Beaches by train: Exmouth

This is the second in a series of posts about beaches I have visited by train. Last time, I blogged about Par, on the south coast of Cornwall, which is one of the beaches listed in this article on the Good Journey website.

This post is about getting to a lovely beach closer to home (for me), which didn’t appear on the Good Journey list: Exmouth in South Devon.

Exmouth is a lovely little seaside town, about half an hour from Exeter by train.

Journey details

GWR trains typically run twice an hour, and take around 30 minutes from Exeter.

The train actually connects all the way through to Paignton, with some other lovely stops along the way, including Dawlish, Teignmouth, and Torquay.

In case you’re on holiday and want to visit a few different places, then a multi-day Rover ticket might be worth considering. Rover tickets offer “unlimited off-peak rail journeys in Devon and Cornwall on your choice of days”, so you can hop on and off trains as you please.

In the Summer months, if you want to have a look around Exmouth without the walk, then Stagecoach have a service Explore Exmouth by Open Top Bus. The service departs from the Leisure Centre, just a couple of minutes walk from the railway station.

Getting to the beach

From the station there are a few options, but I like to stroll through the town, stopping for coffee and a pastry in The Strand. There are several places in The Strand who make proper coffee, and offer seating inside or outdoors.

I like to grab a takeaway coffee and bacon roll from the Crusty Cob in The Strand and enjoy them al fresco in Manor Gardens, which is a nice little park only a short hop from the beach. (There is also a cafe there, so you are spoilt for choice).

Exmouth Beach

Exmouth has a lovely long sandy beach, which is particularly wonderful at low tide when there is a vast expanse of sand. As a dog walker, my favourite time to visit is between 30th of September and 1st of May, when dogs are allowed on the entire beach. There are lots of bins next to the beach, so there is no need to carry poo bags for long before there’s somewhere to dispose of them.

After a couple of hours on the beach, we often ‘just happen’ to stop at The Grove pub, which does excellent food, is dog-friendly, and right next to the beach, not far from Exmouth Marina.

If you like a longer walk, there’s a beautiful stretch of coast path from Exmouth to Budleigh Salterton and Sidmouth. Sadly, there hasn’t been a rail service to either of those since 1967 – thanks to Dr Beeching – so it’s either a long walk back, or onward travel is by bus.

More than a day trip

Exmouth isn’t huge, but it has lots to offer. I visit regularly, usually just for the day, but have stayed overnight and really enjoyed my stay at The Imperial Hotel, which has large gardens, and some rooms have lovely views of the sea.

There’s lots more to Exmouth than I can cover in a single blog post, and I recommend seeing it for yourself if you have never been before.

That’s all for now

That’s all for this post. If you are reading this, then thanks for persevering. If you know Exmouth better than me, I’d welcome comments and suggestions about what I missed.

References / credits

1. Good Journey is a website which “champions car-free leisure travel”
2. Screenshot is from Ordnance Survey’s OS Maps app, https://explore.osmaps.com/