English Riviera

Torbay faces east into a sheltered bay and its mild climate allowed palms to be planted from the nineteenth century, which is where the Riviera branding comes from; the palms are actually cabbage trees from New Zealand rather than true palms. Torquay grew as a genteel resort when the Napoleonic wars closed the continent, and Agatha Christie was born there in 1890, with a mile-long trail of sites associated with her and her holiday home at Greenway upriver. Brixham at the southern end remains a serious fishing port, one of the highest-value landing ports in England. In 2007 the whole bay became a UNESCO Global Geopark, largely for Kents Cavern, a cave system in Torquay where a jawbone dated to around 41,000 years ago is among the earliest modern human remains in northwest Europe.

What you actually see

• Kents Cavern - a cave with some of the oldest modern human remains in the region.
• The Agatha Christie sites - a trail through Torquay and her house at Greenway.
• Brixham harbour - a working fishing port with a Golden Hind replica.
• The planted palms - New Zealand cabbage trees along the seafronts.

When to go

May to September for the beaches and full attraction opening; the Agatha Christie festival runs in September. Winter is mild by British standards but most seasonal businesses close.

Honest expectations

The Riviera name promises more than the resorts deliver, and Torquay in particular has struggled economically with visible deprivation behind the seafront. Beaches are sand and shingle and crowded in August. The palms are not palms.

Nearby

Dartmouth lies south; Dartmoor rises inland to the west.