East Devon holds the western end of the Jurassic Coast, which starts at Orcombe Point in Exmouth, and the towns along it have very different habits. Sidmouth is a town base with a few hotels, Exmouth is a long sandy resort, Beer and Seaton sit side by side on Lyme Bay, and Branscombe is a valley village. Inland, Colyton and Honiton trade the beach for gardens and parking. Choose by how you want to spend the day, then check the access before you compare dates.
Sidmouth: a town base with few cottages
Sidmouth has 17 stays, and five of them are hotels, so the self-catering choice is small. The houses and flats sleep 2 to 9, and 6 of the 17 take dogs. Sidmouth Beach is sand and shingle below red cliffs, with the Jacob’s Ladder steps and summer lifeguards.
Fisherman’s Retreat is a cottage for two with the beach, a pub and shops within 200 metres. There is no parking at the door, only pay-and-display car parks within 200 metres, and the bedrooms are upstairs. For a group, Regency House sleeps 9 in four bedrooms, all on the first floor, with off-road parking for three cars and the beach within walking distance.
Exmouth: the long beach and the estuary
Exmouth has 15 stays for 2 to 7 guests, and only 3 take dogs, so it suits families more than dog owners. Exmouth Beach is nearly two miles of Blue Flag sand with RNLI lifeguards in season, served by three large chargeable car parks.
Sea Lovers is a ground-floor apartment on the Esplanade for four, with its own garage parking and the station a short stroll away. It takes one small dog. Casalmare is a four-bedroom cottage for seven, 10 minutes’ walk from the beach, with parking for three cars, but it takes no pets and has open-tread stairs. Changeover is Friday only, with a three-night minimum.
Budleigh Salterton: quiet, with dogs
Budleigh Salterton is the smallest of the coastal bases, with 7 stays for 2 to 6 guests and 6 of them dog friendly. The town beach is 2.5 miles of pebble, not sand, with lifeguards in summer. Bicton Park Botanical Gardens, with glasshouses and a narrow-gauge railway, is the nearest big day out.
Greenhedges sleeps five in three bedrooms, with off-road parking and the beach 0.4 miles away. There is one step up at the door and a single shower room serves all three bedrooms. Two pets are welcome. Distances vary across the town: Bridge Cottage, for example, is 1.9 miles from the beach and has roadside parking outside.
Beer and Branscombe: village coves and thatch
Beer is the biggest pool of stays in the area: we list 48, sleeping 2 to 14, and 30 of them take dogs. Beer Beach is a shingle cove where fishing boats are launched from the shore, and the sloping road down to it is too steep for wheelchairs. Parking in the village can mean a permit. Beer Lace Shop, a cottage for eight with an inglenook, has a permit for one car in a car park about 200 metres away. The Boat Shed has off-road parking and a terrace with sea views, but the sitting room is upstairs.
Branscombe has 12 stays for 2 to 16, 10 of them dog friendly, and it is quieter than Beer. Branscombe Beach is pebble, reached by a level walk of about 0.7 miles down the valley from the National Trust car park. Pitt Cottage is a thatched cottage for eight with a bunk room, but the ceilings are low, the floors uneven and parking is on the lane. Seaweed, at Weston in the same parish, is single-storey with a shop 3.1 miles away.
Seaton: the largest groups
Seaton has 34 stays sleeping 2 to 16, and 15 take dogs. That makes it the better base for a big party. Bay Tree House is a four-storey townhouse for 16 with the beach 0.2 miles away, parking for three cars and bedrooms across the upper three floors. The town beach is about a mile of mostly shingle, and the Seaton Tramway runs 3 miles to Colyton.
Not everything here is a stair climb. Pebble Beach Chalet is a single-level lodge for four on a quiet site, with parking on site and two pets welcome. Barbecues are banned across the site.
Inland: Colyton, Honiton and Exeter
Choose the countryside when you want a garden, parking and a lower pace. Colyton has 23 stays sleeping 2 to 14, and 17 take dogs. Berry’s Barn sleeps eight, with fishing rights on 600 metres of the River Coly, a games barn and parking for five cars. A few steps lead down to its lounge, and the nearest beach is about 3 miles away.
Honiton has 11 stays for 2 to 11, with 5 that take dogs, and the sea is about 9 miles off. Hornshayne Farmhouse sleeps 11 on a working farm, with parking for five cars and EV charging on site. Every booking must start on a Friday.
Exeter adds 25 stays for 2 to 8 guests, 6 of them dog friendly, and puts Exeter Cathedral and Killerton within easy reach.
Final checks before you book
Use each property page to narrow the choice, then confirm dates, price, access and any critical facility on the booking site it links to, which handles the booking and payment. Our links may earn a commission when you book.
East Devon’s dog rules change with the season. Exmouth, Sidmouth, Budleigh Salterton, Seaton and Beer all restrict dogs on part of the beach between 1 May and 30 September, while dogs on leads are welcome at Branscombe all year. Ask whether your stay has a parking space or only a permit for a town car park, and how many stairs lead to the bedrooms. Several of the biggest houses here, including Bay Tree House and Regency House, have bedrooms spread over upper floors.
