Julz1983

Thought I'd call on the people of SN to recommend where to visit in Devon.

We are going there in the summer holidays for 4 nights, I've noted down a few places to go, ie- a zoo for the little one, maybes plan a trip to Clovelly but I can't find anywhere else We are staying in Ilfracombe but obviously we want to go outside of it too. Also does anyone know of any good pubs/restaurants to go to on a night time, bearing in mind we have a 5 year old.

corradoboy

Clovelly is lovely, but I don't recommend either the Red Lion or the visitors centre for food. I've not tried the other pub near the top of the village but it may be better. Cream teas at the place half-way down are nice.

Ducton Mill is lovely for a cream tea and a walk around the gardens. Then leave the gardens and walk down a lane towards the coast to the Spekes Mill waterfall. Follow the coast north to Hartland Quay for a pint.

From either Barnstaple or Bideford you could hire bikes and follow the Tarka Trail.

We spend more time in Cornwall usually, preferring Port Isaac (fish'n'chips at The Slipway), Padstow (kill an hour at Greens tea shop and enjoy the views; hire bikes and follow the Camel Trail which is much nicer than the Tarka IMHO) and Boscastle (looking lovely since the flood, but has lost a little of its charm).

Loads of coast walks from pretty much anywhere to anywhere.

For foodies there's Rick Steins in Padstein, Jamie Oliver's 15 at Watergate Bay near Newquay and John Burton-Race's New Angel at Dartmouth.

Eden is interesting if that sort of thing floats your boat (not me) and others have recommended the Seal Sanctuary, although we haven't been yet.

You could do a boat trip over to Lundy Island.

Julz1983

Thanks, I might look into the Lundy Island trips.
Walking and biking are most likely out as Shannon is still unsteady on a bike and I had an operation this year which holds me back on doing most things still as I get pretty worn out quickly.
My hubby used to live in Barnstaple years ago but everything has changed so much since he was down there and that's how we are stuck at what there is to do.

SunnySideUp

Clovelly is a right royal rip off ........ the mafia greet you at the top, rob you of £x for parking, you then find out you have to pay to get into the village (or so they would have you believe) .....

Do as I did, park on the approach road (no yellow lines and public!) - walk into the village on the road which winds down the hill .......... you will meet the people who have just walked through a hut on the top of the hill and paid to do so!!

Spend your money on a nice pasty and sit on the end of the pier

speedking

Porlock for the hill.
Paignton, Brixham. Boat trip across the bay.
Dartmoor ponies.
Bude for pasties.

Leslie

If you like wild scenery and ponies, dont forget a drive over Dartmoor on a nice day. Tea and toasted tea cake is very nice at Badger's Holt by Dartmeet on the Moor too.

Les

BURTON

If your taking a scooby pop down to plymouth(devon) take the ferry across to torpoint (cornwall) costs £1 then take that road to the island with a shell garage on and enjoy . known as the trufuld twists . from there you can vist looe etc (theres a good monkey sanctury , not open on sat i think). Plymouth also has one of the largest aquriams which my son loves ( they have some huge tanks). Any where on the north coast is great for beaches (try polezeth it has a massive beach at low tide) . Tintagel also has some great ruines of king arthurs castle .
i may have spelt most of thenames wrong
what does your kid like . nature , theme parks , tractors etc ?

warrenm2

if youre going into cornwall try lost gardens of heligan

Julz1983

Shannon enjoys most things, so atleast we don't need to make sure everything is kiddified, aslong as she can run or walk about as she pleases then it keeps her happy, theres nothing worse than going somewhere where kids can't run around etc then all you hear is whinging.

I've just found a chocolate emporium in Ilfracombe, that will be my first stop when we arrive as I'm addicted to the stuff!! Noticed there's an aquarium there too, but unsure on the size of it as the website doesn't say

Anyone been to Exmorr Zoo? As I've got that on my list, just want to know if it's worth the money.

BURTON

Paignton Zoo is well worth a vist (quite a few hills ) but is the best one ive found in the southwest. Great animals etc and they have just opend a crocodile enclosure .

DCI Gene Hunt

A farm where the dairy maids have large breasts and serve us scones and cider all day long

Julz1983

LMAO, er, might be my hubby's cup of tea DCI but not mine

corradoboy

Julz, the Tarka and Camel Trails are completely flat and level, being on old disused railway lines. My 70yo arthritic, overweight, heavy smoking Mum could probably do it. They have tandems and kiddie trailers available too. We took our 7 month old on the Camel this year.

As for the Clovelly rip-off, their Gestapo indeed meet you in the car-park now and there is a sign saying all-day parking is £15 Entry to the village including parking however is £5.50 (adults). We have parked up the road, but recently they have started placing Gestapo at the top of the hill after the visitor centre, where the public road crosses the entrance to the village proper. I'm not sure whether the village is entirely classified as private property, whereby they may have the right to restrict entry, or whether they just try to embarrass, intimidate and bull$h!t people trying it on into paying We've dodged it a couple of times and paid a few. TBH, if it keeps the place beautiful and unspoilt then I don't mind. However, their attitude makes me a little annoyed and having been quite a few times, I may now give it a miss in future.

Another tip. As a tourist in these places most people automatically head for the nearest car-park on arrival at any place. Think about where you would park if you were visiting a friend whom lived there Someone I know spent over £100 on parking in 2 weeks, whereas we paid once in the same timescale when we were down 3 weeks ago.

BURTON

Also try Crealy adventure park (used to be the shire horse sanctuary) there is two the one by wadebridge is great . they have lots of indoor barns( on the off chance its raining being the great british summer it is ) which are soft play areas (there great because adults can go in aswell) my son loves them

Julz1983

There is noway I'd pay a fortune on parking, I wonder if there's many National Trust car parks down there, seeing as we are members they will be free lol.

Also from up here to down there is going to be ALOT of fuel, I haven't even worked it out yet as it's scarring me already, would anyone like to guess from Northumberland to Ilfracombe (7 and a half hours) how many tanks it would take, I thought atleast 2 and a half, but maybes I'm trying to be realistic and crapping my pants at the true amount

Fuel fund envelope started..............................

corradoboy

If you drive like Miss Daisy then you might almost scrape through on a single tank. I did Leeds to Bude (323 miles) on one tank, averaging 32.75mpg, but to do it I had to cruise the whole way under boost at about 65-68mph. You've got 380 or so miles to do, so a 12 gallon tank might be just shy with the light coming on somewhere on the M5. If you gun it, then you will easily use 2 tanks + !

Our Octavia did it on 1/2 a tank for £37 last month, averaging 57mpg

LanCat

Our kids liked Coombe Martin wildlife and dinosaur park last year, very short run from Ilfracombe.

The small aquarium in Ilfracombe was another hit, really friendly staff spent ages with them on a one-to-one basis telling them all about the exhibits. Not large or spectacular in any way, just nice for an hour or so.

A lot of the suggestions mentioned will be too far for day trips with a child, getting from Ilfracombe to Paignton, Newquay or some of the others can take a couple of hours. Not good.

Enjoy the beaches at Woolacombe or Croyde the beaches there are as good as any.

Clovelly is over-rated IMHO, steep walk, pretty but Dull. Lynton/Lynmouth and the railway between them is another possibility but it's no better for kids.

Kuohu

The Donkey Sanctuary
Welcome to The Donkey Sanctuary
Great for an afternoon. Meet a few rescued donkeys. Free!

mrs_b4

The Big Sheep near Bideford great day out own brewery cream teas aswell as sheep racing

Leslie

You must mean "Devon Dumplings".

Les