Flat Access Beaches in Devon: The Full List

Short answer: Exmouth is the best flat-access beach in Devon — two miles of flat sand with a level promenade behind it. Bigbury-on-Sea has an accessible ramp. Blackpool Sands has a boardwalk. Teignmouth's Den promenade is good for mobility scooters, and Brixham's breakwater is the best accessible walk on the coast.

The good news and the bad news

Devon's coastline is cliffs and coves, and most of its beaches are reached down steps, steep lanes or long descents. That is the bad news and there is no way round it. The good news is that a handful of places are genuinely excellent, and knowing which they are turns a difficult day into an easy one.

The best: Exmouth

Two miles of flat sand with a long level promenade running behind the whole length of it, plenty of parking along the front, and a town immediately behind rather than a village up a hill. Reviewers describe the promenade simply as flat with good access. Nothing else in Devon comes close for a straightforward day.

The ones with a ramp or boardwalk

• Bigbury-on-Sea — an accessible ramp down to wide flat sand, plus lifeguards, toilets and a café.
• Blackpool Sands near Dartmouth — a boardwalk running down towards the water, which reviewers single out.
• Teignmouth — the Den promenade is level, well kept and specifically noted as good for mobility scooters.
• Paignton Sands — flat, firm and with parking right along the front; the tide stays close so the walk to the water is short.

Workable with planning

Woolacombe's northern end has the gentlest approach on that beach, and three miles of firm wet sand at low tide is far easier with wheels than soft dry sand. Torre Abbey Sands at Torquay is the flattest beach in the bay with parking along the front. Ilfracombe Beach has pay-and-display directly alongside it.

Sidmouth is a special case: the esplanade is completely level and easy, but the beach itself is large smooth pebbles that no buggy will cross. Stay on the promenade.

The best accessible walk on the coast

Not a beach, but worth knowing: Brixham's breakwater is half a mile of flat, level walkway out to a lighthouse, with benches along it and seals close in. Reviewers describe it explicitly as doable for those with mobility difficulties. Bolberry Down near Salcombe also has a wheelchair-accessible clifftop path with three paved disabled bays.

Rule out

St Mary's Bay at Brixham (over a hundred steps), Ness Cove at Shaldon (explicitly not accessible), Weston at Sidmouth (a thirty-minute steep descent), Compass Cove at Dartmouth (a long flight of wooden steps), and most of the Woolacombe and Ilfracombe coves.