Explore Croyde

CROYDE NORTH DEVON

Plan Your Holiday in Croyde North Devon

The Croyde travel guide is jam packed with ideas to help you plan your holiday in Croyde North Devon, and covers topics including personal recommendations, best Croyde holiday cottages, interesting things to do, shops, places to eat, and dog friendly places to visit.

All Croyde holiday cottages are within walking distance of Croyde Beach with its fantastic facilities.

THIS GUIDE COVERS

Personal recommendations

Best Croyde holiday cottages

Interesting things to do

Shops

Places to eat

Dog friendly places to visit

Our BEST Explore Croyde Holiday Cottages

Discover our full selection of Croyde holiday cottages, whether you are searching for Croyde holiday lets that are homely and well equipped to provide comfort after a long day exploring the North Devon region or looking for Croyde holiday lets that are modern and stylish we have one to suit you.

EXPLORE CROYDE

Things to Do

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Surfing

The vast majority of guests book a holiday in Croyde to grab a surfboard and jump on a wave, with some of the best surf schools in the region available to teach beginners.

Beginners can take advantage of expert instruction from local surf schools such as Surf South West, operating in Croyde for over 22 years.

🌊

Baggy Point

May Cottage Tea Rooms is in the heart of Croyde with a fresh selection of yummy cakes and freshly made savouries, situated in one of the traditional thatched cottages in Croyde.

Baggy Point overlooks Croyde with crashing waves and dramatic cliffs, providing a stunning coastal walk along the South West Coastal Path.

Grab a cream tea from National Trust Sandleigh Tea Rooms before or after the walk to make it extra special.

🏖️

Rock Pools & Families

The sheltered beach at Croyde is ideal for families, perfect for rock-pooling and sandcastles.

👨👩👧 Family Friendly

CROYDE BEACH

Croyde Beach

🏄 Surfing & Beach

All Croyde holiday cottages are within walking distance of Croyde Bay, a stunning sandy beach backed by dunes and known for its excellent facilities and vibrant surf scene. Popular with families and surfers alike, it offers lifeguard coverin peak season, great waves, and easy access to cafés and amenities, making itone of North Devon’s most loved beaches.

BEACH FACILITIES

🍽️ Café/restaurant

🚻 Toilets

🏄 Surfboard hire and Deckchair hire

⛑️ Lifeguards (April – Oct)

♿ Disabled access to the beach

🅿️ Car parking

🛍️ Nearby local village shops (Walking distance)

FOOD DRINK

Places to Eat in Croyde

🍽️ Restaurants & Cafés

The Blue Groove

The Blue Groove in Croyde consistently provides fantastic food teamed with excellent service and deserves credit as a favourite restaurant in Croyde.

May Cottage Tea Rooms

National Trust Sandleigh Tea Rooms

Sandleigh Tea Room and Garden is located at Baggy Point — grab a cream tea before or after your walk to make it extra special.

Roku

A high-end choice offering a six-course tasting menu that blends British cuisine with Japanese precision. It is highly rated and ideal for special occasions.

New Coast Kitchen

A relaxed yet sophisticated coastal restaurant, It serves seasonal modern British dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Café Croyde bay

Situated overlooking the beach, this café is perfect for a post-surf breakfast or lunch. It offers stunning views of the bay and the Baggy Point peninsula.

🍺 Pubs

The Manor

Family friendly

The Thatch

Billy Buds

DOG FRIENDLY

Dog Friendly Croyde

Dogs are permitted on Croyde beach in certain months (October – Easter), and there are plenty of other ways to exercise your dog while on holiday, including the clifftop walk at Baggy Point and dog friendly Saunton beach just around the headland.

Most major venues in Croyde village are well-known for their "dog-first" attitude making life a little bit easier when on holiday here.

DOG FRIENDLY PUBS

🐾 The Thatch

🐾 Billy Buds

🐾 The Manor

CROYDE BAY NORTH DEVON

Our Personal Recommendations

🎬

Croyde Deckchair Cinema

Croyde deckchair cinema hosts film evenings from the Croyde village hall, this is not your average cinema this is a Croyde deckchair cinema, enjoy this unusual and quirky twist on your typical Odeon you are sure to have a lot of family fun here. Behind the Croyde village hall is a play park for the children to burn off some steam with a variety of equipment and toilets are nearby.

👨‍👩‍👧 Family Friendly

🕹️

Croyde Ruda Holiday Park

Croyde Ruda holiday park has amusement arcades if you are looking to win some prizes with the kids, or looking for some shelter from the odd showers. Day passes are also available at Croyde Ruda holiday park at certain times of the year, subject to park numbers for use of the swimming pool and on site facilities.

👨‍👩‍👧 Family Friendly

🧗

Coastering Croyde Bay

For the more adventurous families, coasteering offers aunique way to explore the coastline. You can scramble over rocks, swim through gullies, and explore hidden sea caves under the guidance of professional instructors, making for an unforgettable adrenaline-filled afternoon.

👨‍👩‍👧 Family Friendly 11+

🍰

May Cottage Tea Rooms

May Cottage Tea Rooms is in the heart of Croyde with a fresh selection of yummy cakes and freshly made savouries, Situated in one of the traditional thatched cottages in Croyde this really brings you back to the natural heritage that we all know and love about Croyde.

🎶

TheSkyBar "Apres Sea"

Pop-up beach club is an exclusive summer event series held at Down End in Croyde. Ittransforms the North Devon coastline into a beach chilled party atmosphereinspired by alpine apres-ski, featuring custom-built stretch marquees and panoramic views of the Atlantic.

🎶

Oceanfest Music Festival

Visit Croyde village in June and experience Oceanfest music festival, taking place every year for a full weekends entertainment. Croyde festival welcomes surfers and families to get involved with live music, entertainment, local food produce and surfing compeitions.

CROYDE VILLAGE

Croyde Shops

🛍️ Village Shops

Croyde for a small village offers a wide range of shops, we are often surprised when we come to list them at how much of a range the croyde shops cover. With such a diverse variety you are sure to pick something up, or why not check out Croyde Village craft market which is held weekly in the summer for homewares and locally made items.

WHAT'S IN THE VILLAGE

Croyde village shop & Post Office

Ralph's surf shop & surf Hire

Saltrock clothing brand

Art gallery and craft centre

The hub for pasties and treats

Croyde Village craft market (summer, weekly)

GETTING AROUND

Car Parking in Croyde

If you are planning to spend a day at Croyde beach, Downend car park is the spot for you as it is the closest car park to the beach, Just cross the road and your there, what could be simpler. If your wanting to spend more time in the village then there is on street parking in the centre of the village or the main village car park is behind the Croyde village hall or perhaps you are undertaking that Baggy Point walk we mentioned earlier, there is the National Trust car park very close to the start of the walk.

PARKING OPTIONS

🅿️ Downend car park — closest to the beach

🅿️ Village car park — behind Croyde village hall

🅿️ On-street parking — village centre

🅿️ National Trust car park — Baggy Point walk

EXPLORE CROYDE HISTORY

Croyde History

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Viking Origins

Croyde village takes its name from a Viking raider who settled in the area around 794 and went on to become Croyde's ruler, the Viking raider was called CRYDDA which evolved into the village of Croyde as we know today.

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Celtic Roots

Cride is Celtic for stream or river which as you know runs through the village of Croyde itself. Croyde is believed to be from the pre Saxon era settlement and it is evident when you take a close look at the older parts of the village.

Croyde Travel Guide