3 days in Paignton

Three days from Paignton, each following the same easy pattern: a morning of heritage, a pub lunch, then an afternoon museum, with each day's stops kept close together. Day one stays in Dartmouth, where Dartmouth Castle, The Ship Inn and Dartmouth Museum sit within a mile of one another. Day two takes in Bradley Manor, a National Trust property, before lunch at The Church House Inn and an afternoon at Tuckers Maltings. Day three is the longer reach, 37 miles on to Forde Abbey, followed by The Tytherleigh Arms and Axminster Museum.

All three lunch stops hold a 5/5 food hygiene rating. For a base, our four Paignton cottages are all 0.2 miles from Paignton station and 0.1 miles from Paignton Sands, where the Environment Agency rates the bathing water Good. Turtle Beach, Starfish Shack and Crabby Cove each sleep 4, and Shells Shore sleeps 5. Each is near a bus stop, with EV charging nearby.