Paignton – A Jewel on the English Riviera
Famous for its temperate climate, stretching sandy beaches and Victorian pier, Paignton is the perfect place to get your sandcastle on. As a summer-holiday destination, the vibrant beach town is one of the English Riviera’s most popular with outdoors enthusiasts, who can hire watersports equipment or hike the area’s rugged coastline. Paignton’s lively promenade offers family-friendly hotels and attractions, including pirate-themed golf and a waterpark. Throughout spring and summer, its action-packed events programme brings coachloads of visitors, but even during the winter, popular Paignton continues to attract tourists in search of stellar seafood and bracing sea air.
A Room with a Tor-Bay View
Close to Paignton’s seafront, travellers can find budget chain hotels and heaps of friendly B&Bs. Those looking for a more luxurious hotel can find a clutch of three- and four-star options, some of which are housed in grand historic buildings with swimming pools and other leisure facilities. On Eastern Esplanade, travellers can choose from a wide-selection of family-run guesthouses which compete to cook Paignton’s most memorable full-English breakfast. This area is a popular choice with walkers, who love the pine- and sycamore-edged cliff walk around nearby Roundham Head and the breathtaking views over Tor Bay and Goodrington Sands. Heading south along the coast from here, as well as a handful of quieter guesthouses and hotels, travellers can find several holiday parks with eco pods, boutique caravans with hot tubs, luxurious lodges and tent pitches.
What’s Happening in Paignton?
Since 1295, this bustling South-Devon holiday town has celebrated the most important events in its history with a giant pudding, carried through the streets to be shared with the community. Though this quirky tradition doesn’t happen every year, Paignton has several other festivals, fairs and markets which do. In May, the two-day Brixham Pirate Festival is a favourite with families, while the Bikers Make A Difference Festival (BMAD) welcomes fund-raising motorbike enthusiasts with a social conscience. June brings the Torbay Half Marathon, which begins and ends in Paignton. From the end of July until early August, colourful Paignton Festival and Regatta Week bring the town’s seafront to life with a fun fair and fireworks lighting up Tor Bay. In mid-August, Children’s Week offers an action-packed activities programme for arts, crafts and cookery, as well as performers, competitions and team games.
The Main Attractions
Flanked by pleasant parkland, Paignton’s long promenade offers several family-friendly attractions including the educational Geoplay Park, Pirates Bay Adventure Golf, Splashdown Waterpark at Quaywest and multiplex cinema The Vue. This friendly seaside town’s impressive zoo has been voted the third-best in Britain and boasts six different habitats as well as a Jungle Express train. Paignton’s grand Victorian architecture is also a major attraction for travellers, many of whom visit the lavishly decorated Oldway Mansion, the once-home of the founder of the Singer sewing machine company. The Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway takes travellers back in time and offers spectacular scenery as it traverses the South-Devon countryside. En route to picturesque village Kingswear at the mouth of the River Dart, the historic train passes Greenway Halt Station where waiting buses whisk tourists off to legendary whodunit-author Agatha Christie’s former holiday home, the Greenway Estate.
Blue-Flag Beaches
Within a 15-minute drive of Paignton, travellers are able to reach a staggering 21 beaches, many of which have been awarded the coveted Blue Flag award for their exceptional cleanliness. The pastel-painted bathing huts found on some are loved by photographers. In the height of summer, central Paignton Beach is lined with deckchairs and beach towels. Families appreciate the easy-going ambience and the safe bathing conditions for children. Active-types find perfect conditions for dinghy sailing, kite surfing, sea kayaking and paddleboarding at beaches nearby, including Preston Sands and Elberry Cove. Walkers enjoy the many coastal walks in and around Paignton. Saltern Cove and Hollicombe Beach are known for their distinctive geological features. Bring your binoculars to spot rare birds which are said to live in the reed beds along the coastline. Dog-friendly beaches include Fairy Cove and Goodrington Sands, south of Paignton’s popular main beach.
Shopping, Dining and Nightlife
Traditional Paignton offers a unique shopping experience with a beach-town twist. From busy Torbay Road near the beach, to Hyde Road and pedestrianised Victoria Street, high street stores, tacky souvenir shops and other independents co-exist. Options for a fine lunch are plentiful; several seaview restaurants offer locally-caught seafood including mussels, monkfish and bass. Ciders and beers produced by local Devonshire farms are Paignton’s tipple of choice. Close to performing-arts venues the Palace Theatre and Torbay Acting Factory, the less-centrally located Winner Street is loved for its old-world atmosphere and its eclectic mix of antique shops, gift stores and international restaurants, including Thai, Chinese and Nepalese options. After dark, Paignton’s illuminated promenade and irresistible combination of cosy inns, historic taverns, gastro pubs and lively nightclubs, make it impossible to stay in your hotel.