North or South Devon?

[RedKites]

We're looking to book a self catering holiday for the week after next (yes, left it a little late) and were thinking of going to Devon. We've found two places we like, one in the Barnstaple area and one in the Dartmouth area. Does anyone have any advice on what there is to do in either area, or indeed which is more family-friendly (we have DS who is 1.9)? Clearly given the recent weather, I'm interested in indoor as well as outdoor activities!

I have little experience with North Devon but i love South Devon, especially Dartmouth.
Does your LO like trains? there is an excellent steam railway from Kingswear to Paignton. It goes along the sea, and for My LO's it's brilliant.
Then you catch a boat to Dartmouth!

In Babbacombe there is a Model village which they love too. We've also been to Brixham which is great to sit and eat fish and chips and Bigbury on sea, which is the beach by Burgh island.
Very nice place to eat there too.
As for indoor, that I'm not too sure about!

Apparently the south is warmer. We spent a week near Ilfracombe last year. It was 11 degrees 2 days running in the 2nd week of August.

I have relatives who live in SouthDevon. They are adamant that the south is warmer. When we drove down to see them on said freezing holiday it was much much warmer where they were.

I might be biased mind. North Devon was very lovely, just very cold

Yes, there is lots to do in South Devon. Cockington village is lovely, and lots of gold sandy beaches.

Salcombe is beautiful too

There are a lot of places to visit with dc if out rains in north Devon so for that reason I would go north

north for surfing, south for pottering on the beach

Thanks for all the replies everyone. Am feeling excited about the holiday, whichever one we pick now. If anyone has any more suggestions, especially anything indoors they'd recommend, that'd be great.

We've gone for the South Devon option, so don't all go telling me North Devon is better now . If anyone does have any more recommendations of places to visit, then suggestions are always welcome!

Blackpool Sands, between dartmouth and kingsbridge, is a lovely beach with a cafe/restaurant and a few shops. Slapton Ley nature reserve. Woodlands adventure park but check website for height restrictions for the rides, they're quite strict. Dartmouth harbour ferry for an hour's trip up the estuary, very popular with our toddler.

Dawlish is lovely for a visit.The river runs down to the sea, and there's usually lots of ducks there. Last time I went there was a baby duck shed/house that you could look at.

South Devon everytime. it is warmer than the north coast and there is loads to do. there are some lovely beaches. take a day trip on the train into Plymouth if you can and go up onto the Hoe or a boat trip around the dockyards which we all enjoyed.

South Devon is lovely. We go every year!! Someone has mentioned Babbacombe model village. There's also a museum called Bygones about five minutes from the model village. It's got a reconstruction of a Victorian street, plus an old steam train, model trains and lots of other things to see. Good for a wet day. Also about five minutes walk away, there's Oddicombe beach which you can get to via a cliff railway.

Totnes is a nice town to visit, especially on a Friday when there's a market. You can get a steam train from Totnes to Buckfastleigh where there's an Otter Sanctuary and Butterfly place. Also there's a Rare Breeds farm right by the steam train station in Totnes. Any of those would be good for a toddler.

Paington Zoo is lovely but hilly!

Sorry - Paignton!

This may be too late as you are probably already somewhere in Devon, but we stayed in North Devon during the April downpours and had a great time. Our DS is 20 months so loved the puddles.

Indoors we went to Ilfracombe aquarium (v small so maybe half an hour max!), The Big Sheep theme park (quite expensive but very good indoor slides and soft play area and other indoor stuff). Outdoors, Exmoor Zoo was great, Lynton/lynmouth worth a visit and we even had a fabulous day on Woolacombe beach in glorious sunshine. Amazing sandy beach with surf and rock pools galore.

We did stay in a cottage which had access to an indoor pool so if it was really miserable we just went back for a swim.

If you're after a list of lots of beaches in Devon and Cornwall then check out The Westcountry Beaches App

Thanks for your suggestions everyone. We're now back from our holiday in south Devon, and we've been very fortunate with the weather, so didn't have to worry about indoor options too much. Amongst other things, we all enjoyed the steam railway (although DS enjoyed it so much he slept most of the return journey!). We had a lovely visit to Salcombe; the Victoria Inn there has a fantastic garden with a children's play area. Blackpool Sands was great - I got to enjoy the sun while DH and DS practiced their digging.

ooh you had the best weather, i live near Salcombe, and the weather has turned.

glad you enjoyed it, it is pretty stunning and i tend to take it for granted, when yearning for a bit of city life lol!

We had a fab week in South Devon at Easter and loved it. Salcombe is great, we loved Dartmouth and Brixham. The beaches are great, lovely coastal walks and good pub food. My Dds really enjoyed crabbing in Brixham. We will definitely be going back!