Bideford occurs as little port town on the northern coast of the county of Devon in south-west England. Twinned with the town of Landivisiau in France, it is a independent town of the Torridge local government district.

This vicinity of Northerly Devon was house to the Creator Charles Kingsley, and is in which he depending his novel "Westward Ho!". Since that novel was published, the settlement has grown, known as Westward Ho! after the book. Westward Ho!, which is the simply town in the United Kingdom that officially contains an exclamation mark in its name, is placed close to Iii miles (5 kilometres) away from Bideford.

In the 16th century Bideford was Britain's third largest port; these are rumoured that Sir Walter Raleigh landed his first shipment of tobacco there. Now, a narrow town centre streets lead down to the tree lined quay which bustles with fishing vessels, cargo & pleasure boats.

The famed feature in the town is the mediaeval Long Bridge, which has 24 arches, all of different sizes. It links a independent section of the town to East-the-Water. Ferry services run from either Bideford Quay to the island of Lundy, situated two or three miles to sea.

Bideford is typically illustrious for its New Year's Eve celebrations, when thousands of people from surrounding towns and villages (and many from further afield) gather on the quay for revelries and a fireworks display.

A Bideford & Instow Railway heritage railway operates trains from the old Bideford station.