Holidays in Salcombe

Salcombe is one of the most popular holiday resorts in the UK. We went there last year for a family holiday staying in a wonderful holiday cottage.

The town of Salcombe is quite small but there are loads of good restaurants, pubs and clothes shops as well as a good little bookshop, a newsagent, a Post Office and some art galleries. One of our favourite restaurants is called Captain Flint’s. This is a very busy totally child-friendly pizza, spaghetti and ice cream restaurant where families with young children can relax after long days on the beaches or on the water. Captain Flint’s is so popular that there is usually a queue to get in and the owners steadfastly refuse to open at lunchtime! So if you want to go you have to go in the evening. It opens usually at 5:30 but check the sign outside Flint’s if you want to be first in the queue.

Another appealing aspect of Salcombe is the hustle and bustle of yachts, dinghies,motor-boats and launches that make a wonderful moving backdrop to the town. There’s always something to watch going on whether it’s a dinghy race, a powerboat training session or day trippers struggling to master the process of coming alongside in a boat they hired for the day.

For the serious walkers of the world Salcombe is also on the South West Coastal path and it’s only a short hike out of town towards the estuary mouth. You can go West towards Bolberry, Hope Cove and the beaches of Bantham and Bigbury, or East towards Gara and eventually on to Dartmouth.

And then there’s shopping. There do seem to be an inordinate number of clothes shops and until recently there were also too many estate agents. But there’s also a wonderful proper sweet shop called Cranch’s where children queue to buy rock and fudge.

You’ll also find a first class butcher, a newsagent, two delicatessens, a bakery, a sandwich shop, a Post Office, a friendly and packed toy shop, a museum, a small park with swings and slides, a health centre, and several gift shops.

But where to stay?

There are many holiday cottages in Salcombe and you can rent them either directly from the owners or by registering with one or more of the letting agents.

Some cottages are right on the water front and many are bang in the middle of the town which is great for access to restaurants, pubs and so on but it has to be said that in the summer evenings Salcombe is not the quietest place on earth!  Try looking slightly further afield in Batson, a quiet creek just 10 minute’s walk from Salcombe centre where you can find character-rich cottages to rent.

We found that the best Salcombe self-catering holiday accommodation gets booked up early for the peak holiday season. But the South Hams area has a lot to offer too if you are looking for a weekend break in Salcombe instead.