Family holiday in North Devon – one week summer break
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North Devon family holiday
We spent an August week exploring North Devon last summer. Although the temperature didn’t rise above 18 degrees (the sea was warmer), our wetsuits ensured we were in the sea most days, enjoying the surf. We stayed just outside Woolacombe and had easy access to the many great beaches and coves along the North Devon coast.
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Unlike its more popular neighbour, North Devon in August was not heaving with visitors. There were no traffic jams, there were plenty of spaces to park near the beach, restaurants always had tables available and accommodation was affordable.
From our rural base, just inland, we were a 10-20 minute drive to a handful of world class beaches, perfect for bodyboarding, surfing, sandcastles and rock pooling. With so much natural beauty and family-friendly attractions, I was really surprised to discover North Devon to be so quiet in the height of summer.
Family friendly farm stay in North Devon
We stayed in Poppy Cottage, part of a small complex of farm cottages, 15 minutes drive inland from Woolacombe. We picked this accommodation for its location, affordability and facilities. The collection of cottages, converted from farm buildings, share a garden, tennis court and games room. The games room with table tennis, pool table, darts and more, was a real hit with our kids and gave them the opportunity to meet other children.
The cottages can be booked through several different accommodation providers including Holiday Cottages, Airbnb and Dog Friendly Cottages. We paid about £1200 for our three bed cottage but some of the smaller cottages are quite a bit cheaper.
Fairview Farm is located just outside the little village of West Down which has the lovely Crown pub. We enjoyed live music in the garden one afternoon.
Although called a farm, Fairview is more of a former farm – there are a few chickens but that’s about it. The complex is ideal for tweens and teens. Its location is lovely – rolling countryside and the distant view of the Atlantic Ocean from some of the upstairs windows.
North Devon beaches
There are many excellent beaches to choose from in North Devon. They’re popular but not overcrowded.
Woolacombe beach
As we were only a 15 minute drive from Woolacombe, we returned here several times. Woolacombe offers a vast sweep of sand as well as an extensive rocky area perfect for rock pooling. The beach is backed with colourful beach huts and sand dunes.
Despite the beach holding thousands of holiday makers, the car park immediately in front of it was never very full so we always managed to park close to the sand – handy when you’re lugging body boards, buckets, spades and other paraphernalia. It would also have been useful to bring a wind break – everyone except us seemed to have one and we were rather envious as we sat shivering post-swim.
The beach town of Woolacombe is fun, well kept and has a good selection of shops, cafes and restaurants. This is no doubt thanks to the surf here – the ocean was packed with surfers and bodyboarders. The shops very much cater to this crowd but there’s still good old fashioned crazy golf and plenty of great places to get an ice cream – our fav was Snack Shack which handed out colossal servings.
One word of warning – the seagulls are rather enthusiastic at Woolacombe – eating lunch safely on the beach was quite a challenge.
Curry on the beach – Barricane Beach Café
I’d read about the famous Sri Lankan cafe on the beach when I was researching our North Devon family holiday. This brilliant little enterprise has a loyal following – and for good reason. Barricane beach is just around the rocks from the main beach at Woolacombe.
As the sun begins to set, visitors pile onto the beach to enjoy the curries from the little cafe. There’s a choice of meat or veg, both are delicious. Surrounded by rocks, Barricane is a great place for the kids to have a clamber while the grown ups take in the ocean views.
Croyde
We decided to branch out from Woolacombe and try another beach – just in case there was something better. Croyde offers the same gorgeous sweep of sand and there are rockpools too but I was slightly put off by the riptide warnings. Billed as the surfing capital of Devon, it’s a popular spot.
Croyde does have a particularly excellent ice cream parlour next to the beach – it’s worth going just for that.
Combe Martin
Many of the North Devon beaches are exposed to the full force of the Atlantic with incredible waves – we loved all the bodyboarding we did while we were there. However, we also like paddleboarding so we spent a day enjoying the more sheltered waters of Combe Martin, a 15 minute drive east along the coast.
Before heading out onto the water, we enjoyed a walk along the rocky seafront – it’s a truly brilliant place for rockpools with a path leading visitors across the rocks. There are caves to explore and plenty of great clambering opportunities.
We brought one paddle board with us and hired another from one of the water sports operators in town. There were lots of people out on the water – you can explore independently or as part of a guided tour, with a board or a kayak.
The water changed constantly during our paddle – going from flat to undulating and quite rough in a matter of minutes. We spent a couple of hours exploring the coastline and had great fun navigating our way back to the beach over the waves.
By the way, if you’re considering buying a paddle board, we love our Hydro-Force Oceana – it’s really easy to manoeuvre and perfect for kids and adults alike. The board we hired was a lot larger and not as easy to turn.
Cycling the Tarka Trail
We had a couple of days of grim weather during our family holiday in North Devon so for one of them we headed inland to Barnstaple to tackle some of the car-free Tarka Trail. I’m sure author Henry Williamson would be amazed by the commercialisation of his otter – Tarka is everywhere in this part of Devon – cafes, shops, road names and, of course, the 180 mile walking trail are all named in his honour.
We cycled the section from Barnstaple to Great Torrington and back (about 45km). Travelling along tarmacked, former railway lines, the route is flat and perfect for families – even in the rain. There are some excellent places to stop for tea and cake (which we were forced to do on several occasions due to the weather) and the scenery is ever-changing.
We passed the estuary mud flats of the Taw and Torridge rivers, seaside views at Instow towards pretty Appledore. There were tunnels to whizz through and long bridges to zip along. I loved the wild beauty of the Torridge River near Torrington.
There are plenty of places to hire bikes for the Tarka Trail. We used the friendly outfit at Tarka Trail Cycle Hire, next to the railway station at Barnstaple. You can park all day at the station so it’s very convenient.
For more family friendly cycle routes across the UK, check out my guide here. And for those of you reading this in Hertfordshire, I also have a guide to family bike rides in Herts.
Watermouth Castle
We looked at all the different theme parks in the area and debated which one we should visit – we had one other day which wasn’t really beach weather. The theme park which had the best reviews – albeit slightly unusual ones – was Watermouth Castle. So we decided to give it a try.
There are North Devon wet weather destinations which have bigger rides; there are zoos and there are lots of other places which vie for tourists’ attention. However, Watermouth Castle is unique in its eccentricities. We all agreed after our visit that it was a great day out.
Exmoor National Park
We decided to leave our visit to Exmoor for our journey home. We’d taken the direct route on our way to Devon with a quick stop at Stourhead National Trust. On reflection, I wish we’d taken a trip to Exmoor a little sooner – it’s incredibly beautiful.
Despite it being August, we passed very few cars as we wound our way along the narrow road through Exmoor National Park. We picked Heddon Valley for a walk and a picnic. There’s a small National Trust centre with a car park, cafe and toilets at the start of the trail.
There are various routes taking you though the valley. As we had limited time, we opted for the direct route to Heddon Mouth. The path follows the river through woodland with steep, heather-clad hills on either side. The cove where the river meets the sea is a dramatic scene with towering cliffs and the crashing of the waves on the pebbly shore.
After lunch, we drove to pretty Lynton – the busiest place of all the destinations we visited in North Devon. There’s a very good ice cream shop not far from the Cliff Railway – worth a stop if you need a pick me up.
We enjoyed the steep walk down to Lynmouth and took the Cliff Railway back to the top – the little carriage on the funicular was packed with visitors and we had to queue for quite a while to get on. There are lovely views from the carriage, and from Lynton, of the coastline – we were there on a beautiful sunny day.
Want to find out more about things to do in North Devon? Check out my guide here.
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Have you enjoyed a North Devon family summer holiday? Let me know your highlights in the comments below.
