The Exeter Quayside to Topsham: A Riverside Walk and Cycle Path

The Exeter Quayside to Topsham route is the city’s most reliably enjoyable walk and ride. Five miles of nearly flat, almost entirely traffic-free path along the Exeter Ship Canal, with the river on one side and grazing marshes on the other. You can do it in trainers, on a town bike, or in a buggy. You can do half of it and turn back at the Double Locks for lunch. You can also finish at Topsham, eat well, and catch the train home in nine minutes. That flexibility is why it earns its place near the top of every Exeter walking list.

Starting at the Quayside

The Quayside itself is worth twenty minutes before you set off. The old warehouses now hold a clutch of independent cafes (On The Waterfront and Mango’s are the long-running locals’ picks), the Custom House dates from 1681, and you can pick up a free City Wall Trail map from the Custom House Visitor Centre if you want to add some history later. Cross Cricklepit Bridge, the blue iron footbridge over the leat, and you are on the canal towpath in under a minute.

Parking at the Quay is easiest at the Mary Arches multi-storey or the smaller Quayside car park. Better still, walk in from the city centre; it is downhill all the way.

The route in detail

The Exeter Ship Canal was cut in 1564-66 by John Trew of Glamorgan, the first lock canal in England. The towpath you walk today is the south side of that same channel. Within ten minutes you reach the Double Locks pub, a long whitewashed building with a huge beer garden and a pony field next door. Carry on, and the path opens out into proper marsh. Heron, egret, oystercatcher in winter, plus the occasional kingfisher flash if you are quiet.

At about three miles you reach the Turf Hotel, accessible only by foot, bike or boat. This is where Brunel’s Atmospheric Railway once ran, and on a summer evening the beer garden is as good as anywhere in Devon. From the Turf, the path bends east along the Exe Estuary towards the Topsham Ferry, a small open boat operated by hand-pulled cable that runs across to the Topsham side in summer (a few pounds, dogs welcome, weather dependent).

Arriving in Topsham

Topsham itself is a Dutch-gabled merchant town with more pubs per square mile than seems reasonable. The Bridge Inn, the Globe, the Lighter and the Passage House all deserve attention. The Quay is the obvious lunch stop, and the river views back across to Exminster Marshes are the reason people come.

Cycling the route

The same path is the Exeter end of the Devon Coast to Coast cycle path and the Exe Estuary Trail. The canal-side section to Topsham is tarmac and well-graded gravel, flat the whole way, and traffic-free apart from a couple of road crossings. Allow forty minutes by bike one way, longer with kids. The route extends a further eight miles south to Exmouth and is the easiest serious bike ride in the county.

Distances, dogs and getting back

Quayside to Topsham Quay via the Turf is about five miles. The shorter route, sticking to the west side of the canal and crossing the river bridge at the Topsham road end, is closer to four. Dogs are welcome the entire way and there is plenty of off-lead space, although please lead-up around the locks and the ferry pontoon.

Topsham railway station is a six-minute walk from the Quay and runs trains back to Exeter Central every half hour. That is the locals’ trick: walk one way, eat well, train home. If you walked with a bike, the train carries them for free outside peak.

When to go

The canal is at its best on bright winter mornings, when frost catches on the marsh grass and the light stretches out. April brings nesting swans on the towpath. Summer Sundays are busy with cyclists and families. Avoid heavy rain days; sections of the path puddle, and the marsh can flood at the highest tides.

The Exeter Quayside to Topsham walk is the route that converts visitors into regulars.

Family-friendly variants

With small children, the easiest version is the two-mile out-and-back from the Quay to the Double Locks pub. There is a play area at the Double Locks, a long beer garden, and you can feed the resident ponies bits of carrot from the hedge. Older children with bikes manage the full Topsham return in a couple of hours and feel rightly proud of themselves at the end. For wheels of any kind, stay on the canal towpath rather than crossing to the Topsham Ferry, which is a small boat and only takes foot passengers.

If you want something with more variety in terrain after this, our guide to Day walks from Exeter onto Dartmoor takes you up onto the high ground for the contrast.