The town of Kingsbridge is a 15 minute drive away and has a wide range of small local shops and restaurants as well as a supermarket, a leisure centre and tourist information centre. You can explore the Kingsbridge estuary by boat with regular departures from the quay – many of which stop off in Salcombe.

Famous for its ice cream, Salcombe also boasts a wide variety of shops and restaurants and it will come as no surprise that sea food is a speciality! There is plenty to keep you entertained until the next tide, when you can get the boat back to Kingsbridge. This is an excellent way to see the town since parking can be difficult.

Another town best accessed by boat is Dartmouth.Dartmouth castle is owned by English Heritage and has a long and fascinating history right up to the second world war. A 15 minute boat ride from the castle back up the river Dart takes you into the centre of Dartmouth, neatly avoiding the tricky parking and the many coach tours.

One of the best known beaches in the area also has an interesting second world war story to tell. Slapton sands stretch from Torcross to Strete and were the venue for a test run of the D-Day landings. A Sherman tank now stands as a memorial to the men who lost their lives when a German U-boat attacked during the exercise. Slapton is now a much more peaceful affair offering well over a mile of clean beach and safe bathing (see things to do). Contrary to the name, the beach is in fact of fine shingle rather than sand.