Best Ice Cream and Gelato in Exeter and Devon 2026

Devon Does Ice Cream Differently

There are parts of the country where ice cream is an afterthought — a Mr Whippy from a van in a car park, eaten quickly before it melts onto your wrist. Devon is not one of those places. Here, ice cream is a serious business. The county has some of the richest dairy farmland in England, a coastline that practically demands a cone in hand, and a culture of small-batch, farm-to-scoop production that most regions can only dream of.

Exeter sits right at the heart of it. Whether you want thirty-odd flavours by the water on the Quay, handmade chocolate gelato on Gandy Street, or you're willing to drive twenty minutes to a farm parlour that has won every award going, the city and its surroundings deliver. And here's the thing we keep coming back to at Dinners With Friends: few things are better for effortless socialising than grabbing an ice cream and going for a walk. No booking required. No dress code. No pressure. Just good company and something sweet.

This is our guide to the best of it.

In the City: Exeter's Best Ice Cream and Gelato

Venezia — Exeter Quay

If you've spent any time on Exeter Quay in warmer months, you'll have seen the queue outside Venezia. Sitting at 61 Waterside, right on the water's edge, it is an Italian restaurant and pizzeria with an ice cream counter that has become synonymous with summer in Exeter. Be clear about what it is, though: the ice cream is bought in rather than made on site. Their own site says they picked over thirty flavours from Marshfield and Carte D'Or, and they cater for vegan and gluten-free customers alongside a special dog-friendly ice cream for four-legged companions.

The draw is the location and the sheer choice, not artisan production — and on a hot afternoon that is more than enough. You grab your cone, walk along the canal path, sit on the quayside wall with your feet dangling, and watch the kayakers go past. Venezia says it opens seven days a week; check current hours on venezia-exeter.com before a late evening trip.

Chococo — Gandy Street

Chococo is technically a chocolate house, but their gelato deserves its own spotlight. Nestled at 22 Gandy Street — Exeter's most characterful independent shopping lane — Chococo makes handcrafted gelato alongside their award-winning fresh chocolates, brownies, and what many consider the best hot chocolate in the city. The gelato is rich and indulgent, with flavours that lean into their chocolate expertise. Think single-origin cocoa sorbets alongside classics like salted caramel and pistachio.

The shop itself is small but beautifully designed, and there's a cafe area where you can sit with a coffee and a scoop. If you're browsing the independent shops on Gandy Street — and you should be, it's one of the best stretches in Exeter — a Chococo stop is practically mandatory.

Cow and Cacao at Darts Farm — near Topsham

Just outside Exeter near Topsham, Darts Farm is one of Devon's most celebrated food destinations, and their in-house chocolatier and gelateria, Cow and Cacao, is a genuine highlight. What makes it special is the transparency: you can watch local organic milk being slowly churned into artisan gelato in small batches, flavoured with seasonal ingredients including honey from bees kept on the farm itself.

The gelato here changes with the seasons, which means repeat visits always bring something new. On a sunny day, the outdoor seating is a gorgeous spot to sit with a scoop before browsing the farm shop. If you're exploring the best restaurants in Exeter, Topsham is well worth the detour — and Darts Farm gives you the excuse.

Out on the Farm: Devon's Legendary Dairy Ice Cream

Devon's real ice cream magic happens on the farms. The county's lush pastures and heritage dairy herds produce milk with a richness that commercial operations simply cannot replicate. These are places worth driving to — and they make for brilliant group outings.

Otter Valley Dairy — Monkton, near Honiton

If you're going to visit one farm ice cream spot in Devon, make it Otter Valley. This fourth-generation dairy farm in the Otter Valley and Blackdown Hills has gone from selling ice cream from a wooden hut at the end of a farm lane, from 2009, to winning the Ice Cream Alliance's Parlour of the Year award in 2024. Their handcrafted artisan ice creams are made using milk from their own cows, with flavours ranging from proper Madagascan vanilla and honeycomb to seasonal specials that change throughout the year.

But Otter Valley is more than just ice cream. The Field Kitchen, opened in 2018, is a beautifully designed timber building with soaring beams and huge glass windows looking out over the valley. They serve breakfasts, light lunches, and stone-baked pizzas, and have run summer pizza nights in past years — a seasonal fixture rather than a year-round one, so check the current programme before you set out. It's about a thirty-minute drive from Exeter, and it makes for a perfect weekend outing with friends.

Salcombe Dairy — South Devon Coast

Salcombe Dairy has been making ice cream on the South Devon coast since 1979, when Peter and Tricia Howard started with fresh milk from the local farm and recipes that championed slow food before the term existed. Over forty years later, those same recipes remain as popular as ever.

What sets Salcombe Dairy apart is their commitment to allergen-friendly production. The entire factory is nut-free, gluten-free, and egg-free, and they produce a range of delicious dairy-free ice creams alongside the classics. They've also expanded into bean-to-bar chocolate, which has already collected local and international awards.

You can find Salcombe Dairy at their own shops in Salcombe, Dartmouth and Kingsbridge, at The Beach Cafe at Strete Gate, and further afield in Bath and in Clifton, Bristol. Each of the Devon locations is gorgeous in its own right. Grabbing a Salcombe Dairy cone on the Dartmouth waterfront and watching the boats is one of those quintessentially Devon experiences that never gets old. If you're planning a summer day trip from Exeter, these are the stops that make the drive worthwhile.

Langage Farm — near Plymouth

Langage Farm sits on a farmstead that has been worked for centuries, and the Harvey family began making clotted cream there in 1980 from their Channel Island milk. Today, the farm runs a herd of over 250 Jersey and Guernsey cows — breeds that produce milk naturally rich, golden, and high in cream content — and everything is made by hand in their Devonshire creamery by local people.

The ice cream is ludicrously creamy. There's no other word for it. Alongside the ice cream, Langage produces famous clotted cream, luxurious dessert yoghurts, zingy sorbets, and light frozen yoghurt. You'll find their products in local cafes, farm shops, and increasingly in supermarkets across the South West. One thing to know before you set off: the creamery itself at Higher Challonsleigh is a working production site, not a visitor attraction. If you want to buy at source, head for their Ridgeway shop in Plympton instead.

Devon's Ice Cream Culture: What Makes It Special

What separates Devon ice cream from the stuff you'll find in most of the country is the milk. Devon's rolling green pastures are grazed by heritage breeds — Jerseys, Guernseys, and other Channel Island cattle — that produce milk with a naturally higher fat content and a golden colour you can actually see. This isn't marketing spin; it's the reason Devonshire clotted cream exists in the first place, and it's the same reason the ice cream made from this milk tastes richer, creamier, and more indulgent than anything produced from standard Holstein-Friesian milk.

The farms that make ice cream here tend to be small, family-run operations where the cows graze the same fields they've grazed for generations. There's a genuine farm-to-cone ethos that you won't find in most commercial operations, and you can taste it. Whether it's Otter Valley using milk from their own herd, Langage Farm's 250-strong Jersey and Guernsey contingent, or Salcombe Dairy's forty-year-old recipes made with local farm milk, the connection between animal, land, and product is real and tangible.

It's also worth noting that Devon's ice cream producers tend to be remarkably good at catering for dietary needs. Salcombe Dairy's entirely nut-free, gluten-free, egg-free factory is a prime example, but you'll find dairy-free, vegan, and allergen-conscious options at almost every place on this list. Nobody gets left out, which matters when you're organising outings with a mixed group of friends.

The Social Scoop: Why Ice Cream Walks Work

Here's something we've noticed through running Dinners With Friends events: some of the best social connections happen when the pressure is lowest. A restaurant booking can feel like a commitment. A night out requires energy. But suggesting "let's grab an ice cream and go for a walk" — that's about as low-barrier as socialising gets.

Exeter's Quay is perfect for this. The canal path stretches for miles in either direction, the waterside is flat and accessible, and there's always something to look at. You don't need to sustain two hours of conversation across a table; you can walk, pause, point at a heron, chat, and let the silences happen naturally. It's exactly the kind of effortless social time that changes your social life without you even realising it.

For groups, a Devon ice cream farm trip works brilliantly too. Pile into a car, drive to Otter Valley or Salcombe Dairy, eat ice cream in a stunning setting, and drive home. It costs next to nothing, takes half a day, and creates the kind of shared memories that keep friendships alive on a budget.

Our Quick Picks

Best gelato in central Exeter: Chococo, Gandy Street — rich, indulgent, and made by people who understand chocolate better than almost anyone.

Best quayside experience: Venezia, Exeter Quay — an Italian restaurant with a big bought-in ice cream counter rather than a gelateria, but the location is unbeatable and the range of flavours caters to everyone, including vegans and dogs.

Best farm visit: Otter Valley Dairy, near Honiton — award-winning ice cream, stunning views, and a Field Kitchen that makes the trip about more than just dessert.

Best for a day trip: Salcombe Dairy — beautiful coastal shops across South Devon, with allergen-friendly options that mean nobody gets left out.

Best artisan gelato experience: Cow and Cacao at Darts Farm, near Topsham — watch it being made, sit outside with a scoop, and browse the farm shop while you're there.

Best supermarket find: Langage Farm — their products are stocked across Devon and the South West, which is the way to try them, as the creamery is not open to visitors. The clotted cream ice cream is exceptional.

Two More Worth the Short Drive

Neither of these is in Exeter itself, but both are close enough to build an afternoon around.

The Orange Elephant Ice Cream Parlour at Taverners Farm, Lower Brenton, Kennford, sits just south of the city. They serve cones, sundaes, coffees, and milkshakes, and in summer they open a meadow play area that makes it a brilliant family outing. Two things to note before you drive out: this is a seasonal farm parlour rather than a year-round shop, and the meadow closes in September when it becomes the calf nursery. Check their opening dates on the day rather than assuming — a farm parlour in February is a very different proposition to one in August.

The Local Scoop, at 7 Piermont Place, is in Dawlish, not Exeter — about thirty minutes down the coast, and worth knowing about if you are heading that way. It has been going since 2020 and has collected five Taste of the West awards, making its ice cream in the shop with dairy-free, vegan, and gluten-free options alongside a doggy ice cream. It sits a couple of minutes from Dawlish's seafront, which makes it a natural stop on a seaside day trip — or on a longer day out at Exmouth if you fancy stretching your legs.

For those exploring further afield, the Muddy Stilettos guide to Devon ice creameries is worth a browse for seasonal openings and pop-ups that appear across the county each summer. And if your ice cream walk takes you along the Quay, you might combine it with a stop at one of the best coffee shops in Exeter for the full afternoon experience.

The Bottom Line

Devon's ice cream scene is genuinely world-class. The combination of rich dairy farmland, passionate independent producers, and stunning locations to eat it in creates something that bigger cities simply cannot replicate. Whether you're an Exeter local looking for your next favourite scoop or visiting the area and wondering what to do on a sunny afternoon, this county has you covered.

And if you're looking for an excuse to spend more time with friends this summer without the faff of organising a big event, ice cream is the answer. A walk, a cone, and good company. Sometimes that's all you need.