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Dartmouth

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A weekend on the water

For a seaside break with a difference, the gorgeous Devon town of Dartmouth has pretty much everything you could hope for in a waterside weekend away. Jaw-dropping views out to sea, lots of boats bobbing about, plenty of great places to eat locally-caught fish and the chance to walk along some of the UK’s prettiest coastline. Hidden away in a magical, forest-lined estuary, Dartmouth is certainly a cut above the average seaside resort.

What to see?

…the sea. Dartmouth is nothing if not a watery place. For views of the open ocean you’ll need to choose your spot carefully as the town sits back from the coast in a beautiful estuary and only by looking towards its mouth can you see the English Channel in all its glory, but the smell of the ozone and the noises of the seagulls and the clanking masts will leave you in no doubt that the ocean is only around the corner.

Dartmouth’s waterfront is best seen from the village of Kingswear which sits on the opposite bank of the estuary and, depending on how you’ve chosen to get to Dartmouth, might be your first port of call. Flat ferries trundle back and forward, carrying cars and people the spitting distance from one village to the other and you’ll undoubtedly find yourself on one or two at some point during your stay. From Kingswear, you can see the pretty coloured houses on Dartmouth’s waterfront, the rest of the town tumbling up the hillside behind, the historic behemoth that is the town’s famous Royal Naval College perched on top and beyond the rolling greenness of the Devon countryside. It’s proper postcard stuff and, if you’re anything like me, will have you perusing local estate agent’s windows dreaming of buying one of the wooden-beamed cottages floating above the water.

Back in the real world, there’s plenty to love here even for the fleeting weekend resident. Boats ply their way up and down the estuary and out to sea and there is plenty of opportunity to join the hordes for a trip on one. The booths on the south embankment sell tickets for all the popular cruise trips or you could rent your own boat and explore the quiet nooks and crannies of the estuary yourself. Try Dartmouth Boat Hire for some manageable little motor launches.

Back on dry land, Dartmouth’s narrow streets offer lovely little shops and plenty of art galleries to potter about in and some great teashops and ice cream emporiums in which to enjoy the creamier side of life (it is Devon, after all). To take the 1950s holiday experience even further, cross to Kingswear and take a ride on the iconic Dartmouth Steam Railway,, which winds along the banks of the estuary to the bucket-and-spade seaside resort at Paignton. It’s definitely verging on retro cool and you can catch a boat in Paignton along the coast back to Dartmouth.

Heading in the opposite direction from the train, a pretty walk takes you towards Dartmouth Castle, the little six hundred year old fort standing guard at the entrance to the Dart Estuary. It’s arguably not worth paying to have a look inside, but the castle’s location is stunning and there is a great little café that does a full English in the morning and a proper Devon tea in the afternoons, all with views out to sea (Castle Tea Rooms). Follow the coastal path round from the castle and down a steep flight of rocky stairs for the perfect sea swimming spot at Sugary Cove, a tiny sheltered inlet. An early morning swim followed by breakfast at Dartmouth Castle has to be one of the best ways to start any day.

The path to Sugary Cove is part of the famous South West Coastal Path and you can follow it for miles west from here or east from Kingswear. The path offers some of the best coastal walking in the country and is the best way to discover hidden beaches and inlets if you fancy a swim. A great 5-mile circular walk from Kingswear takes you along the path to the windswept Froward Point, before heading back over rolling hills behind. Or you could extend the route to take in the wonderful National Trust property at Coleton Fishacre, a 1920s arts and crafts house once owned by the D’Oyly Carte family. The house itself is wonderful, but the acres of gardens dropping dramatically down to the house’s own private beach are jaw-dropping.

All that sea air will no doubt leave you hungry, so it’s lucky evenings in Dartmouth do tend to revolve around eating and drinking. If you are craving culture however, the town’s excellent theatre/cinema/gallery, The Flavel is the place to go.

Or why not try?

Around and about

You could easily potter about Dartmouth and the estuary for a weekend, but even without a car it’s easy to access miles of wonderful coastline and some stunning walks in the countryside using the town as your base.

One of the loveliest places to visit is Agatha Christie’s former home, Greenway. The house has been left just as it would have been when the Queen of suspense lived here and is full of fascinating bits and pieces, not to mention beautiful views of the River Dart and acres of romantic woodland gardens and a boathouse that could have come straight out of one of Agatha’s best murder mysteries. The best way to arrive is by boat from Dartmouth (you can buy boat tickets on the south embankment), but the walk there (or back to Kingswear) is great – it takes about two hours.

On the opposite bank of the Dart from Greenway (a ferry to’s and fro’s from one to the other) is the little fishing village of Dittisham, with its pastel coloured cottages and clanking fishing boats. For a pub lunch with a great view, the Ferry Boat Inn sits right on the water and is the perfect jumping-off point for rambles further up the estuary on the Dart Valley Trail. In winter, a roaring fire keeps things cosy.

Back on the coast, there are miles of sandy beach to explore. Blackpool Sands is a sheltered shingle beach about three miles walk along the coast from Dartmouth castle and a lovely place to be on a sunny day. Walk to the east end of the beach for great rock pooling opportunities. Further west (and probably straying into driving distance territory) is the great expanse of Slapton Sands. Made infamous by the ill-fated Exercise Tiger D-Day rehearsal that took place here in 1943, today the two-mile shingle beach is big enough to find a spot to yourself even on the busiest days. Drivers can venture even further west to the very pretty beach village of Beesands and onwards to the sailing mecca of Salcombe.

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