Short answer: Dartmouth has more good places to eat per square mile than anywhere on this coast and most keep going through winter. Café Alf Resco opens at seven all year. The ferries run. The castle is worth the winter trip for the boat ride alone.
Narrow Tudor and Georgian streets, a working quay, and a river that takes the lights and doubles them. Dartmouth is one of the few places on this coast that genuinely looks better in winter, and unlike the beach villages it has enough going on to fill a day without the sun.
The ferries are real transport here, not a summer novelty. Boats run across to Kingswear, down to the castle and upriver towards Totnes. The castle ferry in a bit of winter weather is more interesting than in flat calm, and it saves the narrow road out.
Check winter opening for the castle itself before travelling. And remember it has a great many steps — not suitable for pushchairs or wheelchairs at any time of year.
Quiet, and the walk is fine, but the café hours reduce and the approach road is steep and narrow in the wet. Strete Gate further round Start Bay is a long pebble beach that never feels crowded even in summer — in winter you will have it entirely. Check for road closures, as storm damage has affected the through road in the past.
Book in November. Dartmouth's pubs fill weeks ahead for Boxing Day lunch and the town has more of them than anywhere comparable on this coast. Walk it off along the Embankment or take the ferry across to Kingswear and back.
Park once in town and use the boats — winter does not make the lanes to the castle any wider.
Winter opening is exactly where online listings are least reliable. Ring before you drive — several places in this guide show as closed on Google and answer the phone perfectly happily.
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