Cotley Farm
25th November – 23rd December
10:00am – 5:30pm. Fridays until 8pm
Tickets: £6 per car, of which £5 can be reimbursed against one of our lovely Christmas trees.
This is on my list every year. It’s a beautiful traditional set up and perfect for spending a Christmassy hour or so. There is a nativity scene in the open barn the children can interact with, sleighs to sit in and generally Christmassy scenes all over. In the animal barn, the pigs have generally just had piglets and the sheep their lambs and they are very cute. But the best bit has to be feeding some wonderful real reindeers their special mossy treat (around £1 for a small bag). The staff are all fabulous too and one took the time to tell us the secret of how the reindeers use the hill opposite to take off and start their Christmas journey! They have a lovely Christmas shop where my children chose a new decoration each for the tree, there’s a marquee to get a hot drink and cake and of course Christmas Trees and even you can order turkeys from them too.
Christmas Lights Switch On
Various towns & dates
Free
The Christmas Lights Switch on events are a great atmosphere and free. So head on over to my listing of many of the Devon Christmas Lights Switch on events 2022 and have a great evening. Don’t forget to take your thermos mug of hot chocolate or mulled wine to make it even cheaper!
Local lights.
Nothing is more exciting than bundling into the car with the kids in their pjs, christmas songs blasting out the speakers, a mug of hot chocolate (does anything happen in December without hot chocolate?!) and driving or cycling round the town and enjoy everyone’s efforts at decorating their homes this year. I’ll try to put together an Exeter map or list of fabulously decorated houses for you to visit too.
Bay of Lights
19 November – 8 January 2023
Daily from 4:30pm, with sound elements until 9:30pm and the lighting until 11pm
Free
Exciting new event at the English Riviera: The Bay of Lights! Enjoy a 1.5-mile route along Torquay seafront with glittering and unexpected surprises along the way. Free and accessible. Light installations will guide you along the route between Torre Abbey, Torquay seafront, Fleet Street and into the town centre. If you love a light trail then do check out my Sparkling and Glowing Christmas light trails in Devon 2022
Seeing the Train of Lights in South Devon
25 November – 30 December 2022
The Train of Lights looks amazing! Dartmouth Steam Railway trains are decorated with so many lights and, while the journey and show sounds wonderful, there are fabulous memories to be made by seeing the enchanted train decorated with thousands of lights chug past. So grab a dinner picnic and the obligatory hot chocolate in a flask and head down Dartmouth direction to enjoy it from a distance.
Dates
November 25th*, 26th*, 27th* & 30th*
December 1st*, 2nd*, 3rd, 4th*, 6th*, 7th*, 8th*, 9th*, 10th, 11th*, 13th*, 14th*, 15th*, 16th, 17th, 18th*, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 27th, 28th, 29th & 30th.
Departure times : 16:45, 18:45 & 20:45
* No 20:45 service on these dates
Stations the train passes through:
Queen’s Park Station, Paignton,
Churston Station
Kingswear
Places to see the train come past (complied by Claire at Devon with kids):
- Goodrington South Sands Beach, Paignton – ///purple.spell.poker
- Broadbands Beach, Paignton – ///twee.offshore.blinking
- The South West Coast Path between Broadbands Beach and Goodrington (although this is hilly and could be tricky with children at night) – ///vertical.aunts.afflicted
- The Dartmouth Road bridge at Churston Station – ///meatballs.cautious.character
- The public footpath between Dartmouth Higher Ferry and Kingswear – ///forehand.sting.crisp
- Dartmouth Embankment – ///forgotten.facing.emptied
- The footbridge at Kingswear – ///patching.recount.prospers
