Short answer: Kingsbridge has a long-stay car park right by the quay, which makes it the easiest base in the South Hams. Everything else round here — Slapton, Start Point, Bolberry — has small car parks that fill by mid-morning.
Kingsbridge sits at the head of its own estuary and is the market town the whole South Hams runs through. It has a long-stay car park right by the quay, which is more parking than anywhere else in this corner of Devon and makes it a sensible base.
The Creeks End Inn is next to that car park and does a well-regarded Sunday carvery with a proper vegetarian alternative — useful to know if you are coming back to the car anyway.
This is the real point. The South Hams attractions all have small car parks that fill by mid-morning in season.
The best part of the town itself — a working waterfront with pubs and a boatyard, and a long walk along the embankment. The Crabshell Inn is right on it, a 17th-century inn with seating on two levels looking up the estuary. It has a small car park.
Verse is the best new restaurant in the South Hams and the only place in this guide with a perfect rating — book well ahead, evenings Wednesday to Saturday. Seven Stars on Mill Street has genuinely good food and opens at three on Mondays.
Salcombe is fifteen minutes away and its parking is considerably worse — several visitors park in Kingsbridge and take the bus down rather than fight for a space.
Two things worth checking nearby: whether Slapton Sands is sandy or pebbly, and the nearest station to Salcombe.
See the full Kingsbridge guide, filtered by who's with you.
Plan your day near Kingsbridge →