Instow is a sandy beach set where the Torridge river meets the Taw estuary, and situated on the Tarka Trail it is popular with walkers and cyclists.
Across the river is Bideford and unspoilt Appledore, with its quaint streets, on the Northam and Westward Ho! peninsula.
Named after the novel by Charles Kingsley, Westward Ho! has a long sandy beach onto a pebble ridge linking Northam Burrows and runs parallel to the South West Coast Path.