Devon Getaway: Appledore with Holiday Cottages
I feel like I am entertaining the enemy! There’s always been that joke between tourism professionals in both Devon and Cornwall - who did it better?! I will let you decide.
Last year, I was lucky enough to win a holiday voucher from the lovely team at Holiday Cottages through a photography competition. From what I can remember, entrants had to tag Holiday Cottages in a picture of their favourite place in the UK along with a caption as to why they had picked this certain place. Of course, being the Cornwall gal that I am, I entered with a picture of Porthcurno beach and to my surprise, I won!
I won the competition in 2017, so I had been in possession of this voucher for over a year. I had many thoughts and ideas on the type of property that I wanted to spend it on and who would join me, but I had never got around to actually organising the trip until a miserable January afternoon. It hadn’t been a great month for me, so it was the perfect escape.
My girls and I were all in need of a getaway - away from home, away from work and away from MEN. Together over a group whatsapp chat, we decided to spontaneously book an 8 bed house in the middle of what seemed like nowhere.
Appledore in Devon is the cutest village and located on the River Torridge. I have to be honest and say that there isn’t actually much there - we did however find some cosy pubs over looking the river and gorgeous picturesque streets to wonder around. For me, I was content with my camera, capturing pictures of the different coloured houses and fascinating doors.
Our property was absolutely stunning. With four bedrooms that slept up to 8 people, it felt like we had just rolled into the sort of house you imagine the rich kids at school own (who are now grown up and rent out to Holiday Cottages…)? The property is named Sea Escape and it for good reason - with views overlooking the river and the RNLI station, it is the perfect place for a quiet escape by the sea.
My sister and I nabbed the master room on the third floor with a huge balcony and an un-suite with a huge stand alone bath tub. I left the others to fight over their bedrooms.
To our disappointment, the owner of the property had not left the keys to both of the balconies (long story) so we were unable to experience the property to its full potential - the plan was to cook a lavish breakfast and eat it on the balcony, whilst sipping on bucks fizz in our silk dressing gowns (you know the image).
We arrived on the Friday night, and cracked open the prosecco straight away. A true girly night catching up over pizza, wine and nibbles left us ordering a taxi to the nearest town in search for a club. We didn’t see it coming, but of course we had been very naive. By the time it reached 2am, we were all throwing our best shapes in a random club in Barnstaple.
On Saturday, we all woke up with a pretty horrendous wine headache, but the stories of the night before made it all worthwhile. Luckily, the weather was beautiful in Appleodre, so we all forced ourselves to get dressed and explore the cute streets of the Devon village. I have a fascination for doors - weird, I know, but I am utterly obsessed.
The girls and I found a cute little pub called The Beaver Inn, located on the river, so we all slumped down and ordered some comfort food. There are a few restaurants in Appledore, so if you aren’t after pub food there are other options. The excitement when we found food all got a little too much for my sister, Niki.
That evening, we all snuggled up with an indian takeaway, girly films (fifty shades to be precise) and snacks. The Friday night out in Barnstaple had killed us over, so by 10.30pm our lights were out. The following day, we left bright and early after feasting on a cooked breakfast. Our time in Appledore had been lovely and it was the perfect getaway with 7 of my girls. Thank you Holiday Cottages!