Short answer: Connaught Gardens on the clifftop are free, open year-round and the right place to watch from — above the sea rather than beside it. The red cliffs here are actively unstable, which makes distance non-negotiable.
A long Regency esplanade taking the weather head-on, with free clifftop gardens above it to watch from. The combination of a seafront and immediate high ground is what makes it work.
More than anywhere else on this list. Sidmouth's red cliffs are actively unstable, wet winter weather makes rock falls more likely rather than less, and sections of Jacob's Ladder beach have been fenced off after landslips.
In a storm, keep well away from the cliff base and the cliff top edge. Where it is fenced or signed, that is a live hazard, not an old notice.
Free, open year-round, on the clifftop above Jacob's Ladder. Above the sea, well kept, and the best place in Sidmouth to stand.
Level and central, but the sea comes over the wall in a big swell. Stay behind the railings, not on them.
A southerly or southeasterly on a high spring tide pushes straight onto the esplanade. Wet weather in the days before matters too, because it makes the cliffs more likely to shed — which is a reason to keep your distance, not to come closer.
The Clock Tower in Connaught Gardens has sea views from the tables. The Anchor Inn in the middle of town is the best pub in Sidmouth and sheltered from the front.
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