Short answer: Paignton is the easiest town in Torbay with wheels. The promenade is flat for its whole length, Paignton Sands is flat with parking right along the front, and the pier is free to walk onto. Fairy Cove behind the harbour is down steep steps.
Torquay is built across hills and Brixham is squeezed into a steep-sided harbour. Paignton is the exception — a long flat seafront with the promenade running level behind the beach, which makes it the obvious Torbay choice with a buggy, a wheelchair or anyone who does not do gradients.
Paignton Sands is long, flat and reddish, with the pier in the middle and parking right along the front. The tide stays fairly close here, so the distance from the promenade to the water is shorter than on most Devon beaches — a real advantage with wheels.
Paignton Beach South, below the pier, is hard-packed sand and good for sandcastles.
On any sandy beach, time the visit for a falling tide. Firm wet sand is far easier with wheels than soft dry sand, and it is the single biggest thing you can do to make a beach day work with a buggy or a wheelchair.
A classic Victorian pier, free to walk onto and level, with a large arcade, penny pushers and dinosaur mini golf at the far end. It is a dry, flat, easy hour and costs nothing to get onto.
Paignton has a mainline station a short, level walk from the seafront. It is also the terminus of the Dartmouth Steam Railway — ask the railway directly about wheelchair access on specific carriages before you travel, as period rolling stock varies.
Costero Lounge by the Festival Theatre is bright and roomy with order-at-table by QR code, which saves manoeuvring to a counter. The Hyde Dendy on the Esplanade has plenty of indoor and outdoor space. Harbour Light is the best-rated pub in town, over two floors — ask about the ground floor if stairs are an issue.
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