Short answer: Free parking in Devon is rarer than it was, but it exists: Lynton and Lynmouth's roadside outside the summer hours, Slapton Ley's memorial car park, the Meadows at Tavistock, and every National Trust car park if you are a member.
Roadside parking in Lynton and Lynmouth is free for two hours in designated bays between 10am and 6pm from Good Friday to 31 October — and outside those hours and dates there are no restrictions at all.
Which means in winter, and in the evening year-round, parking in one of the prettiest places in Devon costs nothing. Blue Badge holders park free on the road all year, though they are chargeable in the car parks.
National Trust car parks are free for members, and the Trust owns some of the best parking in Devon — Baggy Point at Croyde, Bolberry Down near Salcombe, Watersmeet near Lynmouth, and the estates at Killerton, Saltram, Castle Drogo and Buckland Abbey.
If you visit Devon more than twice a year, the membership pays for itself in parking alone. Baggy Point is £10 a day otherwise.
Bolberry Down is free with a blue badge and has three paved disabled bays, with a wheelchair-accessible main clifftop path — rare on this coast.
Berry Head at Brixham is a free nature reserve, though the car park may charge depending on when you go. Northam Burrows charges about £8 but throws in a visitor centre and a lending library of beach toys.
Essentially every seaside car park in season. Westward Ho! is a flat £8, Woolacombe and Croyde charge properly in summer, and Salcombe's machines want coins. Budget for it rather than hoping.
Councils review charges every year and free car parks have a habit of becoming paid ones. These were correct at the time of writing.
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