Top Places to Visit in South Devon in 2009

An all year round destination, the South Hams, the southernmost tip of South Devon, offers a different holiday experience depending on the time of year you choose. Busier with families during school holidays, those looking for ‘away-from-it-all’ breaks often find the Spring or Autumn the ideal time to visit, whilst re-charging the batteries with a Winter short break is becoming increasingly popular.

Whatever time you choose, there is always plenty happening –if you want it to! The local Tourist Information Centres can provide the latest events information (see our ‘Planning your Stay 2009’ guide for their contact details). An unspoilt, largely rural area, the South Hams offers many places to escape from the pressures of a busy, modern life; from hidden coves, miles of coastal paths and wildlife havens, to expanses of river and sea, perfect for those seeking the quieter pursuits of painting, angling, walking and bird watching.

With a holiday being one of the most anticipated events of the year, planning ahead and pre-booking activities, popular restaurants and special trips can avoid disappointment and help to make your time in the South Hams even more special.

Pre-book a food or wine delivery service ready for your arrival

With fantastic locally produced and sourced food including fish, seafood, meat, wine and cheeses, several excellent farm shops and regular Farmers Markets, wonderful home delivery companies offer everything from organic vegetable and meat boxes, wine, lobster and even a range of ready to serve meals created by celebrity chef Lesley Waters. Self-catering suddenly becomes a far more attractive option!

Contact the following (quoting Coast & Country Cottages)

www.riverford.co.uk –organic vegetable, fruit and meat boxes, eggs and milk

www.thegreentable.co.uk –Celebrity chef food direct to your holiday home.

www.red-white.co.uk – delivering champagne, wines & beers to your holiday home

Book ahead at popular restaurants to avoid disappointment

From beach dining to popular restaurants with wonderful views and stylish dining rooms for lazy lunches……..book ahead to avoid disappointment.

Contact the following (quoting Coast & Country Cottages)

www.oystershackbigbury.co.uk – fresh local seafood in fantastic locations in Bigbury and Salcombe

www.riverford.co.uk – organic farm restaurant serving seasonal produce in imaginative dishes

www.lovingthebeach.co.uk –award-winning beach cafẻs at Blackpool Sands, Bigbury and East Portlemouth serving organic local produce

Combine delicious local food with a wonderful day out –a taste of Devon at its finest

With all this, plus clotted cream teas, locally made ice-cream, Devon fudge and much more, you won’t go home hungry from South Devon

Contact the following (quoting Coast & Country Cottages)

www.thepicnicboat.co.uk –the perfect English river picnic on the picturesque River Dart

www.sdcf.co.uk – South Devon Chilli Farm -100 varieties to view, award-winning produce

www.Sharpham.com –vineyard and winery in stunning location above the River Dart

www.riverford.co.uk – Farm walks, cookery demos and theme days

Fun on the Water

Renowned as a sailing and boating destination, boats of all descriptions are available for hire in Salcombe. Boat trips, including fishing trips and a very informative ride on the ex-RNLI lifeboat are also available whilst surfing is popular with locals and visitors alike.

Contact the following (quoting Coast & Country Cottages)

www.Whitestrandboathire.co.uk – passionate about boating in the Salcombe Estuary

www.discoverysurf.com –South Devon surf lessons for all ages and levels

www.salcombepowerboats.co.uk – a specialist RYA Powerboat Training Centre offering taster sessions, RIB rides and courses.

Out and About in the South Hams

With breathtaking scenery and picturesque villages, once visited you may not wish to leave!

Contact the following (quoting Coast & Country Cottages)

www.premier-privatehire.co.uk -Discover Devon in style; Wine tasting & vineyards, South Devon Food Safaris; The Agatha Christie Trail

www.explosures.co.uk –why not record your stay in the beautiful South Hams with a professionally taken photograph on the beach or water

Beautiful Beaches

Discover hidden unspoilt sandy coves for sandcastles and swimming, miles of stunning paths for walking, several dog-friendly beaches for wonderful ‘walkies’, fabulous beaches for family beach days and waves for surfing and body boarding –something for everyone to enjoy whatever the season.

Contact the following (quoting Coast & Country Cottages)

www.venuscompany.co.uk – for a guide to the area’s beaches


Coast & Country Cottages –over 400 holiday properties exclusively in the South Hams, the southernmost tip of South Devon. Short Breaks. Special Offers. Baby Friendly Holidays. Dog Friendly Holidays.

Our locally based team really know the area and our properties so can help you select the location and accommodation to suit your holiday requirements.

Call now on 01548 843773 to request a copy of our FREE brochure including a free ‘Planning Your Stay’ packed with ideas and suggestions to help you make the most of your stay in this beautiful area.

Or visit Coast and Country Cottages to check availability and book your Devon holiday.

A Guide to Baby Friendly Holidays in Devon

For new parents, life can suddenly seem very tiring and demanding. With a new baby in the house, there is little time for relaxing or spending quality time together. In other circumstances, a couple might plan a holiday to recuperate but with the arrival of a new-born the prospect of a holiday can seem like an unrealistic idea, especially with all the travel involved, the health-protection needed and the exposure to unfamiliar climates. However, many parents are aware that there is now limited time for a holiday. Within a few years, the baby will be at school and the opportunities to travel will be more or less dictated by the school term-times, meaning that holidays will have to be taken at the most expensive times of the year. Yet there is a compromise available by holidaying in the UK.

Holidaying in the UK instantly reduces the time spent travelling, which means there is less stress involved for both the parents and the child. It also ensures the parents peace of mind, knowing that the baby will always be in their care. In addition, there is no need for immunisation against foreign diseases, which can cause great discomfort for both the child and mother. Whilst the child is building up its own immune system, the mother’s system is also recovering from the process of giving birth and can take up to a year to do so fully. With this in mind, a holiday in the UK also means that the mother and child do not risk stomach upsets from drinking water or unfamiliar foods – an extremely important consideration if the mother is breast-feeding as she can pass on any upsets through her milk. There is also no need to worry about finding electrical adapters for items such as bottle-sterilising units and baby monitors.

Many new parents are discovering holidays in Devon as the ideal location to holiday with a baby. While the temperatures can be very warm during the summer months, they are never as extreme as certain sunspots abroad, ensuring that the baby is protected from potentially harmful effects of extreme heat and extreme cold. With its warm yet temperate climate, baby friendly holidays in Devon offer the chance for parents to enjoy a change of scenery without being too far from home and familiar medical facilities, should they be needed.

Baby friendly holidays in Devon are becoming more and more popular amongst new parents and they are very easy to research. An obvious port of call is friends and family; if you know someone who has taken holidays in Devon with a new baby, ask them for recommendations as to which companies to use. They will be able to inform you as to the facilities offered by self-catering, bed and breakfast and hotels in the area. Alternatively, by using a UK holiday company you can visit their website to see whether they offer facilities such as high chairs, cots and pushchairs, in which case you won’t have to take extra luggage of your own. You can also see whether there are stair-gates and anything that might concern you, such as outdoor ponds and swimming pools.

A baby requires constant attention, but holidays in Devon can offer new parents the feeling that they’ve had a break from the often-punishing regime that children enforce. With beaches, countryside, good restaurants and many attractions, holidays in Devon provide the perfect solution to fatigue without the stress of a holiday abroad.

Coast and Country Cottages offer a wide range of luxury self catering baby friendly holiday cottages in South Devon; with over 400 properties across the South Hams, Dartmouth, Salcombe and Kingsbridge.

Busier than ever – Coast & Country Cottages report significant rise in the number of new holiday properties

Coast & Country Cottages, www.coastandcountry.co.uk, with over 400 holiday properties exclusively throughout beautiful South Devon, are reporting a significant increase in the numbers of new properties being added to their portfolio at the moment. Since the launch of their 2009 brochure at the beginning of October, a further 30 new properties have been added, with another 20 or so in the pipeline.

Andrew Jones, Partner, comments ‘We are currently taking on new properties at a faster rate than ever before. The properties we are seeing are of a high standard and will offer those thinking of visiting this beautiful area of South Devon in 2009 an even greater choice of holiday accommodation.’

With some property owners now choosing to let their holiday home rather than putting it on the market to sell in the current climate, several stunning new properties are now available for rental for 2009. Others choose to let their property to make the most of the additional income they will receive –very welcome in these difficult and uncertain times. Property developers, affected by the quieter market, are also deciding to let some of their stock this year until things pick up in the housing market –it is often easier to sell a holiday property once it has a proven holiday rental history and in the meantime welcome income can be accumulated.

If you are thinking of letting your holiday property, contact Coast & Country Cottages for a Free Owners Guide or a free property assessment, with no obligation or ‘hard sell’.
www.coastandcountry.co.uk 01548 843773.


Recent new properties added to the Coast & Country Cottages portfolio include:

1 & 2 Edith Mews and Garden Apartment, Prospect House - Perched high, above the ruins of a tiny fishing village at Hallsands on the Start Bay coastline, Prospect House is a former hotel with a remarkable and romantic history…. Carefully restored and converted into stunning apartments and cottages, many with wonderful and dramatic sea views across to the lighthouse at Start Point, Prospect House is now a fabulous destination for a family holiday or short break throughout the year.

Each new property has been tastefully re-designed to provide light and spacious holiday accommodation in a contemporary New England style with sea-washed white colours and light wooden floors. Prospect House has beautiful, newly re-landscaped gardens, an outside swimming pool, tennis courts, private parking and an enclosed South-facing garden with breathtaking sea views. The nearby coastal footpath leads down to the unspoilt beach below and miles of wonderful walking beyond……

Coast & Country Cottages are delighted to be marketing 3 properties at Prospect House, with others in the pipeline. For example, sleeping from 4 -6, 1 Edith Mews is available from £500 in May for a week to £1200 per week in peak August but a Special Introductory Offer on all remaining weeks in June, July and August can save you up to £100 per week (£50 off per week in June & July, £100 off August weeks). www.coastandcountry.co.uk or 01548 843773


Apartment 2 At the Beach –The striking development ‘At the Beach’ includes luxury apartments and cottages on the very edge of the sea at Slapton Sands and is the transformation of the former ‘Torcross Hotel’, a prominent and well-known local landmark built in the late 1800’s. The development boasts stunning sea views, with the beach to one side and the freshwater lake of Slapton Ley to the other, and teas rooms and a thatched pub serving excellent fish and chips just a short stroll away. Sleeping 4-6 and boasting an outside terrace within just a few metres of the beach, Apartment 2 is available for £325 a week in February rising to £975 in peak August weeks. Other At the Beach properties are ‘in the pipeline’. www.coastandcountry.co.uk or 01548 843773


Little Cotton Farmhouse – Another two properties being developed by the owners of the highly successful small property, The Retreat, Little Cotton includes a farmhouse and barn, individually available or ideal for extended families or several families wishing to holiday together. Set in a delightful rural location with extensive grounds and with wonderful views, but with shops within walking distance and just a short drive from picturesque Dartmouth, Little Cotton will be the ideal location for a family holiday. Currently under development, the farmhouse will be available for holidays from July 2009. Sleeping 11 Little Cotton Farmhouse is available from £1350 per week in July. www.coastandcountry.co.uk or 01803 839499

35 Dart Marina –Available from April from £900 per week (rising to £2200 in August Regatta Week), 35 Dart Marina, sleeping 6, joins our 5 successful properties on this stunning waterside development. Beautifully presented and boasting stunning water views, this stylish apartment offers luxury accommodation for families or three couples plus the use of the Dart Marina Health Spa (indoor pool, Jacuzzi, steam & steam) including 10% off beauty treatments (pre-booking advisable) and is just a short stroll along the waterfront to Dartmouth’s well-known restaurants, art galleries and individual boutiques. www.coastandcountry.co.uk or 01803 839499


Editorial contact –additional information and high resolution images available from Karen Jones 01548 843773 or Karen@coastandcountry.co.uk