Yahoo Movies Step aside Salcombe – there's a new star on the Devon coast
It’s 6pm on a summer’s afternoon in Devon and I’m sipping a mojito overlooking one of the finest panoramas in Britain. In the middle distance, sailing boats tack home across a Tiffany-blue bay, towards the honey-hued sands and colourful homes on Exmouth’s waterfront. In the far distance, the lushly-wooded South Devon coastline unfurls in a series of jagged headlands.
I could easily be in Salcombe, the jewel in Devon’s coastal crown and a destination so ravishing it attracts tens of thousands of holidaymakers each summer. But I’m further east, in a place that barely gets a mention in travel guides and, as the sun splits into a palette of painterly pinks, I have almost to myself.
Exmouth, 10 miles south of Exeter, is one of Devon’s best-kept local secrets. Or at least it was until Michelin-starred chef Michael Caines cottoned onto the potential of this Unesco-listed region and opened a luxury hotel across the water in Lympstone, complete with vineyard. Buoyed by its popularity, last spring, he opened two more ventures – a £2.8m restaurant and a café-patisserie on Exmouth’s beautiful two-mile sandy beach.
This, along with a stylish waterfront regeneration, which includes a watersports centre, art gallery and colourful marina, has placed Exmouth firmly on the tourist map, ready to rival its more glamorous neighbours. Granted, the Victorian terraced houses in Exmouth’s town centre are no match for the pretty, pastel cottages in Salcombe; the workaday shops are for residents, not tourists. Furthermore, although there’s talk of new hotels, options in the town centre are limited. But in several other ways Exmouth beats Salcombe hands down.
Room to breathe
Firstly, it’s an absolute doddle to get there. While Salcombe can take an hour to reach from Totnes train station, along winding, one-track lanes clogged with summer traffic, Exmouth’s rail station is slap bang in the town centre, and served by regular trains from Exeter, which has two mainline routes from London. A-roads allow for seamless access by car, and for cyclists, the Exe Valley Way is a flat trail linking Exmouth with Topsham, Exeter and Dawlish.
Secondly, parking is a breeze. There are spaces everywhere. I arrived on a sunny day in the school holidays and had a choice of spots just a frisbee throw from the sand. It cost £7.40 for the whole day. Try doing that in Salcombe.
Thirdly, it’s so much quieter. In Salcombe, you have to jostle your way through crowds and be organised enough to make accommodation and restaurant bookings months in advance. And whilst the sandy coves are beautiful, in the school holidays, there’s not enough space by the water for all the bodies.
In Exmouth, I could have laid out several volleyball courts without treading on anyone’s towel. The beach is sublime: warm soft sand, a gently sloping shore, lifeguards, wooded slopes, critter-filled rockpools, a dog-friendly section all year round, and, at the far end, ochre-coloured cliffs that mark the beginning of the mighty Jurassic coastline, a World Heritage Site.
“Exmouth has been a sleeping beauty,” Michael Caines tells me over coffee, admitting he has a vested interest in its success as a holiday destination. “It’s a charming seaside town that’s very attractive and accessible and has all the raw ingredients to be the new darling of the South West. It is more affordable and inclusive than Salcombe, it’s full of people who live and work here, and it’s not dominated by holiday homes. With sensitive and considerate investment and a balance of accommodation, there could be a booming staycation industry here.”
Making a meal of it
For a provincial town, Exmouth packs a powerful foodie punch, with Caines dominating the gourmet end of the market. At his elegant Michelin-starred Lympstone Manor, well-heeled foodies are treated to eight-course taster menus – think roasted Lyme Bay scallops with caviar and seaweed beurre blanc, and duckling with pickled beetroot and pomegranate molasses.
Caine’s glass-fronted brasserie, Mickeys, at new beachfront complex Sideshore, is his take on Miami’s Nikki beach, with chic décor and cool music to match, and a menu that includes spit-roasted chicken and locally landed crab and lobster. Next door, Café Patisserie Glacerie serves his Italian gelato, pastries, pies and pasties, while independent Hangtime Café offers lunch staples and cakes from Exeter’s Exploding Bakery.
By the docks, Mitch Tonk’s Rockfish serves a dizzying array of plump fresh seafood, while out on the estuary is the River Exe Café, a floating pontoon accessed by water taxi, serving dishes that include Teignmouth oysters and citrus-cured sea bass. In Exmouth’s peaceful pedestrianised town square, Palm is a glamorous, jungle-themed bar serving snacks by day and cocktails by night, while Saveur is a locals’ favourite serving excellent French food.
Fossils and flocks
Exmouth’s warm and dry microclimate means plenty of outdoor fun. Edge is a watersports centre headed by five-time world kitesurfing champion Steph Bridge, Stuart Line Cruises run scenic coastal boat rides, and then there’s the South West Coastal Path, the Exe Valley Way and fossil hunting on the Jurassic coast.
Day trips include the estuary town of Topsham, with its pretty antiques shops and cafes, Powderham Castle, National Trust property A La Ronde, Darts Farm, one of Devon’s largest farm shops, Pebblebed Vineyard, Dawlish Warren and the Regency seafront town of Sidmouth. In winter, Exmouth estuary flaps and flutters with flocks of migrating birds, making it a major draw for wildlife enthusiasts.
A room for the night
While Lympstone Manor is undeniably special, prices for a double start from £365, so holidaymakers on a smaller budget will need to travel in from elsewhere (Topsham’s Globe or Salutation Inn are our favourites). Or they can wait for Michael Caines to achieve his next ambition: purchasing Exmouth’s grand Imperial Hotel on the esplanade, which he wants to turn into a stylish mid-budget boutique hotel. Watch out, Salcombe.
For more travel inspiration to the area, read our guide to the best hotels in Devon.
