Ilfracombe

Ilfracombe's accommodation reflects its layered Victorian history and its position on one of North Devon's most dramatic stretches of coast. Grand seafront hotels built for the resort's Victorian heyday still occupy the best positions along Wilder Road and the promenade, many retaining period features while updating their interiors for modern guests. Elsewhere in town, the steep streets above the harbour are lined with guest houses and B&Bs occupying tall Victorian townhouses, several run by owners who have restored the original features while adding contemporary touches.

Beyond the town centre, the surrounding countryside towards Berrynarbor, Mortehoe and Trimstone holds a smaller number of country house hotels set in extensive grounds, offering a quieter alternative for those happy to drive the short distance into Ilfracombe itself or explore the wider coastline. These properties tend to suit longer stays, with leisure facilities, gardens and space that the town centre cannot match, while still keeping the harbour, beaches and coast path within easy reach.

Across all categories, sea views and proximity to the South West Coast Path are recurring draws, and many properties are geared towards walkers arriving on the coast path itself. The eight properties below span this range, from clifftop hotels with spa facilities and Michelin Guide recognition, through mid-range seafront and townhouse hotels well suited to families and short breaks, to smaller B&Bs and guest houses offering a more personal welcome, several of them adults-only retreats favoured by couples visiting for walking or a quiet weekend away.

Ilfracombe's compact centre and dramatic coastline pack in a surprising range of things to see and do.

• Tunnels Beaches — four hand-carved Victorian tunnels lead through the cliffs to a sheltered tidal bathing pool and a small sandy beach, built by Welsh miners in the 1820s so bathers could reach the shore.
• Verity — Damien Hirst's monumental bronze sculpture of a pregnant woman, half flayed to reveal muscle and bone, stands at the harbour entrance and divides opinion as sharply as it did on its unveiling.
• St Nicholas Chapel — a fourteenth-century chapel perched on Lantern Hill above the harbour, thought to be one of the oldest working lighthouses in Britain, with sweeping views over the town and bay.
• Ilfracombe Aquarium — housed in a former lifeboat station on the harbourside, a small independent aquarium focused on the marine life of the Bristol Channel and North Devon coast.
• Watermouth Castle — a mock-Gothic Victorian folly just outside town, now a family theme park with dungeons, gardens and fairground rides that has been popular with day-trippers for decades.
• South West Coast Path — the coastal footpath runs directly through Ilfracombe, with the stretch east towards Combe Martin and west towards Lee taking in some of the highest cliffs in England.
• Ilfracombe Museum — a densely packed, old-fashioned local museum covering the town's Victorian heyday, shipwrecks and social history, run largely by volunteers.
• Landmark Theatre — the town's distinctive twin-coned seafront theatre hosts touring shows, comedy and music throughout the year and has become a landmark in its own right.

Ilfracombe's harbourside restaurants make the most of the daily catch, with crab, lobster and scallops landed just yards from where they are served, alongside the West Country staples of clotted cream teas and locally made ice cream. The town's fish and chip shops are a fixture of the seafront, best eaten on a bench looking out at the harbour and Verity beyond.

A cluster of independent cafés and bakeries around the High Street and harbour serve pasties, cakes and coffee, many using produce from Devon farms, while a growing number of small bars and gastropubs have opened in the old Victorian buildings around the town centre. The Ilfracombe Farmers' Market, held periodically on the harbourside, brings together local producers selling cheese, meat, fish and baked goods, and is a good way to sample North Devon's food scene in one visit.

Further out, the pubs of Berrynarbor and the countryside around Trimstone offer a more traditional Devon dining experience, often with gardens and views, while Watermouth's coastal setting adds a handful of further options for those exploring beyond the town itself.

Ilfracombe sits within a short drive of some of North Devon's best-regarded touring and camping parks, ranging from a compact site within the town's own boundary to larger family parks set in the countryside towards Combe Martin and Woolacombe. The immediate coastline around Ilfracombe is steep and cliff-lined, so most camping and touring pitches are found just outside the town centre, in the gentler valleys and farmland that surround it, while still keeping the harbour and beaches within easy reach by car or bicycle.

The parks featured here cover a spread of styles: a small, quiet touring site set in a wooded valley close to Ilfracombe's own Hele Bay beach, a large well-established family park inland towards Combe Martin with an indoor pool and extensive grounds, and a coastal touring site near Woolacombe's award-winning beaches with direct access to the coast path. Between them they offer pitches for tents, touring caravans and motorhomes, along with the electric hook-ups, shower blocks and on-site shops that make a longer stay comfortable.

All three are well placed for exploring the wider North Devon coastline beyond Ilfracombe itself, from the surf beaches of Woolacombe and Croyde to the cliffs and moorland of Exmoor inland, making them a practical base whether the focus of a trip is the town's Victorian harbour or the coast and countryside around it.