Short answer: The Meadows is a large free park between the River Tavy and the canal, with a zip wire, a playground and a BMX pump track. Free to park, a short walk from the centre, and exactly what Boxing Day needs.
The Meadows and Dartmoor, both free. The Meadows is the one to know: open parkland between the river and the canal with a zip wire, a playground and a pump track, and parking that costs nothing.
Flat, free, and a short walk from the centre. With children and new bikes or scooters, this is the best thing on this list.
Out on the high moor — forestry tracks, a shallow river and wild ponies, with toilets and a coffee trailer in normal weeks. The sheltered way to do Dartmoor, and far kinder than the open tops.
Fifteen minutes north, and better after rain — though steep and slate underfoot, and it closes over Christmas, so check.
Ring before you set off. Boxing Day hours are decided late, change year to year, and are the single thing most likely to be wrong online. A two-minute call beats a wasted drive.
The Pannier Market runs Tuesday to Saturday in normal weeks and will be closed on the day. It is the main attraction here, so Boxing Day is about the park and the moor instead.
One Dartmoor warning that matters more on Boxing Day than any other day: the roads are unfenced with ponies and sheep standing on them, the weather turns fast, and the light goes by four. Start early and tell someone where you are going.
If you want to eat out, book now rather than in December. The places that do serve on Boxing Day fill weeks ahead, and the ones that do not take bookings have queues instead.
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