5 days in Paignton

This five-day plan uses Paignton as a base for National Trust houses, castles and small local museums, with each day kept to two or three stops. The biggest hops come between one day's last stop and the next morning's first, such as 39.4 miles from Cotehele House to Killerton House. Stops within a day stay close: Buckland Abbey to Cotehele House is 4.2 miles, and Ship in Dock Inn to Britannia Museum just 0.3 miles. All three lunch stops hold a 5/5 food hygiene rating.

Our four bookable cottages are Turtle Beach, Starfish Shack and Crabby Cove, which each sleep 4, and Shells Shore, which sleeps 5. All are 0.2 miles from Paignton station and 0.1 miles from Paignton Sands, where the Environment Agency rates the bathing water Good. Each is near a bus stop with EV charging nearby, so arriving by train works just as well as driving.