Bicton Park Botanical Gardens

The gardens at Bicton sprawl across 63 acres just outside Budleigh Salterton, and they're proper Victorian - all formal layouts, glasshouses, and specimens planted with the kind of precision that makes you understand why people got obsessed with horticulture in the 1800s. You'll wander through Italian gardens, past a working arboretum, and into several themed areas that manage not to feel theme-park about it. The centrepiece glasshouse is genuinely impressive, full of tender plants that wouldn't survive five minutes in Devon's real weather.

This is absolutely the place for serious gardeners and anyone with patience for reading plant labels. Kids might manage an hour if there's a café and space to run about - and there is both - but it's not a screaming-and-splashing kind of day out. Walkers get decent paths throughout, though nothing strenuous. Worth allowing two to three hours if you're not just hopping through.

Admission isn't free, but a park pass makes it worthwhile if you're staying nearby. Ladram Bay Holiday Park sits just 1.3 miles away, making Bicton an easy morning visit before heading to the beach. Castle Brake and the Haven parks are within a 4-mile radius too, so it's perfectly timed for a quieter day during a coastal holiday. Go in spring or early summer when the formal gardens actually have something flowering. Winter visits feel a bit bleak unless you're genuinely into bare bones and architecture.