A Perfect Weekend in Torbay: A 48-Hour Itinerary for First-Time Visitors

Torbay is three towns and one bay. Torquay at the north end, Paignton in the middle, Brixham to the south, all curved around the same stretch of sheltered water on the south Devon coast. If it is your first time visiting, the question is not whether to come (the English Riviera, with its palm trees and microclimate, sells itself). The question is how to fit it all in. This 48-hour Torbay itinerary is a workable answer.

Before you arrive

Base yourself in Torquay or Paignton for the easiest logistics. Torquay has the broader food and accommodation choice, from boutique harbour hotels to family guest houses up on the hill. Paignton is closer to the family attractions and beaches. Brixham is the prettiest of the three but the smallest, with a working fishing harbour at its heart and steeper streets, which makes it a lovely day-trip destination but a slightly trickier base if you are car-free.

You can manage the weekend without a car if you stay near a train station and use the local 12 bus, which runs along the seafront connecting all three towns roughly every ten minutes in summer. Bay ferries also link Torquay and Brixham across the water, which is a far more satisfying way to travel.

Day one: Torquay and the north of the bay

Start in Torquay. Park at the harbour or alight at the train station, and walk the Agatha Christie Mile along the seafront. Allow two hours if you are reading the plaques, or shorten to 45 minutes if you are just walking. Stop in at Torre Abbey on the way back. Adult admission is around £7.50 to £12 depending on the exhibition (worth confirming on the day), the gardens are free in part, and the Potent Plants Garden with its Christie-themed poisonous plants is a quiet half-hour.

Lunch on Torquay harbourside. The Hole in the Wall is a good old-style pub option. For seafood, Number 7 Fish Bistro is reliably excellent. Sit outside if the weather is doing its English Riviera thing.

In the afternoon, head up the hill to Kents Cavern for a 2pm or 3pm tour. The guided tour is 45 minutes through prehistoric chambers, and you will come out three quarters of an hour later having thought about deep time. Allow another hour for the woodland trail and cafe. From here you are 10 minutes from Babbacombe Model Village, which is open into the evening on illumination Fridays from April through October, so check the schedule. The downs above Babbacombe have a lovely sunset view across Lyme Bay.

Supper back in Torquay. The Elephant on Beacon Hill is a properly good restaurant if you want a treat night. For something lighter, Pier Point on the seafront does a good evening meal with a view of the bay lights coming on.

Day two: Paignton, Brixham and the bay by water

Breakfast at your accommodation, then head down to Paignton seafront for the family attractions strip. If the weather is warm, book a morning session at Splashdown Quaywest at Goodrington Sands (the UK’s largest outdoor waterpark, day tickets from around £31 for adults in 2026). If it is cooler or you have done waterparks before, swap in Paignton Zoo and Botanical Gardens instead. The zoo is 80 acres of habitats, takes five hours easily, and is one of the strongest single attractions in the south west.

If you are doing the seafront route, lunch on Paignton Pier. The pier itself is free, with paid amusements, dodgems, ten-pin bowling and crazy golf. Fish and chips eaten on the pier looking out at the bay is the canonical Paignton lunch.

In the early afternoon, board the Dartmouth Steam Railway from Queen’s Park station, a five-minute walk from the pier. The 6.7-mile heritage line runs from Paignton to Kingswear, threading along the cliffs above Goodrington and through Greenway Tunnel. From Kingswear, a passenger ferry takes you across the Dart into Dartmouth town. Spend an hour or two in Dartmouth (cobbled lanes, riverfront cafes, the castle if you have time), then either river-boat back up the Dart to Totnes for a round-robin trip, or take the train straight back to Paignton.

End the day in Brixham. Take the bay ferry from Torquay or drive across. Brixham harbour is small, historic and lively, with a working fishing fleet, the replica Golden Hind permanently moored as a museum, and a row of restaurants and pubs around the inner harbour. Eat at Rockfish or Beamers if you want serious seafood. Otherwise the fish and chip kiosks along the harbour wall do an honest job. Walk up to Berry Head before sunset if you have the legs for it. The view back across the bay with Torquay and Paignton in the distance is the picture you will remember.

If you have an extra evening or morning

An extra half day opens up Greenway, Agatha Christie’s holiday home, run by the National Trust. Take the Greenway Ferry from Torquay’s Princess Pier (pre-book parking if driving), spend a slow morning in the house and gardens, and come back in time for lunch. It is a properly lovely few hours and feels worlds away from the seafront.

Other strong slot-fillers for a longer weekend: Cockington village (thatched cottages, free entry, ten minutes from Torquay), Compton Castle (National Trust, fortified medieval manor near Marldon), and the South West Coast Path between Goodrington and Broadsands (a 45-minute cliff walk with brilliant beach swim at the far end).

Practical notes

• Parking: the main car parks in Torquay (Beacon Quay), Paignton (Tanners Road, Goodrington) and Brixham (Bolton Cross) all charge by the hour. Use the local Park-and-Ride for big-event weekends.
• Public transport: the number 12 bus runs the bay every 10 minutes in summer. Train services from London Paddington go direct to Torquay and Paignton via Newton Abbot.
• Weather: Torbay’s microclimate is genuinely milder than much of the rest of England, but the wind off the bay can be sharp in spring and autumn evenings. Pack a layer.
• Events: the Brixham Pirate Festival (early May bank holiday), the English Riviera Airshow (late May), and the Torbay Royal Regatta (late August) are worth shaping a holiday around if you can.

The point of the bay

What this Torbay itinerary tries to show is that the three towns are different. Torquay is the slightly grander, Riviera-styled town with the literary heritage. Paignton is the family seaside resort with the strongest family attractions strip. Brixham is the working harbour with the prettiest views and the freshest fish. Two days is enough to see the shape of all three, and to know whether you want to come back for a longer holiday. Most first-time visitors do.

If you want to go deeper on any of the individual towns, our guides to a Paignton family thrills day, the Agatha Christie Mile in Torquay, and the Brixham Pirate Festival give you the next level of detail.