Instow to Westward Ho!: South West Coast Path Day 7 Guide

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Due more to cafe opening times than concern for my arteries, I’d somehow I’d managed to walk for nearly a week in the UK without having a Full English breakfast. Miraculous. That all changed when it was on the menu at our accommodation this morning, and a good choice it was: definitely one of the better versions I’ve had over the years.

The sun was starting to break through as we ambled alongside Instow’s town beach, past an old railway station, and out of town. The tarmac from yesterday continued all morning, cyclists whizzing past as we muttered about hard the surface was underfoot.

If the idea of walking on tarmac doesn’t excite you and you’re happy to miss out on visiting Bideford, there’s also a ferry that runs directly from Instow across the estuary to Appledore. You’ll need to time it right, though: it runs from April 1 to October 31, and only for about two hours either side of high tide.

After an hour or so of unexciting walking along the estuary, we had a quick look inside the Railway Museum in East-the-Water before crossing the historic Long Bridge across the river to Bideford. The busy road beside the water didn’t hold much appeal, so we headed for the quieter and much more attractive side streets to find food and drink. I mean, it had been at least 90 minutes since breakfast.

The Appledore Bakery Cafe seemed to have branched out beyond its namesake town, and provided tasty cakes, coffee, and an opportunity to take my shoes off and rest my bruised toe. It was already starting to complain about the morning’s activities, which wasn’t ideal. Maybe more caffeine would help.

We continued north past the quay after our break, breathing a sigh of relief when the noisy road turned away from the river and the trail didn’t. That relief lasted about three minutes, until the threatening clouds overhead decided they wanted to dump their contents on our heads.

I hadn’t worn my jacket so far on the Coast Path, and didn’t want to start now, so like a martyr I waited until I was properly wet before finally stopping to pull it out of my pack. Two minutes after zipping it up, the rain slowed, then stopped, and the sun started beating down. Moisture on the outside of my jacket was very quickly replaced by moisture on the inside.

The path got much better once we passed underneath the A39, on boardwalk and soft trails through attractive woodland beside the river all the way into Appledore. And what a great little town that was!

Not only was it super-pretty, full of colourful old houses, but it also had the best food options of the day. I’m not sure who suggested it, but once the idea was out there, it was unanimous: we all wanted a fish finger sandwich and chips for lunch.

After sticking our heads into several cafes and restaurants and discovering they were either full or didn’t have the aforementioned sandwiches (what’s that about?), we eventually found ourselves outside the Seagate Hotel. There was one remaining table in the sun outside, and if that wasn’t enough to convince us, there were haddock sandwiches on the menu. Sold!

Not only were they available, they were excellent. A pint of cider, a fish sandwich, and a seat in the sun is an easy sell for me at any point, but especially after a week of walking. It’s fair to say that we did not rush through our meal.

Once we did get finally get moving again, the path continued in a loop around the top of Appledore before splitting in two. There’s a low-tide route that sees you rock-hopping along the beach, while the alternate route goes inland and along Long Lane and Burrows Lane. It’s longer, but we weren’t sure about the tide times so we took it anyway. In hindsight, we should probably have just taken the beach route to save a bit of distance. Oh well.

Either way, you end up in Northam Burrows Country Park, a large, grassy marshland that was wild and windy, quite different to everything else we’d seen that day. It was a longer walk around it than I’d expected, and morale wasn’t helped by seeing Crow Point and Saunton Sands just back across the water. I’d walked for two days and 26 miles (42km) since then!

The tide was still low, so rather than slogging through the dunes or along the huge pebble bank, we dropped down onto the vast, wide beach for the final hour into Westward Ho! Despite the increasingly-loud protests from my toe, I really enjoyed that section: the beach is lovely, at least at low tide when you get to avoid all the pebbles.

Interesting fact about that pebble bank: every few years, locals hold a ritual to replenish the stones that have been taken away by the wind and the waves. This ritual is called, and I swear I’m not making this up, “potwalloping”. Because this is the UK, so of course it is.

Westward Ho! is the only town in the UK with an exclamation mark in its name. It may well have other claims to fame, but on a cloudy afternoon with the wind whipping off the ocean, I struggled to find them.

There hadn’t been much in the way of affordable accommodation for the three of us, and we’d ended up booking a two-bedroom cottage a solid 20-minute walk from the trail. With nowhere near the cottage to eat that night, the decision was quickly made: we were detouring via the nearby Spar supermarket. Meal deals for dinner it was going to be, and I wasn’t even sad about it.

For once, it had been a pretty flat and easy day. If Lauren and I weren’t both suffering from foot issues, it would have been a very easy day, and an enjoyable one as well. That’s especially true once we got to Bideford: it’s a pretty town away from the main street, and the trail’s softer from there as well. Appledore was the highlight, though, and somewhere I’d definitely like to return to for a holiday in the future.

Today, though? I was having a hot shower, a cold sandwich, and a lot of quality time on the sofa. It had been a much tougher first week on the Coast Path than we’d expected, and with my brother leaving us tomorrow night, Lauren and I would be back to camping again. For now, then, we were making the most of any small luxuries we could find.

Like seats.

Planning

Started at: Wayfarer Inn (130ft/40m off-trail)

Finished at: Stylish bungalow in walking distance of the beach (0.8 miles/1.3km off-trail)

We’d tried to book a couple of other places closer to the trail, but they’d both fallen through, so this was the last affordable option for three people. I’d have preferred not to have to walk the extra distance to get there, but beggars can’t be choosers.

The word “stylish” in the description was doing some fairly heavy lifting, but we had no complaints: the shower had instant hot water, the Wi-Fi worked, the bed and sofa were comfortable enough, and the kitchen had both a knife and a bottle opener when I needed them.

There was also a washing machine with a couple of laundry pods, and a washing line in the garden outside where I managed to get everything pretty much dry before the sun set. Unexpected bonus!

As I say, there was nowhere particularly close to the cottage to get a meal in the evening: with none of us wanting to walk another 15 minutes each way, we picked up food at the supermarket beforehand instead. Unless you’re feeling more spritely than we were, I’d suggest doing the same if you’re staying in this part of town.

Transport and Parking

The number 21 bus runs between Instow and Westward Ho! beach via Bideford in both directions, every 30-60 minutes depending on the day of the week. That’s your best bet: the 21A takes a similar route, but only skirts the eastern edge of Westward Ho! before continuing on to Northam Burrows.

If you don’t fancy the walk between Instow and Appledore, you can take the seasonal ferry I mentioned above. It’s not the official route and you’ve only got a four-hour window around high tide, though: definitely check the tide times before committing to that decision!

There’s limited on-street parking in Instow, plus several paid carparks. There are a couple of paid carparks near the beach in Westward Ho!, but don’t use the privately-owned one beside the Tesco. One look at the Google Maps reviews should tell you why.

The best place to park in Westward Ho!, however, is the Seafield Car Park at the end of Merley Road. On the western edge of town, the path literally runs straight past it, and you can park there all day for free.

There’s a sign at the entrance calling it “the most famous carpark in England”, and given the impossibility of finding free parking anywhere else in the country, never mind on the coast, I’m inclined to believe it.

Waymarking and Navigation

Navigation was very straightforward between Instow and Bideford: as long as you’re beside the water, you’re in the right place. Things got a little trickier in patches between Bideford and Appledore, and again heading towards Northam Burrows: a couple more signs at key intersections would have helped.

I used AllTrails as my main navigation app for the entire South West Coast Path, and it was an ideal backup on this section when signs were lacking. You can find the Instow to Westward Ho! route here: it’s free to use, although I pay a couple of pounds a month for a subscription so I can download maps to my phone in advance.

Phone Service

Unusually for the Coast Path, cell service was pretty good for most of this section. You’re reasonably close to four good-sized towns for the entire walk, so chances are you’ll be able to pick up service from a cell tower in one of them. Other than at Northam Burrows, I had no issues getting signal with O2.

As a backup, I’d also paid a few pounds for a data eSIM from Instabridge that let me swap between all three UK networks, EE, O2, and Vodafone/Three. It worked really well as a fallback option throughout my time on the Coast Path: whenever I needed data service but couldn’t get it on my usual SIM, I’d switch to the eSIM and choose one of the other networks. If there was any signal to be had in the area at all, I’d pick it up.

Facilities

Instow, Bideford, Appledore, and Westward Ho! all have plenty of food and drink options, and they’re close enough together that you shouldn’t have a problem finding sustenance when you need it. Just note opening times if you plan to start out early and need breakfast beforehand.

Accommodation

In terms of campsites, Marshford Camping and Caravan has three pitches for solo walkers: it’s just outside Appledore, not far from the trail. On the other side of Westward Ho!, near Abbotsham and a bit under a mile off-trail, is Westacott Farm Camping.

If you’d prefer a hotel, pub, or other type of accommodation, you’re spoiled for choice on this section. Bideford, Appledore, and Westward Ho! all have many places to stay, although a lot of the holiday lets do require more than a single night booking in summer. Start with Mariners House in Bideford, The Royal George in Appledore, and The Waterfront Inn in Westward Ho!