North Devon seaside - where to stay?

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Nice quietish resort with a bit of beach for kids to play on. Dont want brash/noisy/arcades if you know what I mean? Good place to stay at easter - looking for self catering. Any experiences or thoughts gratefully received. I just tried to post another thread and when I went back to it it came up with someone elses peculiar message about sanitary pads (something weird going on with Mumsnet site this morning_ anyway Im only interested in North Devon!!!

I tried to post on that thread too Tab and was somewhat alarmed to see stuff about Tenalady!

Woolacombe is wonderful. Great beaches (one for walking/surfing/swimming, well managed, another rockier one for beachcombing and exploring) good small local shops, villagey vibe, glorious scenery.

Roads get jammed in high season but at Easter you should be fine.

Good choice of self-catering acommodation although much of it is quite pricey. Caravan sites (Woolacombe Bay Holiday Parcs) are in attractive settings and might not be too noisy at that time. One of them, sorry, can't remember which, is less "busy" than the others. Easewell or Twitchen, I think.

croyde is gorgeous, nr woolacombe

lots of self catering cottages to choose from

Thanks you two. will look at those. getting excited already!!

Instow, beach very close and not big hills to wlak up or down to get to the beach. No tacky arcades and appledore across the water, you used to be able to get a rowing boat across (don't know if you still can) Houses to rent there or there is the commadore, nice hotel and I expect nice prices aswell.

have been to Croyde - nice beach if weather good.

Woolacombe. And you can walk all the way along the wide sandy beach 1.5 miles to Croyde!

Best rockpools are at Saunton Sands, just up the coast, but you wouldn't want to stay there

Hi, I moved this year to N. Devon coast. Would recommend Woolacombe/Puttsborough/Croyde/Saunton, but not Westward ho! Personally like Puttsborough best as there is lots of sand, a little cafe, rock pools with good fishing and toilets in the car park. Love this whole area though, very pretty and overlooked by mass tourism.

Definitely agree not Westward ho! The only place name in the UK with an exclamation mark - but it's not good. Bleak, grey looking beach.

i'd go for croyde too - instow is pretty but the beach is really a river estuary so not quite as nice but very scenic . westward ho is a bit sad . have fun

Croyde is better for older children - full of surf bums. Village very pretty but we found lots of broken glass on the beach where people have late-night parties.

Woolacombe much better for little ones - especially if you go to the little beaches away from the main one.

Barricane beach is the one I'm thinking of - Look here

Like everyone else I totally recommend this area as being what you are after. Absolutely love all the beaches mentioned, all vast.

However, it is really hard to find good priced accommodation in main holiday weeks, such as easter, and as we found out for this half term, things book up ages in advance. So, get booking for easter!

Our fave was always Combesgate fortyplus
We have now been officially priced out of N Devon in school hols time, as aDad comments. Such a shame

yep after quite a lot of searching in the last few days, found a one place, nothing fancy just 2 bed bungalow, right on Baggy Point but it is £600 for the week of half term. Just couldn't justify it, particularly if it rains all week anyway and with children too young to surf...

I note we share the same taste in holidays again Marina (it was corsica last time!)

If you like Corsica and you like North Devon, aDad, then, like us, you may also enjoy the Western Cotentin around Barneville-Carteret.
Carteret-Plage and Cap Carteret are very like Bull Point/Mortehoe/Woolacombe and the whole area is delightful.
And a lot cheaper than the UK, even with the collapse of the £ against the euro.
We had a lovely large gite with garden just outside B-C in August last year for a fortnight for £600.

Can I just stand up for Westward Ho! ?

It is a wonderful stretch of beach! If you go to the other end, away from the tacky seaside town bit, it's fantastic.

Ahem, as you were

Too right Yoho! I was gazing out the window avoiding work today and the beach looked lovely. I basked in the sunshine this weekend (just around the corner of the beach facing Appledore) in blissful isolation and thought myself very lucky indeed.

I acknowledge that Westward Ho! itself is minging. It's a perfect example of Planners-gone-mad but it does have a Hockings van. Humph.

If I had to go somewhere else in Devon then Putsborough would be my choice. Southern Brittany would possibly be cheaper. We had many family Gite holidays there when the children were small but, alas, you cannot get Hockings in France. C'est dommage.

Westwood ho! has the most wonderful rock pools ( i have fallen in!) and is great for making sandcastles - much better sandcastle sand than other beaches....

agree that the beach is utterly fab -spent months there as a child in the summer in the beach huts along the front but the town doesnt compare favourably with say croyde or woolacombe - still woudl rather live in Westaward Ho than where i am now but could not be in such close proximity to hockings van - i might explode

www.woolacombe.co.uk/

Three seperate parks with caravans and apartments. We always stop in a caravan at Twitchen park. It's good value, if not very posh, and I absolutely adore that area.

The poshest caravan at Twitchen Park is £305 for 4 nights at Easter and the cheapest is £100. For 7 nights is £190-£455 if you book early.

I'd go for this half term if we had the money and could get a cancellation.

Thanks Marina, don't know that part of Normandy at all actually, so might think about it for next year perhaps. Also have family I dont see that often in Normandy. Nice not to fly too...

Another don't be mean about Westward Ho!
Ok the amusements are grim and the pubs are pretty dire

But the beach is fab, rockpools are lovely and the teashop (50's kitch can't remember the name) and Potwallopers bistro are decent enough.

I agree with Woolacombe, Barricane beach in particular I very much like. I also like Ilfracombe/Croyde/Combe Martin/Lee Bay. On our way to Ilfracome we used to stop at Linton/Lynmouth and ride up the lift from the one town to the other. A beautiful little stop off near to the destination.

I can no longer afford North Devon. Have just been to Rye, East Sussex and spent some time in Dover/Folkestone too which was pleasant.

we had a fab week in August in Woolacombe, my kids rate it up there with Disney Florida as Best Holidays Ever! Weather was mixed but it didn't matter.

We stayed at the Woolacombe Bay site which Lurkinaround linked to. Caravan was fine, swimming pool was awful and the entertainment was a bit Phoenix Nights, but again, the children thought it was brilliant!