#bikeride #cycleroute #pushchairfriendlywalk #walkwiththekids #beachtrip #thingstodowithkids #picnicspot #icecream #childfriendlycafe #everydayactivity
Sometimes all we need is a bit of inspiration for something simple and 'everyday' to do with the kids, involving a bit of fresh air. This is a buggy-friendly, wheel-friendly, kid-friendly walk with a beach for stone throwing, cafe, and possible ice cream stops along the way.
I nearly fell off my chair when my husband suggested taking Livvie for a scooter ride along Seaton seafront this morning, he’s not the most avid fan of a leisurely stroll (or any kind of walking) but it was his way of putting me off another café visit as he’s not overly keen on that either. (You’ll soon see that I managed to wedge in a coffee stop along the way anyway as I’m a certified café addict so I did manage to play the morning to my own advantage.)
I happily agreed to the plan and with the early July weather forecast looking lovely we headed off to one of our local but less busy beaches, armed with a Dad Bag full of sandwiches and strawberries from our weekend of fruit picking.
Seaton, I feel, is a seriously underrated beach. Sandwiched in between its popular neighbours Lyme Regis, Beer and Sidmouth, it doesn’t always get the credit it deserves, but that suits me because it’s never heaving even on the beachiest of summer days. The long pebble beach stretches for about a mile from end to end and there’s lots of convenient parking right next to the paved promenade, making Seaton super accessible.
We park at the end closest to the Yacht Club (don’t forget to get a parking ticket) and walk, cycle or scoot beside the beach along the level stretch right the way to the other end where you’ll find a beautiful cove and a great café known as The Hideaway, which recently had a major refurb and is a lovely spot to sit both inside and out throughout the year. (Check out its seasonal opening hours here.)
Seaton seafront is a great place to take pushchairs and kids on wheels. Yes, there’s a bit of a drop in places from the prom onto the beach (so if your child is crap at steering like ours you might have to do a bit of fending in places) but it’s for pedestrians and cyclists only and the sea wall keeps kids away from the road. It’s about a mile from one end of the prom to the other and back so manageable for little legs and there’s ice cream pit stops at either end if you’re in need of a suitable bribe to get from A to B, with loos at the midway point.
I’d persuaded Andy to let me stop for a coffee at The Hideaway (their coffee comes from a local coffee roaster called The Coffee Factory and it’s outstanding). Baby changing facilities are available in the loo and it’s quite a spacious café inside, I’ve taken a buggy in there before and there are highchairs if needed. There’s some outdoor seating too for dry days if you prefer to keep younger children out in the open air and the views are pretty special. The cakes look amazing and the brunch and lunch menu is good too, on the fancier side of café food.
(Image credits - The Hideaway Cafe)
Livvie had an ice cream in a cone which was a massive fail as obviously it spectacularly melted, so I scooped it off the cone into a dish and Livvie went nuts, proceeding to dementedly smash the cone into the ice cream and sending blobs of it flying in every direction including my white shorts.
Once we’d got over that little debacle, we headed on to my favourite part of the beach down the steps beyond the café. You do need to stay away from the cliffs as they’re crumbly so we headed down to the shoreline for a picnic lunch and a paddle, and Andy put on a show for the onlooking pensioners by having a swim in the sea in his boxer shorts.
Sometimes when we’re at Seaton beach we’ll collect a few of the large flat pebbles to take home with us to paint, if we’re in a crafty mood. (I’m rarely in a crafty mood but you know what I mean, if you’re stuck for an afternoon activity!)
While you’re in Seaton there’s loads of other things to do, check out Seaton Tramway if you’re in the market for a day trip, take bikes over to Seaton Wetlands, or head over to the great playground behind the new Seaton Jurassic attraction. (Need to go there so I can review that too! Seaton Jurassic, may I have some tickets pretty please?!)
That was us done for today though and we headed home (after I’d accidentally caught Livvie’s chin in the buckle of her helmet strap) remarking on how this part of the coast really can be just as good, if not better, than Greece on a sunny and warm day.