Short answer: There is no station. Take the Tarka Line from Exeter to Barnstaple, then the bus along the coast through Ilfracombe. Once here, remember the village is two miles long — get off at the beach end rather than the top, or you are walking it.
North Devon has no railway beyond Barnstaple, which is the end of the Tarka Line from Exeter St Davids. From Barnstaple the bus runs along the coast through Ilfracombe and on to Combe Martin. It is a reliable enough route in season and thinner in winter and on Sundays.
This is the thing to get right. Combe Martin's street runs about two miles from the beach up the valley — the longest village street in England. Getting off at the top and walking down is fine; walking back up at the end of the day with beach kit is less fine. Stay on until the beach end.
The coast path runs straight out of the bay, and Little Hangman is about forty-five minutes up from the village with views across to Wales on a clear day. Great Hangman continues beyond it. These are the best things to do in Combe Martin and they need no car at all, which makes arriving by bus less of a compromise than it sounds.
Exmoor proper, and the wider north Devon coast. The bus gives you Ilfracombe in one direction and not much in the other. If you want to combine Combe Martin with Woolacombe or Lynmouth in a day, you need a car.
Combe Martin is better by bus than most north Devon villages, because the coast path and the beach are both at the bus stop end and the walking is the point. Just make sure you know where you are getting off.
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