Short answer: Park free at the Colyton end of Seaton Tramway and ride into Seaton rather than fighting for a seafront space. There is a good café at that end too, with home-made cakes and clean facilities.
Seaton Tramway runs three miles between Seaton and Colyton, and the Colyton terminus has free parking, a good café doing home-made cakes and scones, and clean facilities.
So on a busy day you can park free inland, ride the tram into Seaton, and ride back — which turns the parking problem into the attraction. Hop-on hop-off day tickets make it straightforward.
The seafront and the harbour end have pay-and-display, and Seaton is quieter than Sidmouth or Exmouth either side of it, so it is rarely the fight it is further along the coast. The esplanade is flat and long, so it does not matter much which end you leave the car.
Free, with its own access — bird hides, level accessible paths and all-terrain mobility scooters to hire. It is the best free thing in Seaton and it works in poor weather, because hides have roofs.
Beer Quarry Caves have their own car park a mile inland from Beer village. Beer itself is steep down to the beach, so if the hill is a problem, Beer Head Bistro up at the caravan park has easy parking and a bay view.
Coast Cafe Bar is the pick of the seafront cafés. The Old Picture House on Harbour Road is a converted cinema doing a well-regarded Sunday lunch. The Malt House on Queen Street is the historic pub.
Charges are reviewed every year and seasonal tariffs change in March and November. Treat any price here as a guide and check the machine on the day.
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