Boxing Day Walks in Devon With a Pub at the End

Short answer: Morte Point at Woolacombe finishes at Town Farmhouse or the Mortehoe pubs. The Valley of Rocks at Lynton finishes at the Blue Ball or the Greenhouse. The Brixham breakwater is flat and finishes at the harbour. Book the pub — Boxing Day lunch fills weeks ahead.

2026 dates: confirmed dates are added here as organisers publish them. Always check with the organiser before travelling — times and road closures change late.

Book the pub first, then pick the walk

This is the order to do it in. Devon pubs that open on Boxing Day fill up weeks in advance, and there is nothing worse than a good cold walk ending at a locked door. Ring in November, then plan the route around wherever gave you a table.

North coast: Morte Point

The best Boxing Day walk on this coast. A loop out from Mortehoe to the headland and back, with seals on the rocks below for much of the year, benches at intervals and views the length of the bay. Sharp rock underfoot, so boots rather than trainers.

Finish at Town Farmhouse for a cream tea, or at the Chichester Arms or the Ship Aground — both in Mortehoe village, both a few doors from where you started. Check the Ship, which closes Mondays for much of the year.

Exmoor coast: the Valley of Rocks

The highest-rated walk in this guide — a dry valley of dramatic rock formations with wild goats and open sea views, and an easy level path if the family includes someone who does not want a hike. Two car parks, one with toilets and one with a café.

Finish at the Greenhouse in Lynton, open nine till nine and dog friendly, or drive up to the Blue Ball Inn on Countisbury Hill — an old coaching inn with low beams, moorland views and plenty of parking.

The flat one: Brixham breakwater

Half a mile of level walkway out to a lighthouse, easy going for anyone with mobility difficulties, with benches along it and seals close in. Dramatic in a Boxing Day swell and completely free. Finish at the Prince William or the Old Market House on the harbour, both a few minutes away.

More that work

• Baggy Point, Croyde — two and a half mile loop, with a lower inland path option. The Thatch afterwards.
• Berry Head, Brixham — fort ruins and the Guardhouse Café on the reserve itself.
• The Dawlish sea wall to Coryton Cove — flat, level, with trains and waves for entertainment.
• Little Hangman, Combe Martin — a steep 45 minutes up, then the Focsle Inn on the beach.
• Bellever Forest, Dartmoor — forestry tracks and a river, then the drive to Chagford or Tavistock.

What to expect underfoot

Devon in late December is wet rather than frozen. Coast paths get slippery, moorland tracks get boggy, and the cliff edges are exactly where the ground gives way. Boots, and stay back from edges — especially at Sidmouth, where the red cliffs are actively unstable.

And if it is properly foul

Storm watching counts as a walk. The Dawlish sea wall and the Brixham breakwater are both better in bad weather than good, both are free, and both have somewhere warm within a few minutes.