Westward Ho! is the only town in Britain with an exclamation mark in its name, a fact that feels appropriate for a place that has always had slightly ambitious ideas about what it is. Named after Charles Kingsley’s novel and developed specifically as a Victorian seaside resort, it has a two-mile sandy beach backed by a famous pebble ridge, a large country park behind the ridge, and the kind of honest, unpretentious seaside character that children and dogs tend to appreciate enormously.
The beach itself is the main draw: wide, sandy, and well-served with facilities including a surf hire, lifeguards in season, and a good selection of beach cafés. The pebble ridge behind the beach is a geological curiosity, a naturally formed barrier of rounded pebbles that has protected the bay for thousands of years and creates a distinctive double landscape of sand and stone.
Northam Burrows Country Park stretches behind the ridge across 253 acres of ancient common land: flat grassland with estuary views, popular with kite flyers, dog walkers, and cyclists on the Tarka Trail connection. The views across the Taw-Torridge estuary from the Burrows are excellent on a clear day.
Westward Ho! is about 16 miles from Woolacombe, convenient on any drive towards Bideford. It is not a polished you destination in the conventional sense, but for a straightforward beach day with dogs, children and good fish and chips, it delivers with complete reliability.
For a straightforward family beach day with lower crowds than Woolacombe or Croyde, Westward Ho! is a reliable and comfortable option. The beach is wide enough at low tide to absorb considerable numbers without feeling crowded, and the surf is gentler here than on the exposed Atlantic beaches to the north, making it particularly suitable for younger children and less confident swimmers. Dogs are welcome on much of the beach outside of the peak summer bathing area. About 16 miles from Woolacombe, with good signposting from the A39.
