Where to Stay on the Seafront

Pick your patch of the bay — from the harbour to the red cliffs of Babbacombe, the English Riviera has a seafront for every kind of stay.

Torbay is not one seafront but several, and the difference between them matters more than most visitors realise. The bay curves for roughly twelve miles between Hope's Nose in the north and Berry Head in the south, taking in three distinct towns — Torquay, Paignton and Brixham — plus a string of coves and clifftop neighbourhoods that sit apart from all three. Choosing where to base yourself shapes the whole trip: the harbour at Torquay feels different from the wide family sands at Paignton, which feels different again from the quiet clifftop perch above Babbacombe. Get the location right and everything else follows.

Start with what you want from the mornings. If it is coffee on a balcony with yachts below, you want the harbour. If it is waking up to open sea and a beach within stumbling distance, you want the main seafront sweep between Torquay's Beacon Cove and the Princess Pier. If stillness and red-cliff views matter more than town-centre convenience, the Babbacombe and Meadfoot edges of Torquay offer something quieter. Each zone has a genuine character — and each suits a different traveller.

Get the location right and everything else follows.

The harbour is Torquay's social engine. The inner marina is lined with restaurants and bars; staying close to it puts you at the centre of the evening, with Torre Abbey meadows and the Victorian promenade a short walk in either direction. Properties on or just above the harbourfront tend to be older buildings — many are converted hotels from the Victorian and Edwardian resort boom — and rooms on upper floors often have the sea views that justify the address. The trade-off is noise on summer evenings, so consider whether you're the kind of traveller who enjoys that energy or would rather not hear it from bed.

The main promenade stretching towards Livermead and along to Paignton's boundary is where Torquay's palm trees do their famous work. The microclimate here is genuinely mild: the palms are not a gimmick. Hotels along this stretch tend to be larger and more traditional, with sea-facing rooms on higher floors offering some of the best value views on the bay. You pay modestly more for a sea view room over an inland one, and on a clear morning — with the water flat and the sky clear on the horizon — it earns the premium.

For a quieter version of Torquay, Meadfoot Beach sits on the eastern edge of town, sheltered from the prevailing wind by a headland. A handful of smaller hotels and guest houses sit above it, close enough to hear the sea and far enough from the harbour to feel properly calm. Meadfoot's single-bay character — no amusements, no arcade, just a curved shingle-and-sand beach backed by wooded cliffs — makes it a favourite with returning visitors who have moved on from the town-centre bustle.

North of Torquay's centre, the neighbourhood of Babbacombe sits on the clifftop above Oddicombe and Babbacombe beaches, separated from the main resort by a stretch of coastal road and a change in atmosphere that is quite striking. The streets here are suburban and quiet, the views from the cliff edge extraordinary: red Devonian sandstone dropping to vivid blue water, with Portland visible on a clear day. The Babbacombe Cliff Railway connects the clifftop to Oddicombe beach below, making it easy to get down to the sea without a long walk back up.

Accommodation in Babbacombe runs mainly to independently owned hotels and B&Bs — this is not a chain-hotel neighbourhood. That is partly why it suits people who want a proper sea-view base without the centre-of-town energy. The Model Village and Babbacombe Theatre are walkable, and the coast path north towards Watcombe is excellent walking country.

Paignton's seafront is broad, unpretentious and unapologetically aimed at families. The beach is wide, the pier is Victorian, and the holiday parks and hotels that line the green behind the sands have been welcoming generations of visitors for well over a century. If you are travelling with young children or on a budget, Paignton's seafront delivers straightforward value, and the steam railway that runs along the coast towards Dartmouth is reason enough to base yourself here for a day or two.

Brixham sits apart from the other two towns, facing slightly differently across the bay. It is primarily a fishing port — one of England's most productive — and its accommodation is weighted more towards the harbour than any dedicated seafront. Staying here means being embedded in a working town rather than a resort, which suits people who find the conventional holiday strip a little too polished. The fish is spectacular, the views across the harbour towards Berry Head are unlike anything else on the bay, and the South West Coast Path running north towards Torquay is some of the finest walking in Devon.

Whichever patch you pick, the bay's geography does the heavy work: you are rarely more than a short walk from water. The question is simply which kind of water — and which kind of morning — you want.

— People & places