Overview

The sea wall walk between Dawlish and Dawlish Warren is a padestrianised path just above the beach. There are wonderful, amazing views as on one side you have the sea and the other the busy Great Western railway line with trains reguarly passing by. Before commencing the walk I had read on several websites that this part of the sea wall walk was described as being an easy, level walk. I found this misleading as the route was not as easy as I had been lead to believe due to the surfacing and a couple of quite notable slopes. In my review I'm going to describe the walk in the direction from Dawlish to Dawlish Warren and I've included a lot of photos, which I hope you will find helpful in deciding whether or not the walk meets your access needs. Walking the sea wall walk in the opposite direction, from Dawlish to Coryton Cove, is step free, plus there is an accessible toilet and I've done a seperate review for this. Please be aware this route is not suitable for anyone when the weather is extreme.

Transport & Parking

Dawlish Railway Station runs parallel to the sea wall walk and next to the station there is a step free access to the sea wall. The station has step free access to platform 2, with trains heading towards Exeter/ London. Platform 1 with trains towards Paignton/ Torquay is accessible via a railway bridge with stairs only. However through Special Assistance they can arrange and accompany you to cross the railway line. I found the special assistance excellent at Dawlish Station. There are also local, step free buses that stop nearby. At the end of the walk there is Dawlish Warren Station, which has step free access but the station is unstaffed. There are also step free buses from Dawlish Warren.

Access

Next to Dawlish Station there is step free access to the sea wall under railway bridge. On the wall there is a red notice saying that the sea wall surface is unsuitable for mobility scooters. Turn left onto the sea wall. The first part of the wall is underneath the railway station. This section is level but has large cobblestones, also there was some sand and debris from the beach, which the wind had blown onto the path. At the end of the railway station platform there are 2 slopes. Firstly the downward one is mainly tarmaced and is not so steep. However, the one going up I found noticeably steeper, plus the surface is cobblestoned. Although I went on a dry day I found it a bit of a struggle to get up the slope as there is no handrail for support. Personally given that there is no handrail and it’s steepness and cobblestones I would have struggled to go down this slope, and although I had planned to do a return trip, I decided against walking back this way. The good news is that this is the worst bit of the route and the rest of it is relatively easy. The next section is mainly tarmacked. The path is comfortably wide enough for 2 people. On the sea side there are no railings. There is a wall separating the path from the railway. The wall is a little too high to climb up and sit on easily but it provides excellent views of the passing trains. There is no proper seating until you arrive at Dawlish Warren. This is a long level path, which remains parallel to the beach and provides wonderful views. At the end of the beach the path turns slightly inland for a few minutes. There is a staggered wide, open gate. The path the gently rises and there surface for this part of the path is short dirty track. Most of the path was firm but there were a couple of areas with small pools of water or muddy. The path gently slopes back down and becomes tarmac again. On the right is the Elephant Rock Café. The remainder of the sea wall walk is level with different surfaces, both cobblestone and tarmac. There is a padestrianised railway bridge, this is Dawlish Warren and here the path turns right, following the sea, and there are benches. Dawlish Warren is a family focused resort. There are traditional seaside amusements, children play areas, restaurants and pubs, which are accessible from the sea wall walk. The sea wall walk continues and there are nice views over to Exmouth. There is also a nature reserve, but I didn’t visit this.

Toilets

There are accessible, public toilets at Dawlish and Dawlish Warren. However there are no toilets on the sea wall walk.

Staff

NA.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

It was a really lovely to walk along the sea front and I enjoy the trains travelling by. Despite the access issues I would certainly do the walk again.

Photos