Short answer: Dawlish is one of the few places in Devon that improves in bad weather. The sea wall in a swell, with waves breaking over it as trains pass a few feet away, is the whole attraction and it is free. The station is right there if it turns properly foul.
Brunel built the railway along the base of the cliffs in the 1840s and it is still there, with the promenade running beside it. In a swell the waves break clean over the wall as the trains come through, and people come specifically to watch it.
It costs nothing, it is level and accessible, and it holds the attention of children with no interest in trains whatsoever.
Dawlish station is right on the seafront, which means you can watch from the platform if the rain becomes unpleasant. That is a genuinely useful thing on this coast, where most viewpoints have no shelter at all.
Stay behind the wall, not on top of it. Never turn your back on the sea. Waves are not evenly sized and the big ones arrive without warning. In a severe storm, watch from further back or from the station.
Sola Bar & Kitchen at Dawlish Warren is the best-rated food in Dawlish — freshly made, under fresh ownership. The Wild Swan Brasserie on the Strand does the most interesting cooking in town. The Smugglers Inn on the hill towards Teignmouth has a large car park and views, which is useful when the seafront is unusable.
The Boathouse Bar & Grill at the Warren is the big beach-front pub with sea views from the windows.
Dawlish has black swans on the stream through the middle of town — an oddity that has been there for decades, and a two-minute thing to show children between showers.
Teignmouth is five minutes down the same line, with the Back Beach sheltered when the seafront is being blasted. Exeter is twenty-five minutes for the cathedral, the underground passages and free Red Coat tours.
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