Short answer: The harbour towns look best because the lights carry across the water. A good evening route runs Torquay to Paignton to Brixham around the bay, or Exeter out to the Exe estuary towns. Go on a weekday evening and park further out than feels necessary.
2026 dates: confirmed dates are added here as organisers publish them. Always check with the organiser before travelling — times and road closures change late.
Devon's Christmas lights are municipal rather than spectacular — no town here is doing anything a visitor would drive two hours for. What makes them worth an evening is where they are. Lights strung along a quay reflect off the water, and a harbour full of moored boats with lights on does more than any high street display.
The easiest evening because the three towns are minutes apart. Start at Torquay's harbour and Victoria Parade, where the eating and drinking is. Drive round to Paignton for the pier and the seafront. Finish at Brixham, where the coloured houses stacked up the hillside above the harbour are the best sight of the three.
Total driving time between the three is under half an hour, and you can eat in any of them — Torquay has the most choice, Brixham the best fish.
Start in Exeter, where the Cathedral Green market and the lit cathedral front are the biggest single display in the county. Then drive out to the estuary — Exmouth's seafront and marina, and the smaller towns along the way. Topsham on the way out is worth the detour for the street alone.
Shorter and wilder. Ilfracombe's harbour with Verity lit on the pier, then along to Combe Martin, which has the longest village street in England and strings lights down a good deal of it. Woolacombe and Mortehoe are quieter but the drive between them at night is part of the appeal.
Be aware the north coast lanes are narrow and unlit between towns. Take it slowly.
Torquay: Ollie's on Torwood Street for steaks, or the Lighthouse café bar on Victoria Parade. Brixham: Rockfish on the fish quay or the Old Market House. Exeter: Babylon on South Street, the highest-rated restaurant in the city. Ilfracombe: the Lime Kiln for the view, or Blacksands, closed Tuesdays.
If it is a clear night, skip the lights entirely and drive up onto Exmoor instead. It is Europe's first International Dark Sky Reserve, December gives you the long nights it needs, and the Milky Way is a better display than anything a town council is putting on.
Pick a town and plan the day around who's with you.
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