Instow

After a good days walking the calm town of Instow makes for a pleasant place to relax and look out over the estuary where the rivers of the Taw and Torridge meet. Watch spectacular sunsets from the watersedge, and spend time wandering through the village with its brightly painted terraced houses and cottages,  and out onto the grandeur of Marine Parade, treating yourself to a highly prized cream team at the Commodore Hotel.

Instow Sands fronts the town and is an area of lovely open sandy beach. Compared to previous stops in Woolacombe and Braunton, the water here is now dominated by sailing, with some keen windsurfers and kayakers, rather than swimmers and surfers.

Whilst there is no longer a working railway, there is now a fully restored railway signal box which is over 130 years old, and sits in the village on the old track line. Run by volunteers who are more than happy to show you round and demonstrate how the box worked.

There is a good choice of restaurants and pubs in Instow, with a strong focus on locally sourced fish straight off the beach. One or two galleries and a sailing school complete the options but then if you ever fancied learning to sail this would be a stunning location to try it.