Short answer: Teignmouth has two waterfronts and knowing the difference is everything. The seafront has the sand, the pier and Brunel's railway running along the back of the beach. The Back Beach on the estuary is scruffier, sheltered and where locals go — and the Shaldon ferry runs from it.
This is the thing that transforms a visit here. The seafront is the postcard one — orange-brown sand, a pier, a long promenade, and Brunel's railway running right along the back of the beach. The Back Beach, round on the estuary side, is where locals go: working boats pulled up on the sand, the docks still operating, food shacks and old pubs.
The Back Beach is sheltered when the seafront is being blasted, the car park is larger and better placed, and the ferry to Shaldon leaves from it. If you only find one of the two, make it that one.
Brunel's sea wall line runs a few feet from the promenade, and watching an express come through — or the waves break over the wall in a swell — is genuinely something people come for. The station is right on the beach, which makes Teignmouth one of the easiest Devon seaside towns to reach without a car.
Shaldon is directly across the river and much prettier than its bigger neighbour — a green with a bowling club, Georgian houses, boats on the sand and a passenger ferry that has been running for centuries. Driving round means the bridge and a second parking charge; walking on costs a few pounds.
Over at Shaldon, the Smugglers' Tunnel is cut down through the headland to Ness Cove and walking through it is the most memorable thing to do here with children. Beside its entrance is Shaldon Wildlife Trust, a tiny conservation zoo full of small primates where the enclosures let you get properly close, and your ticket lets you come and go all day.
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