Ive been to Devon and Cornwall many times in my life, especially as a child. We did the usual suspects, Paignton, Torquay, Newquay, St Ives but I don’t remember us ever going to Exmouth.

We were very fortunate to receive a gift voucher for a stay at the Lympstone Manor Hotel (the other half’s significant birthday). Its located up from Exmouth itself, but to the south side of Lympstone. We decided to use the voucher as a wedding anniversary treat to ourselves. The views across the estuary are fantastic, and we discovered there is a coastal path that we could get access to.

We took a walk down the path into Exmouth. The path is also available for bikes but is pretty broad and properly paved so an easy walk in. When the tide is out the estuary almost dries up which allows a lot of birds the opportunity the feed on the wet sands. There is a railway line between the path and the sands but there was a point where you could cross with care and sit and do some bird watching.

It took about 30 minutes for us to walk to the train station which is pretty much at the heart of the town. We then walked past the lovely Manor Gardens – with what looked like a very nice café, and over to the esplanade.

The frontage reminded me of Shankin on the Isle of Wight. It had a very similar clock tower with lots of Victorian Buildings around it. Unlike a lot of Victorian seaside towns, this one was looking well cared for and generally quite affluent. I was surprised to see a Premier Inn in an Art Deco building directly on the promenade with great views out to sea.

There is a long stretch of sand and pebble beach and the promenade follows it for some distance. We walked along towards the east and passed what looked like a lovely playground at the Queens’s Drive Space. We walked past a smart looking area with some restaurants and shops. The Hangtime Café in particular looked to be very popular, even if it was just a take away, but there were picnic benches and music playing. We had a look in the Edge watersports shop where the other half bought some shoes for wearing in the water.

As we walked along Queens Drive, we noticed that there was parking directly off the road and Motorhomes were permitted to park up, however there is a 5.3 metre restriction (sadly too small for ours). There is a very large RNLI lifeboat station on the beach with both a Shannon and D class boat. They have a shop if you would like to contribute and of course they would also like you to sign up for a monthly subscription.

Time for an ice cream and we enjoyed some good quality ice cream at Fortes At Foxholes. (I wouldn’t have minded a whippy but they didn’t sell it). We continued on along the prom which eventually ran out as we approached the cliff edge. This is part of the world heritage Jurassic Coast and there was a board with information on what to spot in the cliff face. This is also one of the few places still maintaining public toilets – a good idea with so many people on the beach. It was the Easter school holidays and the sun was shining but I was surprised as to quite how many people there were. There are a some at the end of the beach where there is also a take away café up the hillside, and also some near the Queens Drive space.

We wandered back walking on the beach this time and stopped for lunch at a restaurant we had seen on the way called Heydays. It has upstairs tables giving a great view out to sea. The food was very nice too.

After lunch we continued along the promenade which then led into the marina area. This looked a lot more modern, but really quite smart, with lots of properties overlooking the marina or facing out to sea. From here you could pick up the ferry across to Starcross, a pretty village on the opposite side of the estuary.

You could of course take the train to Starcross if you wanted to enjoy the view from the train, or even go into Exeter or on to Paignton. If you are a keen walker you can walk from Exmouth to Sidmouth which is part of the South West Coastal Path. You can go back up the estuary path that we used to go further up to Lympstone, or you could get on a bike and follow the path which will go along the entire estuary to Dawlish which is 22.5 miles long. Just across from the Lympstone Manor is the National Trust Property A La Ronde, which we went to visit. It’s a 16-sided property organised to catch the sun at the right time for each room. It’s not the biggest place but interesting to see, its one of the places you will probably have seen on the TV.

All in all Exmouth seemed like a great place for a long weekend with plenty of options of places to visit nearby, and if the weather is kind plenty of space in the beach.