Short answer: Kingsbridge stays busy in winter because it is where the whole South Hams shops. Verse is the best restaurant in the area, the Crabshell sits on the quay, and there is a long-stay car park right beside it.
Salcombe empties in winter. Kingsbridge does not, because it is the market town the South Hams actually uses — and that means the shops, pubs and restaurants are open and have people in them in February.
The best part of the town, and it works in winter. A working waterfront with pubs and a boatyard, and a long walk along the embankment. The estuary empties to mud twice a day, so the view changes depending when you come.
Slapton Ley, twenty minutes away, is the largest freshwater lake in the south west, with bird hides and waterside paths. Hides have roofs, which makes this one of the few outdoor things on this coast that works in poor weather — and winter is the good season for birds. Free parking at the memorial car park.
Start Point and Bolberry Down. Both are exposed clifftop walks with no shelter, and Start Point means three-quarters of a mile down an open track and the same back up.
The long-stay car park by the quay is more parking than anywhere else in this corner of Devon — which is why people base themselves here and take the bus down to Salcombe.
Winter opening is where online listings are least reliable. Ring before you drive — several places here show as closed on Google and answer the phone perfectly happily.
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