Overview

I visited Torre Abbey on 4 consecutive days as part of attending the International Agatha Christie Festival. All the events were held in the Spanish Barn and the cafe was open some days. Both locations were step free and very accessible.

Transport & Parking

Torre Abbey is a 8-10 minute level walk from Torquay train station and similar but slightly shorter from the sea front. There are no buses that stop directly outside but there are many buses that stop on the sea front nearby. If you approach from the sea front from King's Drive, there is the very pleasant Kings Gardens, with a pond and wildfowl, which also offers bench seating. If you arrive by car there is designated disabled parking spaces (see photo).

Access

The Spanish Barn is a separate building to the main museum. It has level access and the cobble stones in front of the door, have been smoothed down and not pronounced. Inside there for the events I attended there were free standing chairs. The barn is on ground floor level throughout and is step free. the stage area for the speakers had both steps and a ramp, so was fully accessible. Leaving the Spanish Barn, you can go through an archway to the cafe. It has outdoor seating with free standing tables and chairs and unobstructed views down to the sea front. The cafe is small. The door was open when I arrived. It has free standing tables and chairs. There is a standing height counter where you order your food. On this visit I did not go into the museum or gardens.

Toilets

The cafe has an accessible toilet, which was spacious and clean. It had grab rails and an emergency cord, but it didn't reach to the ground. There were some portaloos at the side of the Spanish Barn which included an accessible one. However I didn't use this.

Staff

The Agatha Christie Festival events at the Spanish Barn were staffed by friendly, welcoming and helpful volunteers. I would have felt comfortable requesting assistance if required. The staff at the cafe were very helpful and food was ordered at the counter and served at our table.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

I felt covid confident as the barn was large enough to space out towards the back if you wanted to. The venue was clean and tidy. The homemade food is delicious. The only disappointment was that the cafe was not open daily for the duration of the Festival. This is a lovely venue, set in accessible, step free buildings and I'd be very happy to return again for next year's Agatha Christie Festival.

Photos