A Weekend in Torquay
Dazzling with stunning blue Atlantic waters and pristine sailboats, Torquay is billed as the English Riveria and rivaling those of Italy and France. Upon reading this, we had to go for ourselves to investigate!
Logistics:
Situated on the coast in Devon, Torquay is perfectly tucked in the giant cliffs with over 20 beaches and is well connected to the rest of the west and London.
By Car
Depending on the origination, driving will be much easier! All the beaches will be within your reach! While we think the city itself has one of the more confusing roadway systems, there is ample amounts of parking, including at your chosen lodging.
Travel Tip: I utilize Skyscanner.net to find the best rental car deals!
By Public Transportation
From London, it will be incredibly easy to reach Torquay by public transportation. There are a few direct trains to Torquay from London Paddington and there are always indirect trains with a minimal changes. Our friend took the train and it was really seamless.
While in Torquay, there may be slight issues as the best beaches are those located off the beaten path. However, the city expected this issue and have buses to the top beaches of Oddicombe and Babbacombe. Otherwise, there is always Uber!
Travel Tip: I use thetrainline.com to find the best times and train prices!
Lodging
In Torquay, there are LOADS of B&Bs, mini hotels that operate like B&Bs, and normal hotels. For our stay, I just wanted to stay within our budget so I narrowed our range to hopefully a comfortable B&B with a tasty breakfast!
In the end, we chose the Brantwood B&B as it was near the city center, had free parking, and had great reviews on TripAdvisor and Hotels.com.
Travel Tip: For non-brand hotels, I use Hotels.com for their loyalty program. Other sites such as booking.com and expedia offer similar programs!
Food & Drink
When we looked into the English Riveria nickname, Torquay gained the status not only for the beaches and sailboats, but the amazing food! Apparently, it is a foodie haven! There are terrific places throughout the city. For us, we definitely enjoyed Rockfish, a local seafood chain, and On the Rocks, but there were so many choices for us!
Click here for our English Roadtrip Google map pins for all of our hard research of the top food and drink spots!
Activities
Because we came to Torquay for the beaches and sunshine, our activities were solely focused on seeing the top beaches and exploring the famous English Riveria. However, there are a ton of family oriented and young adult activities located in the area. We were presented a very detailed booklet when we checked in with everything from the Paignton Zoo to trolley rides. We even tried to a winery in Dartmouth but were turned away because of COVID concerns.
Search for Food
After a long drive and a failed attempt at a wine tasting, we arrived in Torquay very hangry. Or, that was just me! We immediately hunted for food and were struggling to find open places that served mains at 2-3pm. Thus, we chose an Italian eatery that will not be named because it was filler food and it was not that great…. But, the restaurant got us out of the rain and allowed us more time to find our dinner!
In the end, we chose Rockfish because we were able to nab a 5pm reservation and we would finally be able to eat here after failing to get a reservation in Weymouth. Rockfish is a local southwestern UK chain specializing in the sustainable fish practice so it hit all of Kelly’s criteria!
Because we ordered a lot of Italian food, we chose to go the seafood “tapas” route where we would share food. For our main tapas, we chose onion rings and fish “calamari.” We were going to order the freshly caught hake, but we could not manage the room in our stomach!
English Riveria at Sunset
After our very early dinner, we went for a stroll through the English Riveria. Rather than bask in the warm sunlight, we all whipped out our jackets and bundled up! The clouds do not give a great first impression, but we were willing to give it another try!
On our first evening in the infamous English Riveria, we wanted a gorgeous sunset over the crystal clear waters and many sailboats. Only, we noticed that the sun sets on the OTHER side of the island… Whoops! Luckily, we found a great cocktails bar called Cru down on the seaside and with great views of the city and cliffs, just in case we had spectacular colors! Thankfully, we had an okay sunset to end our first day in Torquay.
English Rivera Beaches
For our only full day in Torquay, we wanted to see the best beaches in Devon. Unfortunately, we cannot see them all!
Oddicombe Beach
Using a ton of good sites for top beaches, I ended up using just the main Devon beach listings! In most listings, Oddicombe was always near the top! In the end, the selling point was the beach was next to the number 2 beach on the list, Babbecombe Beach! Two for the price of one!
When we arrived at Oddicombe, a ten minute drive from the center of Torquay, we immediately found on street parking for the walk down the cliff. Oh, right, to reach this beach, we have to walk down a decently steep cliff. I guess I forgot to tell MF this rather important information…
Rather than the forecasted sunny weather, the sun was extremely stubborn and refusing to appear from the clouds. We put on a little sunscreen, only to be constantly rebuffed by the darn clouds! Oh well, we enjoyed the beautiful beach!
Rather than the normal brown sand, the beach was covered in beautiful red rocks and red sand. The colors contrast so well against the blue waters and the bright green cliffs! Rather than take naps on the beach, we were able to gaze out on the nature and enjoy all the serene beauty. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and did not see the number 2 beach Babbacombe. I did grab a few pictures from afar and I am very curious how the beach managed to fit anyone as it appeared very small.
On the Rocks
Because Kelly was leaving at 2, we wanted to grab a quick lunch and our only option was On the Rocks. The food looked terrific on the menu and thankfully the food tasted just as well! We ordered four courses all together and split them all, excluding the steak because MF does not share her red meat! Initially, we began with scallops and worked our way to a chicken and steak for mains. For the grand finale, we had the passion fruit panna cotta. All said and done, it was such a great meal
Morning Runs
After a lovely afternoon off from sightseeing and on the go constantly, we had a terrible night of sleep due to the countless seagulls. Seeming to surround our room, the seagulls made nonstop noise from the crack of dawn. Thus, I went on a morning run!
Rather than a gloomy, cloudy Riveria, I hit the jackpot and found the sunny side! In the morning sun, it was absolutely beautiful! I am enjoying my afternoon runs with fantastic runs!
Sadly, all good things must come to an end and we concluded our trip to Torquay by booking an impulse stay in Cornwall!
The UnChartered Summary
While we had somewhat high expectations for Torquay, we were slightly disappointed. Although I wonder if the lack of sunshine had anything to do with it…
- Torquay is pronounced Tor-key. We learned very quickly that we were saying it incorrectly the entire time!
- Similar to Brighton, the town seemed like the place to go if you could not actually go to the Italian or French Riveria. The town was built for tourism, but probably not for us other than the spectacular beaches!
- Rather than standard beaches, Torquay (and Devon) beaches seemed a little different! Sadly, we did not get the sunshine to align with our busy schedules!
- Part of me wished we explored the food scene! I felt like I did my research but also failed on several levels! I would highly recommend looking up the potential fantastic food options!