Big Trail Adventures
Landscape on the South West Coast Path Stage 5: Plymouth to Exmouth

Self-guided · South West · England

South West Coast Path Stage 5: Plymouth to Exmouth

Your walk from Plymouth to Exmouth

Plymouth to Exmouth along the South Devon coast — past Salcombe, through the South Hams, and across the estuaries that slow you down in the best possible way.

Build your tripSee your route
Distance
166 km
Ascent
3,217 m
Stages
4 – 10 days
Grade
Moderate
5.03 verified reviews

“An amazing and very memorable experience”Bhagyashree & Akhil · Tour du Mont Blanc

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This is the estuary stage — 166 kilometres through the South Hams and along Torbay, where the coast path keeps getting interrupted by rivers, and interrupted is no bad thing. Ferries across the Erme, Avon, Dart and Kingswear give the walking a different rhythm to the rest of the trail: shorter days broken up by boat crossings and sailing towns.

It suits anyone who likes their coast walking with a bit of variety — Salcombe's sheltered ria, Dartmouth's naval harbour, and the brasher seaside towns of the English Riviera all sit within a few days of each other.

Trail Essentials

Start
Plymouth
Devon
End
Exmouth
Devon
Distance
166 km
103 miles
Total Ascent
3,217 m
10,554 ft
Difficulty
Moderate
Hilliness
Rolling to hilly
Time to Complete
Explorer
9 days
~18 km/day
Hiker
8 days
~21 km/day
Fastpacker
6 days
~28 km/day
Trail Runner
4 days
~42 km/day
When to Walk
Best Good Avoid
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC

Plymouth to Exmouth — the stage in numbers.

Here's how this section looks for most walkers. Everything here is a starting point — the planner below rebuilds it around your own pace and dates.

Distance
166 km / 103 miles
Total ascent
3,217 m
Start
Plymouth
Finish
Exmouth
Days walking
4–10 days
Difficulty
Moderate
Best months
May–Aug
Part of
South West Coast Path

A typical 8-day schedule

Walked at our hiker pace, this is where most of our customers finish each day. Take more days and we'll split the longer stages; take fewer and we'll lengthen them by using the stops in between. We know every option along the route, so your days end up the right length whatever pace you choose.

Suggested day-by-day itinerary for the South West Coast Path Stage 5: Plymouth to Exmouth
DayStageDistanceAscentWalking
1Plymouth toNoss Mayo20.4 km302 m6 hrs
2Noss Mayo toBigbury-on-Sea22.1 km409 m7 hrs
3Bigbury-on-Sea toSalcombe20.9 km434 m7 hrs
4Salcombe toBeesands19.5 km389 m6½ hrs
5Beesands toDartmouth17.6 km404 m6 hrs
6Dartmouth toBrixham17.7 km546 m6½ hrs
7Brixham toBabbacombe21.0 km340 m6½ hrs
8Babbacombe toExmouth26.9 km393 m8 hrs

How the trail unfolds.

Your trail divides naturally into three parts — not by day, but by coastline. Drowned river valleys east of Plymouth give way to the bare headlands of Devon's far south, and the far south softens into the Riviera and the red sandstone shore of the Exe.

01

Plymouth to Salcombe

Rivers in the Way

Plymouth's naval bustle fades into drowned river valleys, where you cross by ferry — or wade the Erme at low tide.

You start at the Mayflower Steps and leave Plymouth by water, on the year-round Mount Batten ferry. The coast empties quickly. Past Wembury a seasonal ferry crosses the Yealm to Noss Mayo, where you join Revelstoke Drive, a carriage road built by local fishermen for Lord Revelstoke in the nineteenth century. The Erme has no ferry at all: you wade it, within an hour either side of low tide, or go round by road.

At Bigbury, Burgh Island's Art Deco hotel sits offshore, reached by sea tractor at high water — Agatha Christie wrote here. Then Bolt Tail's Iron Age fort and the cliffs around Bolt Head bring you into Salcombe.

02

Salcombe to Dartmouth

The Far South

Devon's southernmost miles: two great headlands, a village the sea took, and a shingle bar that remembers 1944.

This is the emptiest walking of the whole hundred miles. The year-round ferry crosses to East Portlemouth, and you climb out onto big, bare cliffs to Prawle Point, Devon's southernmost point, where a National Coastwatch lookout keeps watch. Around Start Point lighthouse the rock turns jagged, and you pick your way beneath the ridge.

Start Bay keeps its history close: Hallsands, the village the sea took in 1917 after offshore dredging stripped its beach; the Sherman tank at Torcross, raised in 1984 as a memorial to American servicemen killed rehearsing D-Day; Slapton Ley, the south-west's largest natural freshwater lake. By Dartmouth Castle you're back among yachts and money.

03

Dartmouth to Exmouth

The Red Coast

Headland drama eases into the Riviera's promenades, red sandstone cliffs, and the slow calm of the Exe.

Across the Dart the coast changes temper. You climb from Kingswear past the Daymark, an octagonal limestone tower built in 1864 to guide ships into the river, then round Berry Head, where Britain's shortest lighthouse — five metres tall, 58 metres above the sea stands among Napoleonic-era forts and the largest guillemot colony on England's south coast. After Brixham the Riviera takes over — Paignton, Torquay, the limestone arch of London Bridge. Beyond Shaldon, where a ferry has crossed the Teign since 1296, you follow the railway sea wall beneath red sandstone cliffs to Dawlish, then the Exe shore to the Starcross ferry and Exmouth.

Build your trip

Customise your South West Coast Path Stage 5: Plymouth to Exmouth.

Pick your pace, party size and dates. The itinerary, distances, nightly stops and the price all update live — no commitment until you're happy.

  • Days sized to your walking speed
  • Each night ends at a stop with accommodation
  • Pricing reflects party size and seasonality
  • Save and share the itinerary with your group
Hiker · 4.0 km/h
2 walkers
Plymouth to Exmouth
Days
8
Distance
166 km
Walking
55 hrs

Your day-by-day itinerary updates live in the Your itinerary section below.

Trip total
£2,338
£1,169 per person · 8 nights · party of 2
See my trip
Your live itinerary

Build your itinerary above.

This is the itinerary you're building. Change the pace, party size or start date in the planner above and every stage, distance and date updates here.

This route. These nights.
One clear price.

You are booking the itinerary above: your walking days, your overnight stays and the support that carries you between them.

Your South West Coast Path Stage 5: Plymouth to Exmouth adventure
Configure your trip in the builder above and it will appear here.
Per Person
—
Trip Total
—
Deposit Today
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Organising this trail for friends? Build a group trip with individual payments

  • Free cancellation to 60 days
  • Confirmation within 24 hrs
  • ABTOT financially protected
Not quite ready?
Prefer to talk? 0131 560 2740 hello@bigtrailadventures.com

We'll start planning your trip right away. Not happy with anything? We'll adjust it or refund you — no questions asked.

ABTOT Member 5690

The Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited (ABTOT) provides financial protection under The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 for Big Trail Adventures (member 5690). Protection is provided for non-flight packages. Full details in our booking conditions.

And that price covers far more than the places you sleep.

Your South West Coast Path Stage 5: Plymouth to Exmouth is planned from first step to final check-in. The stays, luggage, navigation, local knowledge and a real team behind you are all part of the same trip.

What's included?

Self-guided, but properly supported. You turn up, you walk, you eat well, you sleep well. We handle the logistics.

  • Custom itinerary planned around your pace

  • Comfortable accommodation booked for you

  • Daily luggage transfer where available

  • GPX + day-by-day route notes

  • Big Trail Adventures app for door-to-door navigation

  • On-trail route support

Not included

  • Travel to Plymouth and from Exmouth
  • Lunches and evening meals (we'll recommend the best places)
  • Travel insurance

Your Trail Book.
The trip in your pocket.

This is not a generic guidebook. We build a private Trail Companion for your dates, your direction, your overnight stops and every day of your South West Coast Path Stage 5: Plymouth to Exmouth.

01

Trail Book

08:12
A day in the Trail Companion: Hendaye to Ibardin with distance, ascent, estimated time, route map and elevation profile

Wake up knowing the whole day

Your exact South West Coast Path Stage 5: Plymouth to Exmouth itinerary — from the place you sleep to the next front door, with the turns people miss and the stops worth making.

02

Trail Book

13:36
Live navigation in the Trail Companion, showing the route on the map with distance remaining and the elevation still to climb

See the trail respond to your pace

Follow your stage offline, see what remains and get a live estimate based on the pace you are actually walking. Your GPX is already cut into each day, ready for Garmin, Coros, Suunto, Apple Watch, Komoot or OS Maps.

03

Trail Book

14:32
The private share link, showing walking progress on the map for friends and family at home

Let home follow the adventure

Family and friends see where you are and when you last updated — no app, no account.

Explore the Trail Book

Where you'll stay

Where you'll sleep

Sailing-town hotels and estuary-view B&Bs suit this stage well — Salcombe and Dartmouth both have proper, comfortable places to land after a ferry crossing. We time your itinerary around the tidal ferries so you're never stranded at the wrong bank.

  • Harbour hotels in Salcombe and Dartmouth with estuary views
  • Itineraries planned around tidal ferry crossings
  • Rest-day options in Torbay's larger seaside towns
  • Drying space for boots after estuary-path mud and rain

Every trip is planned around your dates and party, so we can't promise you a specific inn — but we can promise the kind of welcome that makes a walking holiday feel like a proper holiday.

Self-guided, fully supported

A self-guided South West Coast Path Stage 5: Plymouth to Exmouth, explained.

Self-guided means the walking is yours and the logistics are ours. You set off on the South West Coast Path Stage 5: Plymouth to Exmouth when you want, walk at whatever pace suits you, and stop where you like — there is no group to keep up with and no leader setting the schedule. Everything that makes an independent long-distance walk hard work to organise is handled before you arrive.

There are no fixed departure dates. Choose your own start day, tell us how many nights you want, and the planner rebuilds the 166 km route around it.

You walk
166 km from Plymouth to Exmouth, South West England — alone, as a pair, or with your own group. No guide, no strangers.
We plan
A 4 – 10 day itinerary built around the pace you pick, with sensible daily distances and the ascent spread properly across the route.
We book
Walker-friendly B&Bs, inns and small hotels along the trail, reserved in your name with breakfast included.
We move your bag
Door-to-door luggage transfer between every stay, so you walk with a daypack.
You navigate
GPX files for every stage plus written route notes — the trail is waymarked, and we flag the few places people go wrong.
We stay reachable
One number for the whole trip, answered by someone who has walked the route.

Your trail, whether you come alone or bring everyone.

We remove the awkward parts at both ends: quiet reassurance for a solo walker, and no unpaid-invoice chasing for the friend who gets a group moving.

Going solo

Independent, not unsupported.

We lend solo walkers a satellite GPS tracker. It updates automatically, even away from phone signal, so you can walk freely while the people at home follow your progress.

  • Fixes your position from satellites, not phone masts
  • Posts automatically every 30 minutes — nothing to remember
  • Keeps working in the glens, on the cliffs and out of signal
Walking solo with us
15:00
The satellite GPS tracker page, showing the day's route and the walker's live position on the West Highland Way
A group trip page showing each walker's payment progress

Bringing friends

Lead the adventure. Don't become the treasurer.

Plan a private South West Coast Path Stage 5: Plymouth to Exmouth with us and get one shared trip page. Every walker pays their own deposit by card and adds their own details—no bank transfers or payment spreadsheet.

How group trips work

Trail Companion and satellite tracking comparison

Shares your position over the mobile network. You update it when you want to. Needs a phone signal to send anything

Reviews from walkers

What it's like to travel with us.

Every review here comes from someone who actually travelled with us — we only ask once the trip's over, and we don't edit what they say.

From walkers on our other trails.

Different routes, same team doing the planning, the bookings and the hand-holding — so these say a lot about what to expect here too.

“An amazing and very memorable experience”

We had a really wonderful experience and are very happy that we went ahead with the trek. It was challenging at times, but overall it was an amazing and very memorable experience. The scenery, the trails and the whole journey were absolutely beautiful. Bhagyashree did have some issues with her knee during the trek, which made a few sections difficult. We didn't let that stop us — we completed most of the trek and, wherever necessary, adapted our plans and took a bus or train for certain stretches rather than putting too much strain on her knee. Managing the trek despite the knee issue made the achievement feel even more special.

Thank you once again for all your help and guidance in planning the trek. Will definitely recommend Big Trail Adventures to all.

Bhagyashree & Akhil · Tour du Mont Blanc · August 2026

“Solo or in a group, I would do this again tomorrow!”

One of the best experiences I have had. I did this solo and felt supported all the way with the BigTrailAdventures team, especially in inclement weather. The vistas were incredible and overnight accommodation was faultlessly organised. Pushing myself during the day ( I ran rather than walked the trail), and then being fed and watered in a hotel in the evening was a treat.

The planning was exceptional and all details were covered.

There is a special time every day when you are overcome with the beauty of the nature that you are seeing, the sweeping vistas and the gratitude for being able to experience this. It rejuvenates your soul.

Lisa · Coast to Coast · May 2026

“Awesome support from start to finish”

The hike, which challenged me in different ways each day, was great. There was so much to see in every direction. The Highlands are simply stunning, clouds and all. The stays were good for the most part, some better than others (one night my room was above the kitchen so it was quite noisy until late into the night and the haunted Inn was a bit much for me :)). The Rowardennan Hotel and Craig Nevis guesthouse were my favorites. All of them offered great breakfasts and most had dinner options with good selections as well.

The planning was amazing. No glitches, except for one minor one at the start where the luggage van changed their drop off location without my knowledge. Thankfully Craig was there in the morning and quickly figured out where they were and even dropped off my luggage for me. Everything else was planned and executed perfectly; my itinerary for each day included great detail of what to expect. The app was awesome and my friends and family loved tracking me every day with the GPS. I had read that the West Highland Way is very popular in spring (when I initially had planned to go) and late summer. It took a lot of back and forth communication about potential dates but Craig very patiently worked it all out. All communication was prompt and thorough. I very much appreciate all the support I received prior and during my adventure!! Thank you Craig!

There are so many moments I will carry with me for a long time, like my first glimpse of the Highlands, all the water everywhere, the coos, day 2 along Loch Lomond when I wished I was a mountain goat and was grateful that it did not rain, arriving at Kingshouse after 19 miles, midges (haha), and so much more.

Nicole · West Highland Way · August 2026

Things walkers ask us.

How fit do I need to be?

On the Hiker pace this stage runs to 8 walking days averaging around 21 km a day with steady cliff undulations. You should be comfortable walking a full day with a daypack.

When should I walk it?

May through September is best. May–June is peak wildflower and seabird season. July and August are busy — book accommodation months ahead. September gives long light and quieter beaches.

Do you include luggage transfer?

Yes — bags up to 20 kg are moved between accommodations every walking day. A few remote overnights need a short taxi transfer, which we plan and book for you.

What kind of accommodation do you book?

Small family-run B&Bs, harbour inns and walker-friendly hotels — en-suite where the village allows, breakfast included, drying space for boots.

Is this a self-guided South West Coast Path Stage 5: Plymouth to Exmouth walking holiday?

Yes. Every South West Coast Path Stage 5: Plymouth to Exmouth trip we run is self-guided: you walk the route on your own, at your own pace, with no group and no guide. We do the planning and the logistics — an itinerary of 4 – 10 days built around the pace you choose, accommodation booked in your name along the 166 km route, your main bag moved between stays each day, GPX files and route notes for every stage, and a real person on the end of the phone while you're out there. You choose your own start date; there are no fixed departures.

What's the difference between a self-guided and a guided South West Coast Path Stage 5: Plymouth to Exmouth trip?

On a guided trip you walk with a leader and a group to a fixed schedule. Self-guided means the day is yours: start when you like, stop for lunch where you like, walk fast or slowly, take a rest day. The route is waymarked and you navigate with the GPX and notes we provide. Everything that makes a trip complicated — accommodation, luggage transfer, the shape of each day — is arranged for you before you arrive.

Can I walk the South West Coast Path Stage 5: Plymouth to Exmouth without a guide?

Yes — the South West Coast Path Stage 5: Plymouth to Exmouth is a signed long-distance route and thousands of people walk it independently every year. What most walkers want help with isn't navigation, it's the 166 km of accommodation, the bag transfers, and getting the daily distances right. That's exactly what we take off your hands, while you still walk it under your own steam.

Who books the accommodation and moves my luggage?

We do, both. We book walker-friendly B&Bs, inns and small hotels in your name at each overnight stop, with breakfast, and arrange door-to-door luggage transfer between them so you walk with a daypack. You'll get a full itinerary with every address, check-in detail and transfer time before you travel.

How many days do I need for a self-guided South West Coast Path Stage 5: Plymouth to Exmouth?

Most people take 4 – 10 days for the 166 km. Our planner lets you set your own pace and number of nights, so you can stretch the trip out with shorter days or compress it if you're used to back-to-back big days — the itinerary, accommodation stops and price all update as you change it.

Craig, founder of Big Trail Adventures

Not sure this stage is right for you?

Tell Craig your dates, party size and preferred pace. He'll come back with a route that fits — or suggest a neighbouring stage if this one's not the match.

Email Craig

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