Best Sunset Spots in Paignton

Short answer: Paignton faces east across Tor Bay, which makes it a sunrise town rather than a sunset one. In the evening, the light falls on the bay and the harbour, and Preston Sands' beach-front pub is the place to sit. For a sun going into the sea, you need Brixham.

Paignton faces the wrong way

Worth saying plainly. Paignton's beaches look east across Tor Bay, so the sun rises over the water and sets behind the town. If you want the sun going down into the sea, Paignton is not the place.

Sunrise instead

The flip side: sunrise over Tor Bay from Paignton Sands is genuinely beautiful, and the beach is empty at that hour.

The evening light

The evening sun still lights the bay and the far shore warmly. The Boathouse at Preston Sands has a sun-trap beer garden looking across Tor Bay and live music on the terrace some nights — the best seat in Paignton at the end of the day. Harbour Light, on the harbour, is the other.

For a real sunset

Brixham, ten minutes round the bay. Its harbour looks back north-west across Tor Bay, so the sun goes down over the water — the breakwater there is the best sunset spot in Torbay.

Arrive half an hour before sunset and stay twenty minutes after. The afterglow is usually better than the sunset itself, and most people leave the moment the sun touches the horizon.

Practical

• Take a torch — coast paths are unlit on the walk back.
• Stay back from cliff edges; you cannot see where the ground gives way in low light.
• It gets cold fast once the sun goes, even in summer.