Museums & Galleries

Museum lovers are spoilt for choice when it comes to exploring the history, culture and heritage of the English Riviera. Torre Abbey Museum, Torquay Museum and Brixham Heritage Museum are all excellent attractions and should definitely be included on any holiday itinerary. There are also some excellent smaller visitor centres that are definitely worth visiting, including Brixham Battery, Berry Head Visitor Centre and the National Coastwatch Institution Visitor Centre on Daddyhole Plain. And for lovers of all things both eccentric and nostalgic, make sure you include a few hours at Bygones in St Marychurch as part of your holiday plans.

Torre Abbey Museum and Art Gallery

This amazing museum presents more than 800 years of fascinating history in the most absorbing and inspiring way possible. The museum level features state-of-the-art exhibits, including talking statues, portraits and even plates in the dining room, as well as interactive touch-screens and dressing up and other fun for the kids.

The museum also features several amazing art galleries, including The Call of the Sea Gallery, Dartmoor Gallery, The Burne-Jones Gallery and the Green and Plesant Land Gallery. Torre Abbey museum is housed in an ancient scheduled monument and your ticket also includes entry to the gardens and abbey ruins, as well as the stunning palm house and the Agatha Christie Potent Plants Garden. Torre Abbey Museum welcomes some world-class touring exhibitions throughout the year, while kids and teens go free.

Torquay Museum

Travel back through 400 million years of time at Torquay Museum – a hands-on family-friendly visitor attraction, with lots to see and do for children and adults alike. A wide variety of exhibitions are hosted throughout the year by the Museum, from child-friendly summer blockbusters to fascinating exhibitions about South Devon’s amazing archaeology, geology and people.

Detect your way through Britain’s only Agatha Christie gallery, dedicated to the life story of the Queen of Crime. The gallery enables visitors to step inside Poirot’s study and lounge, including furniture, books, pictures and even fireplaces from his beautiful London Art Deco apartment. Come face-to-face with North-West Europe’s oldest human fossil and the sabre-toothed tigers he shared his Torquay home with 44,000 years ago, and explore life and death in Ancient Egypt, including the coffin of a 2,500-year-old mummified boy. You can also find out all about Percy Fawcett, the Torquay explorer and real-life inspiration for Indiana Jones.

Brixham Heritage Museum

Visitors to Brixham will love this fascinating museum housed in the old Brixham police station. It's an intriguing place to visit for all the family, with a rich collection of exhibits relating to Brixham's fishing industry. These include several maritime models and other local archaeological finds relating to the Napoleonic fort at Berry Head. All members of the family will love the reconstructed Victorian parlour, nursery and model of the railway station. Best of all, it's completely free to enter!