A Weekend in Devon (2025)

One of my close friends and travel buddy, Becca (hi Becs if you're reading this!), moved to Devon last year. Although I'd visited her in November for an early Christmassy weekend, I was keen to spend a weekend with her in the summer and explore what Devon had to offer.

Saturday

Although Devon is a trek from London by car, it's actually only a two-and-a-half-hour train journey, which I was more than happy to take as it's quickly becoming my favourite form of transport. Unfortunately, there were slight delays meaning that we arrived at Newton Abbot station half an hour later than expected, but were still there by lunch, which was chill. Becca and her partner very kindly picked us up, and then we headed to their gorgeous, thatched-roof cottage to say hello to their little cat and drop our stuff off. 

We then drove over to Brixham, which we learnt is one of the three towns making up Torbay, the other two being Torquay and Paignton. It was my first time in Brixham and I loved the colourful houses and the proper seaside vibe. Despite being fairly chilly, the sun was out and so were the tourists. There were many children crabbing and people enjoying ice cream by the quay, which was adorable to see and reminiscent of my weekend in Cornwall earlier in the summer. 

We were fairly hungry so treated ourselves to fish and chips, which was delicious, and a pasty. It turns out that there is such a thing as a Devon pasty in addition to the renowned Cornish pasty, with its top being crimped, as opposed to the side. Nonetheless, Cornish pasties remain the popular choice even in Devon so that's what we went for. We then ambled along the market and seaside shops, which had great finds, and bought some souvenirs. Once we were satisfied with our purchases, we enjoyed a delicious ice cream by the quay, spotting a paddle-boarder and some more crabbers. 

Once we'd made the most of what Brixham had to offer, we headed to the car, but no trip to the seaside is complete without at least a quick dip of the toes in the sea, so we changed into our flip flops and braved the cold waters. Despite being mid-August, the water was absolutely freezing, but it was worth it and remains a fun tradition, regardless of the temperature.  

We were debating between spending the evening at a bar in town or having drinks and dinner in the cottage, and ended up deciding on the latter, meaning that a trip to the supermarket was needed. We bought some pizzas for dinner and Aperol spritzes, and then spent the evening catching up over some food and drinks. Although I'd brought some card games with me, we ended up just chatting away until we were all yawning and ready for bed. But first, cake! I'd baked one of my favourite cakes, a Vicky sponge, for the occasion and despite the late hour, everyone was keen for a slice (which was a relief as I'd trudged over to Devon with it in tow and had spent a lot of hours apprehensive of it surviving the journey).

Eventually, we headed to bed, and whilst I was flattered by their cat's desire to sleep at my feet, I was very nervous that I'd accidentally kick her in my sleep, so she ended up sleeping on the landing instead and we quickly passed out.

Sunday

I had a great night's sleep and woke up feeling very refreshed. We had a slow morning, getting ready and chatting, before heading to the other town, Paignton, for brunch. We'd been told that Paignton had a rougher crowd than either Torquay or Brixham, and this became evident fairly quickly. As we approached, we saw a parade of travellers on horse and carriage, and then as we headed towards the restaurant, a young girl came up to us and told us about the unfortunate situation she was in, which included money struggles and I believe homelessness. 

Regardless, the brunch spot, Costero Lounge, was a nice find and had something for everyone, including birria tacos, fried chicken, a full English, and shakshuka. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals, and despite the cold winds and cloudy skies, we then made our way to the pier on the beach. 

There was an arcade, which was packed with children and adults alike, and despite taking a while to get into it and figure out how it all worked, once we did I didn't want to leave. We played Mario Kart, tried the claw machines, played a game similar to Angry Birds and another like Hungry Hippos. All I wanted was one ticket for my scrapbook, and by the end we'd gained almost 400! I had such a fun time and felt like a kid again, which was wonderful. After spending all our money, we headed back along the pier and treated ourselves to some doughnuts, which were heavenly but can't have been good for us.

By this point, time had absolutely flown by and we only had about one hour before our train, so we headed back towards Newton Abbot station, doing a snapshot tour of Torquay en route, including by the harbour and Becca and her partner's favourite local spots, which was lovely. We got to the station with time to spare and said our goodbyes, before boarding our train. It was a wonderful weekend spent with some of my favourite people and I can't wait for our next little reunion.