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| Distance : 6 miles | Grading : ++++ | OS Sheet : 192 |
This walk starts erasily with a flat walk along the back of the beach at Budleigh Salterton. At the end of the beach is the mouth of the river Otter, in order to cross it's a little walk through a nature reserve to a bridge, then a walk back to the coast. From here it is a fairly short walk to the spectacular Ladram Bay. From Ladram Bay, it's quite a tough walk with a steep climb to the cliff top and through a wood. There is a small amount of road walking just before you start the descent into Sidmouth, where there is again a small section of road walking. You can descend into Sidmouth via Jacobs Ladder.
Budleigh Salterton is easily accessible from junction 30 of the M5 Motorway. From here take the A376 towards Exmouth. From Exmouth take the B3178 to Budleigh Salterton. There is a large car park near the east end of the beach.
Bus service 57 operates every 20 minutes (every 30 minutes on Sundays) from Exeter to Budleigh Salterton and hourly from Sidmouth (Monday - Saturday, 2 hourly on summer Sundays). This service also connects with train services in Exmouth, on a branch line from Exeter. For more information see the link below.
There is a fair choice of accomodation in Budleigh Salterton but there is tourist information centre in the town which has information on local accomodation. There is a good range of accomodation available in Sidmouth and the tourist information centre will be able to help you here.
Budleigh Salterton is a small quiet town. There are a few shops a pleasant beach and a couple of pubs. The coast path starts at the back of the shingle beach towards the river Otter. At the mouth of the river Otter you will need to head in land to cross the river to get back to Otterhead. This is a pleasant and easy walk along the side of the river through a nature reserve. Cross the river on the bridge.
The path then heads back to the coast past a Bat Conservation Project to Ladram Bay. Ladram Bay is a pleasant secluded cove with a sand and shingle beach. There are two large red stacks of rock here which make the scenery particular spectacular and are popular with sea birds. There is a pub here if you want refreshments, as the next part of the walk is quite tough.
From Ladram Bay it is a steep climb to Peak Hill, which gives good views, then into a wood. At the end of the woods the path joins the road for a short distance, the coast path continues and is signed to the right.
From here it is a steep descent into Sidmouth, via Jacobs Ladder. There are lots of seats all down this part of the path into Sidmouth. The path continues behnd the beach and round the small headland to the main promenade in the town. The beach is sandly at low tide and shingle / rock at high tide. Coastal erosion is a big problem in this area which is what the rocks out in the sea are for. There are lots of shops and hotels in the town and plenty of places for refreshments.
Stagecoach Devon bus service 157 runs approximatly every hour, Mondays to Saturdays and every two hours on summer Sundays (there is no service on winter Sundays). The journey takes around 30 minutes. For more information on these bus services call 01392 427711 or see the link below.
Here are some photos of the walk. Click a picture for a larger version and description.
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Ordnance Survey Landranger map 192 covers this area of the coast path and is available from most book shops nationwide. It is also stocked at the tourist information centres in Budleigh Salterton and Sidmouth.
Multimap is a web site which provides maps of the UK, including around around Budleigh Salterton and Sidmouth. The links below will be of most use to the coast path from Budleigh Salterton to Sidmouth. These maps join to provide the complete coast path between the two points.