and 20mins to Dartmoor. There is still a Grammar school system in Plymouth with outstanding secondaries. Newquay airport and Exeter airport is 60 mins away. Plymouth is 20 mins away for cinemas, theatre, shops etc.

We generally use the beaches March to June and again Sept-Nov. Lots of BBQ's after school, sailing, paddle boarding etc.

Lots of people regularly sea swim

I have a friend living in Cornwall who belongs to a women's swimming group who swim in the sea every day. They call themselves 'The Blue Tits' 😂

Parking is an absolute nightmare!
I live within walking distance or park at darts if feeling lazy!

And DH went to hospital in early November and it's rained every day since. It was pouring earlier, though better now.

Totally agree Topsham is far too 'exclusive' for us, agree with the parking. My DH is with Topsham surgery, had an appointment there the other Saturday morning. I drove (for medical reasons he can't drive) I couldn't park in the surgery spaces so waited at the entrance for someone to come & remove their car & free up a space. In the 30 minutes he was at the doctors, several people left the surgery, but, it seems either weren't parked there, or decided to leave their cars while they went shopping as no cars were moved. To make things worse, although it would have been obvious that I was waiting for a space as I was sitting in the entrance to the surgery car park, 2 cars went the wrong way around the one way system & parked in unofficial spaces blocking other cars in - I could have done that, but maybe I'm too law abiding.

As we were leaving 2 families returned from town to collect their cars which were parked in surgery spaces.

I'd wanted to go into see the doctor with DH as he was primarily there for an assessment of his memory problems & I knew that he wouldn't give the doctor a full picture. As it turned out, he didn't remember exactly why he was there & talked about his other health issues. 🙄

I live within walking distance or park at darts if feeling lazy!

I'd say that was a fair stretch of the legs from Darts into Topsham. 😫

I'd suggest looking at Exmouth or Teignmouth. Both on train lines so easy connections to Exeter with nice beaches and a bit more going on than Sidmouth or the East Devon villages If you really want a village feel then maybe look at the Teign valley.

I will admit that I am not a farmers daughter and found the rain/mud quite challenging and tbh the last few months I’ve been DESPERATE for sun - it’s rained for 45 days solid so far although this afternoon has been absolutely glorious. The kids have spent all day in the garden.

I do feel our kids stay kids for a little bit longer, there’s so much outdoor stuff that they haven’t really become ‘screen’ children. DD is nearly 7, has no idea what K pop is, and is currently inspecting the woodlice she’s created a home for in an egg box. Her friends are similar - they just seem to stay young that little bit longer here, which is nice.

We were at Exmouth last weekend, I tend to volunteer to run to Fortes so I can huddle under the roof and get the hot chocolates 😂

Family friends moved to Devon then their daughter and her young family moved there. To Exmouth. We visited a lot. Weather wasn’t that bad when we were there (spring summer autumn). Very good for active lifestyles. Exeter is also nice and fairly near.

Yes, children are allowed to be children for longer & life is a bit slower. I know from my step daughter that her children are growing up in a supportive community where people look out for each other & their children.

And YES isn't it wonderful to have some sunshine today after all that rain? 😎However DH was moaning earlier because one of our neighbours is out cutting their grass & he feels that he should be cutting our's. I've said the ground is so wet that the mower will only chew it up. He's happy with that & now settled down to sleep in front of the rugby. Oh, did I say 'sleep'? I'm sorry, I made a mistake, he's not asleep, he's resting his eyes and that snoring noise that seems to be coming from him is actually the dogs. 😂

Having lived in Devon, near the South Hams, for two years - I would strongly advise move to the south east coast of the country, rather than the south west. The weather just cannot be compared.

Brixham, Devon. LOADS of HGV roles due to the humongous fish market which is due to expand. Absolutely stunning place and still thriving during non peak times which is something to factor with smaller seaside towns