Short answer: Ilfracombe is built into a valley around a harbour, so there is high ground on three sides to watch from. The chapel on the hill gives you the whole bay, and the town stays properly open in winter.
The shape of it. The town is built into a valley running down to a harbour, which makes the whole place a natural amphitheatre with high ground on three sides. You can get above the weather rather than standing in it.
It is also a working town, so there is somewhere warm open afterwards — which is not true of most of this coast in January.
St Nicholas Chapel above the harbour. A short steep climb that puts the whole bay below you, well above the water. The best vantage point in town.
Level and central, but stay back from the quay edge and off the pier in heavy weather.
The hill fort east of the harbour, for height and a view along the coast.
The harbour wall and pier are exactly the places to avoid. Height is your friend here, and Ilfracombe has plenty of it.
A northwesterly blowing straight into the harbour on a high spring tide is the combination here. Because the town is built up a valley, you can usually find a height that suits the conditions rather than being stuck at sea level.
The Lime Kiln has the best sit-down view in town. The Pier Tavern on the quay runs a reduced menu out of season but opens, and Annie and the Flint at the top of the high street does the best coffee in Ilfracombe.
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