NORTH DEVON.......places to stay best beaches etc etc??

[ScoobyDooooo]

We are still looking for a holiday & have now decided to stay in the uk instead of abroad

North devon looks lovely but we have never been, we have been looking at Croyde bay anyone been..?

What we want is to stay in a caravan on a small site not bothered about entertainment & all that because we go out & explore but we want to be right on the beach a nice sandy beach too....anyone have any recommendations, please help we can't decide

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croyde is lovely...we are going to combe martin in aug which looks nice

Croyde Bay we go there twice a year because it's FAB, REALLY cheap (dunno why, it's fantastic), great children's entertainment, lovely clean caravans, clean family pool, lovely beaches

All thoroughly LOVELY frankly

Croyde Bay caravan park is 1/3 of the price of Centre Parcs and we enjoy it much more

Woolacombe beach is fab! miles and miles of golden sand and very shallow, clean waters.

If you can, try to find Lee bay. It's very secluded and it's just fantastic! You walk out throughloads of rock pools and cliffs out to lille secluded beaches - it's a gorgeous place.

Wow thanks loads of suggestions of to have a look, i like the look of your link sally as it looks quiet, i love the look of croyde bay park in ruda but it was having all the entertainment & that we dont really use this so did not want to waste money if we could stay somewhere cheaper without all this, if that makes sense

Zephyrcat the place you are talking about sounds fab will see if i can find it.

Saunton Sand is nice but think there is only a hotel there - no town or camp sites as for as I know.

Westward Ho! is also good - lots of arcades and stuff if it rains. Huge pebble ridge on beach.

Croyde is lovely beach and village.

Woolacombe good for little ones as there is a river that runs onto the beach tot he sea I think.

Bideford in North Devon is a great place to visit for a day. It's got a place quite nearby called the Big Sheep, which has a fantastic indoor play area for kids, sheep shearing, horse whispering, pottery making activities, lovely meals and lots of other things. They've got a website..tried to do a link but can't seem to manage it!

The Milky Way is there too which we really enjoy, especially the indoor play area. Ds made me go on that big slide with him about 30 times last time! The only thing that let it down for us was the fast food restaurant which was a bit grim but there is another 'thatched cottage' place that looked a lot nicer which we will try next time.

the big sheep

We love Westward Ho! beach for very safe swimming and bodyboarding. The Burrows are good for adventures. Take the lower road from Northam to Appledore and take the turning onto the Burrows there. At the end will be the most glorious deserted beach with huge rocks for climbing and rock pools for fiddling in.

Appledore is quaint and good for a cream tea or a Hockings ice-cream. Yum. Nice organic shop outside Appledore for all your lentil requirements. Bideford has a lovely little Art gallery/museum which is free next to the Victoria Park. The park is big and great for cycling and skateboarding plus it has a clean outdoor paddling pool for the tiddlers. Northam swimming pool has a big and little pool plus set 'play' times when they get all the gear out for the kids - very cheap, rainy day fun. Splash at Bude has a flume but is a long and windy drive.

The Big Sheep is something and nothing. Depends on the age of the kids and the weather really. We prefered to dash about for free on Instow dunes - excellent fun and close to the Commodore Hotel for a lovely lunch. Barnstaple's traffic problems may soon be over and it is certainly worth a trip for market day shopping. There is huge excitement in the town at the imminent arrival of Pizza Express. All we need now is KFC and my boys will think that Devon is Heaven.

Croyde is very pretty but gridlocked in summer. I just don't ever want another holiday where we spend virtually all day driving in-between Barnstaple, Woolacombe(shudder) and Braunton. All traffic, all the time. It started at the South Molton roundabout and went all the way to Braunton. Grim.

More information than you wanted eh?

I forgot about the Milky Way! Very strange place but the kids love going to play indoor golf when it is raining sideways here. They have dodgems too. I do like those. The Ferret man is a bit weird but worth watching. There is a discount if you book online I think.

If you do come to North Devon, (which you should, it is lovely), buy a North Devon Journal as it has half-price vouchers on the back page every week for most of the main attractions. In my opinion, none of the attraxtions are worth a fraction of their prices but the beaches do make up for it all.

Attractions not attraxtions.

Wow thanks everyone there is some great advice on here & there looks like there is a few nice things to be doing whilst there.

My kids are 4 & 1 & we will have ss who is 9 so mixture of ages but they all LOVE the beach so this is why it is so important to be right by one when staying on a sute

I like the croyd bay site in ruda but just think it is too big & we will not use half the things on it so i think sally has sold the site she suggested it does look like just what we are looking for as long as you can assure me the beach is nice there?

Thanks sarahjane lots of useful information there it is always good to know, i will also make sure we buy a journal as i think most of these attractions are over priced i thought the same when we went to cornwall last year & will 3 kiddies the price can add up.

So now when do we go, it is eiher going to be the 10th June for a week or the 1st of July for a week, which do you think will be better, we really hope for nice weather but it noramlly rains the beginning week of july when the tennis starts ho hum not sure.....

Scoobydooo I've just looked up a lee bay website to show you as it is quite difficult to find if you aren't a local!! The photos on there are nothing like it in in reality and the sea looks scary!!

I might scan a photo or too of dd when we took her there so you can see what it's like... the kids would love it!!

find myself joining in on a thread about this area every few days! It's going to be mumsnet-on-sea soon judging by the numbers who go there or will be going there!

My fave beaches are putsborough (round the headland from croyde in the same bay as woolacombe). Little cafe there but otherwise just huge beach, good surfing.

Saunton Sands (round the headland from croyde in the other direction) is great for dunes, rockpooling at low tide, and surfing too.

ScoobyDooooo... may i point you in the direction of
here!
not right on the beach... but a fantsatic base as you are within reach of all the places that SarahJaneSmith has raved about....

North Devon is a lovely lovely place adn highly recommended!

That would be great zephyrcat would love to see

Thanks Bea it looks gorgeous but need to stay right by beach as dp likes night fishing & i could not rest if he had to go off in the car, also when we went to isle of wight last year we went down with dp for a bit then left him to it, it was great fun

Westward Ho! has the biggest fishing Tackle shop I have ever seen. My kids go in at 10am and come out at lunchtime.

Fishing!

Bores me rigid.The owner is terribly henpecked by his wife who looks catatonic and has a slightly weird cat smell about her but the kids love all the tall tales of the one that got away. A visit there always makes for great stories. The owner will make anyone coffee as long as they don't leave him alone with his missus. The last time we were there, they were having a barny about photos of shoes, apparently the owner was going to delete some computer pics of 'the shoes guests wore to his daughters wedding'. The missus was going on about how it was the most important day of her life. Very, very bizarre and extremely funny. On previous visits, the daughter has served us whilst obviously not quite on this planet. I normally go off for a coffee and come back for the finale after an hour or so.

Anyway, Summerlands Tackle is a great shop with it's own slightly surreal caberet. Another reason to come to North Devon!

Just don't ask to see the lug worms.[/squick]

Wow wait till i tell dp that is westward ho sold to him, i will gladly leave him there for an hr or sure he will love it
Going to book tomorrow hopfully.

Thanks for all the advice & help x

Scooby I will get on the case with the photos tomorrow

I want to go back to N Devon

have also been to Ruda but just found Bay view farm It's only got a childrens play area, laundry and a fish and chip shop