Short answer: Exmouth's beach and promenade are free and are the main event. The Maer behind the seafront is free open ground with a play area. Parking is the significant cost here — it is plentiful but expensive, so factor that in first.
Exmouth is unusual: the things to do are largely free and the parking is what stings. Reviewers describe it as plentiful but pretty expensive. Budget for the parking first and the rest of the day is cheap.
Two miles of flat sand with a long level promenade behind it, lifeguards in season, and the official start of the Jurassic Coast at the eastern end. It costs nothing. Walk east towards Orcombe Point and the Geoneedle for views people compare to southern France, and note that this end allows dogs all year while the main stretch bans them May to September.
Swimming is unsafe near the estuary mouth at the western end where the currents run hard — stick to the lifeguarded middle section.
The Maer, the open sandy common behind the seafront, is a former golf links and never gets muddy, so it works all year. Fenced children's play area, seasonal toilets, and plenty of space. Free, and the easiest green space in town.
A la Ronde, the sixteen-sided National Trust house on the hill, is free for members and a modest entry otherwise — genuinely strange, entirely indoors and with excellent volunteers. It has an orchard with picnic benches, which pairs well with bringing your own lunch.
The Beach Pub near the marina is an independent that still feels like a pub, with fish and chips reviewers rate above the more expensive chain fish restaurant across the road. The Grove on the Esplanade does big portions and has a large beer garden and window tables facing the prom.
The one to save up for is the River Exe Café, moored out in the estuary and reached by water taxi — the most memorable meal on this coast, and not a fifty-pound one.
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