When I mentioned last year about moving to the Devon coast, we'd already decided that the south coast was more likely than the north coast, if only due to it being better connected if you don't have a car. I know that's it's all well and good deciding that somewhere like that would be a beautiful place to live in summer, but that you need to visit it in rainy winter to get another perspective. I think key really is finding somewhere that has enough of its own character and operates as a fully functioning place outside of tourist season.
I've got a friend who moved to Teignmouth about 5 years ago and she loves it - and she's lived in Bristol or London her whole life. I do feel particularly drawn by that stretch of coast between Torquay and the Exe estuary. And you have Exeter on your doorstep. North Devon is just a lot more remote, and getting from north to south isn't easy due to having to navigate Dartmoor.
