10 Things to do in Clovelly with Kids & Top Tips for a Visit

10 Things to do in Clovelly Devon with kids. A sixteenth-century village cut into the side of a hillside on the North Devon coast, is not necessarily the first choice for a day trip with kids. But if you are planning a trip to Devon this Summer then Clovelly should be on your list as there is plenty to do both for kids and adults. Clovelly in England is one of the last privately owned villages in the UK not only that it is one of the most popular instagrammable locations. Thanks in part to its beautiful whitewashed cottages and cobbled high street. The fishing village, Clovelly Devon will steel your heart.

10 Things to do in Clovelly with kids

We took the boys to Clovelly Devon in England  they were aged almost nine and almost five.

One: Sit in peace at the memorial

As you pass through the visitor centre and before you start to go down the hill to the village on the left-hand side there is a war memorial. Mount Pleasant is beautiful and peaceful and has views out across the bay. There are several benches scattered around the area and when we visited daffodils and blossoms. It is a great place to sit and have a snack or a picnic and soak up all the surroundings. 

Two: Marvel at the sledges and way of life

At the top of the cobbled main street, you will notice that many of the whitewashed houses have little sledges placed outside of them. These are used to pull up items from the port and to transport items to the top of Clovelly village such as recycling and rubbish. The boys were fascinated by them. There is even a little note outside one of the houses inviting you to take part in traditional life at Clovelly in England. And moved some rubbish up to the top of the village for them! This aside it does start a conversation and how people manage and how it hasn’t changed for 100s of years. Charlie was particularly interested.

Three: Visit the sweet shop and lifeboat museum

On the right-hand side of the high street just where it narrows you will spot a little courtyard and a sweet shop. This is the entrance to the fisherman’s cottage museum and lifeboat museum. It is only a small museum with a couple of rooms. But the boys were fascinated especially since Clovelly has such a unique system for getting the boats in and out of the water. It is also one of the only harbours that are built up enough to run a lifeboat, and although we visited on a picturesque Spring day. Winter can be a very different story. The tide also rises very quickly by 35ft in a short period of time so many of the lifeboat station call-outs are people getting caught out and cut off. As you walk through the museum you pass by the traditional sweetshop. Which also has some small souvenirs.

Four: Have a drink at the Red Lion

At the bottom of the hill and right on Clovelly village harbour, you will find the red lion pub which is also a hotel. There is seating around the harbour wall itself. However, if this is full and if you have little ones which you need to keep an eye on, then head to the back of the hotel. There are some further tables which run into the large stone beach, falling that you can sit on the beach itself. The pub also serves food. Being on the other side of the harbour wall you are protected from the breeze it is a real sun trap.

If you would rather sample a Devon cream tea then there is also a tea rooms in the high street, which is very popular. So head here early if you can.

Five: Build towers on the beach

While sitting in the sun with a drink the boys built stone towers. There is also the opportunity to go down to the water’s edge and threw stones into the sea. This is not something that is encouraged in the harbour itself due to the boats and people. However if your kids are anything like mine they can not resist throwing stones so behind the Red Lion is a good place to do this.

Six: Crab off the harbour and walk the wall

It is possible to walk along the harbour wall, and when the tide is in crab. There is a small souvenir shop selling crab nets and buckets which would suggest it is a popular activity. But when we visited the tide was out so we could not give it a go. So I can not comment on how successful it may be. If you do want to give this a go then I would check the tide times before visiting, you can do this on the BBC website. 

Seven: Waterfall

After you are suitably refreshed you can walk along to the waterfall which is only a couple of hundred yards from the lifeboat house. Facing the harbour with the pub on your left you turn right and walk along the coast following the cliff face. The boys enjoyed hopping across the rocks you do need good footwear to get there. You can get right up close to the waterfall and even run under it. Which would be great fun on a hot day. There are also several large rocks to climb both in front of the waterfall and on the route back.

Eight: Walk along to Black Church Rock

There is a longer walk which you can do from Clovelly Devon to Black Church Rock. Harry was too young to do the walk on top of what we had already done the day we visited. It is about a three-mile walk there and back. It is also possible to drive closer to the rock once you leave the village. We did not explore this further but have added it to our list should we visit again.

Nine: Visit the donkeys

On the way back up we stopped at the donkey’s stables. The villagers still use donkeys to help move things around the village and the area is steeped in history and information. The boys found it fascinating that donkeys were still used to the extent they are. Right next door to their stables there is a lovely pottery and if like me you collect Christmas decorations you will be pleased to find some white spotty donkeys, angels and Christmas trees available. 

Ten: Souviner shopping

At the bottom of Clovelly village there is Clovelly pottery. Or the visitor centre has a couple of souvenir shops and a cafe, you need to pass right through to get in and out of Clovelly, Devon. I would save visiting until the end of your stay as good motivation to get little legs up the steep walk. After all, what goes down must come back up again!

Top Tips for a Trip to Clovelly with Kids

If you haven’t already twigged we really do like the village of Clovelly in England, falling in love with over eight years ago when we visited for the first time. Charlie was only a few weeks old at the time. Other than probably not the best place to visit straight after a rather traumatic birth due to the steep incline. But there was no telling me at the time! Other than this gem here are a couple of other useful tips to help with your trip.

Car Parking

There is a car park at the entrance of Clovelly in England, and although it is quite large you can not underestimate how popular this tourist attraction is in the Summer months. Not only that but the ancient fishing harbour also offers Clovelly accommodation. Meaning that some of those spaces will be used by people staying. So aim to get there early to make sure. Thankfully it is not a long walk to the entrance

You can pre-book your tickets

Due to the pandemic, they are limiting numbers into the village. But it is possible to book tickets in advance via the Clovelly website. To visit tickets cost £8.25 for an adult, children age 7-16 £4.80 and under 7s are free.  A family ticket costs £22.25.

Footwear

As tempting as it is to wear summer shoes or flip flops in good weather, be aware of the cobbled streets you really do need sensible shoes. Also, should you wish to walk to the waterfall ideally you need something more substantial. As the stones on the beach are large and uneven. I wore canvas shoes which were not really suitable and I had to take it very slowly. I would imagine you need walking shoes and boots if you plan to walk to Black Church Rock.

Toilets

There are bathrooms at the visitors centre, ladies about halfway done and then more public toilets opposite the Red Lion. The hotel also has toilets. When we visited the ones halfway down had not been opened yet, which caused us a little bit of a panic as one child decided he needed a wee. The ones opposite the Red Lion were being fixed so we used the ones in the hotel. If will get busier in the Summer months so I suggest using the ones in the visitor centre before heading down. There are no fees to use the loos. 

Getting back up the hill

How does the saying go, what goes up must come down? Well in this instance what goes down must come up the very steep hill! There is a Land Rover service that runs guests up the hill. However, it was not running on the day we visited due to the pandemic. Getting little legs up the hill was a little bit of a challenge. But the promise of an ice cream was enough to get them halfway and then the sugar powered them the rest of the way. There is always a souvenir shop if you need a little bit of extra bribery.

10 Things to do in Clovelly England with kids

We had a wonderful family day trip to Clovelly, the entire village is definitely worth visiting. Have you visited the small village with the famous cobbled street? if you have then I would love to hear about your experiences in the comments below. Our final tip would be to make sure you call at the brewery in the car park on the way out for some local beer and decent gin!

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