Devon is big enough that "let's book somewhere in Devon" isn't really a decision — it's the start of one. North and South Devon are close on a map and worlds apart in practice, and for a group booking one house together, picking the wrong half of the county is the easiest way to end up somewhere that looks lovely in photos and doesn't actually suit what you're there to do.

North Devon: The Surf Coast

North Devon is the surf coast. Croyde, Saunton and Woolacombe get consistent Atlantic swell that works for complete beginners and confident intermediates alike, and Croyde village itself is small enough to walk everywhere — surf hire, a pub lunch, back on the sand — without needing a car all weekend.

The Exmoor border near Ilfracombe adds some of the most dramatic coastal walking in the county, particularly the stretch between Lynton and Porlock. The whole area has a relaxed, unpretentious feel: walking boots rather than deck shoes, a day that ends with wet wetsuits drying over a bath rather than a table booked at eight.

South Devon: The Refined Choice

South Devon runs at a different pace. Salcombe is the county's smartest harbour town, all sailing dinghies and seafood restaurants with a water view, and Dartmouth isn't far behind — a steep medieval town stacked above a deep estuary, with the kind of dining that makes a milestone birthday feel like an occasion.

Inland, Dartmoor adds wild moorland walking and Bronze Age stone circles within twenty minutes of the coast, which North Devon's Exmoor edge doesn't quite match for sheer scale. The English Riviera towns of Torquay and Brixham give groups a coastal base with good rail links, useful if driving everyone down in convoy isn't practical.

Neither is better. They're suited to different groups, and the house you book should follow from which one you're actually planning — not the other way round, which is where a lot of group trips go wrong. Booking a house first and figuring out what to do once you arrive tends to mean a week of driving back and forth chasing whatever the group half-remembers wanting to do, rather than a base that already matches the trip.

Where to Stay: Two Devon Houses, Two Different Groups

Compton Pool Farm, our South Hams farmhouse near Marldon, sleeps up to 56 across 28 bedrooms split between ten separate cottages — a genuine estate rather than one big house, with its own pool, games room and a fire pit for the evenings nobody fancies driving anywhere. It's built for the big, sprawling group: three generations of one family, a milestone birthday with forty guests, a reunion where half the point is that everyone has their own front door but still ends up round the same fire pit by ten o'clock. Marldon sits right on the edge of the English Riviera, so Torquay, Paignton and Brixham are all a short drive without committing the whole group to one coastal town. Take a look at our large group houses in Devon to see how the estate works for a full group.

At the other end of the scale, Hoe Park House is a Victorian townhouse a few minutes' walk from Plymouth Hoe — four bedrooms, sleeps up to ten, and built for a tighter group who want a proper city base rather than a rural retreat. The open-plan kitchen-diner seats the whole group for one meal together, and Plymouth's waterfront, the Barbican and a genuine choice of restaurants are all walkable rather than a drive away — which matters more than it sounds for a group who don't want to spend the evening arranging taxis. It suits golf groups working the Devon and Cornwall courses, a smaller family gathering that wants restaurants on the doorstep, or anyone who'd rather be five minutes from a decent pub than twenty minutes from the nearest shop. You'll find this and the rest of our Devon houses listed alongside the estate.

Can You Do Both?

You don't always have to pick a side. Devon isn't large, and a base in the south with a day trip north to Croyde for surfing, or a Dartmoor walk booked in from a North Devon base, is entirely doable for a longer stay. But for a shorter weekend, committing to one half of the county and building the trip around it properly tends to beat trying to squeeze both in and seeing neither one properly.

Which Coast Suits Your Group

The practical test, before you even start browsing houses, is honest about what your group actually wants from the weekend. If the plan involves wetsuits, early starts and a pub that doesn't mind sandy feet, North Devon wins every time. If it's a sit-down dinner with a harbour view and moorland walking that doesn't require a wetsuit, South Devon is where you should be looking. Book the coast that matches the occasion first, then find the house.