Short answer: Parking costs vary more than people expect. Ilfracombe is about £3.50 all day in winter. Westward Ho! is a flat £8 whatever the season and however long you stay. Totnes station is around £7.50 with free parking nearby.
The ones we have checked
These are taken from council listings and from what visitors report. Prices are reviewed regularly, so treat them as a guide and check the machine on the day.
- Ilfracombe — about £1.60 an hour from 15 March to 31 October, up to roughly £16 for ten hours. From 1 November to 14 March it drops to about 90p an hour and £3.50 for the whole day.
- Westward Ho! — a flat £8 for the day, whether you stay one hour or eight. The thing visitors complain about most.
- Northam Burrows — also around £8 a day, but with a visitor centre, café, clean toilets and a free lending library of beach toys.
- Totnes — the steam railway station car park is around £7.50, and there is free parking on the nearby industrial estate.
- Teignmouth — seafront parking around £4.60 for two hours; the Back Beach car park is cheaper and bigger.
- Lynton and Lynmouth — roadside parking is free for two hours between 10am and 6pm from Good Friday to 31 October, and free entirely outside those hours and dates.
The cheapest day in Devon
Ilfracombe between November and March, at around £3.50 for the whole day. For a winter walk on a coast where most car parks charge by the hour, that is hard to beat.
Where cash still matters
Bigbury on Sea pays by app in a spot with poor phone signal, and it catches people out constantly — the lower car park has a cash machine. Salcombe's North Sands machine takes coins. Glen Lyn Gorge at Lynmouth is cash only with the nearest machine up in Lynton.
Free, or near enough
- National Trust car parks are free for members — Baggy Point, Bolberry Down, Watersmeet and others.
- Bolberry Down is free with a blue badge, with three paved disabled bays.
- Slapton Ley has free parking at the memorial car park.
- The Meadows at Tavistock is free.
- Seaton Tramway's Colyton terminus has free parking.
The park-and-ride trick
Underused in south Devon. Beach parking at Woolacombe, Croyde and Salcombe is expensive and fills early. Parking at a station and taking the train to Dawlish, Teignmouth or Paignton often costs less and removes the queue entirely.
Pick a town and plan the day around who's with you.
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