Somewhere to stay
on the estuary

Before you book

Staying in Salcombe, answered

Where should I stay in Salcombe for a first visit?

In the town itself, for a first trip. Salcombe is small, it is where the restaurants, the shops and the ferry steps are, and it puts you in walking distance of the town beaches — and the passenger ferry takes you over to the sandy coves on the far shore without needing a car. If you would rather be on the open coast, Hope Cove and Thurlestone face west into Bigbury Bay, a few miles over the peninsula. If you want a town that works all year and is easier to drive in and out of, Kingsbridge sits at the head of the estuary.

How many nights do I need?

Three or four nights is enough to walk a stretch of the South West Coast Path, get across the estuary to the beaches on the far shore, and spend a day doing nothing in particular. A week lets you add the west-facing coast at Thurlestone and Hope Cove, the walk out to Bolt Head, and a day lost to weather without it wrecking the trip.

Do I need a car in Salcombe?

For the town, no — it is small enough to walk, and parking in the centre is genuinely difficult in the summer, so a car can be more of a liability than a help. For everywhere else, yes, or a bus. The estuary ferries cover the crossings a car cannot, but the villages on the open coast are a drive inland and back out. Check what parking your property actually has before you book, not after.

When is Salcombe busiest?

The school summer holidays, and Regatta week, which falls around the turn of July and August. Accommodation books up a long way ahead for both. The roads in are single-carriageway and the town is on a peninsula, so arriving in the middle of a Saturday changeover in August takes longer than the map suggests. Late spring and September are quieter, and better for walking.

What kinds of accommodation are there?

Mostly self-catering — apartments above the harbour, whole houses on the hillside, and cottages in the surrounding villages — alongside hotels and hosted stays. Use the filters on this page to see exactly what we list right now, by type and by location. Every listing links through to its own Booking.com page for live photographs, guest scores, dates and prices.

How do I get to Salcombe?

By road, the A381 runs down through Newton Abbot, Totnes and Kingsbridge and ends in Salcombe. By train, the nearest mainline station is Totnes, on the Exeter to Plymouth line with Great Western Railway services from London Paddington; Plymouth is the other usual arrival point. Buses run on from both towards Kingsbridge and Salcombe — check the current timetable rather than assuming a connection, because these are rural services.

Background: Salcombe town and harbour from Snapes Point — photograph by Colin Vosper, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph Britain and Ireland.