Laurie

We will be visiting London in June.

Can anyone recommend a quaint little town near the seaside that is easily done by train from London? I have looked at Rye, but it is not close enough to the sea.

We would like beautiful views and and hiking and a quaint,well preserved small English town.
Does such a place exist?

Thank you for your help!
Laurie

GeoffHamer

How about Eastbourne? You can walk to the top of Beachy Head (or be lazy and take the bus up, then walk back down). Then get the train to Lewes which is on the way back to London so covered by the same ticket: it's a quaint old town on the River Ouse.

mclaurie

The area that fits your description the best is Cornwall which is not really a daytrip location. Rye, despite it's not being on the sea really is beautiful and is a well preserved small town. It's near Hastings which is on the sea and the town of Battle where the Battle of Hastings took place. Good hiking around there.

Poole is another idea. But really Brighton is, IMO, where you should go.

Laurie

Thank you for your suggestions, Geoff and McLaurie. I will look into these possibilities.

McLaurie, I didn't really consider Brighton because I keep reading other posts about how touristy and tacky it is.
Do you disagree with this.

Thanks again for your help. I am going to do some Google research now!

Laurie

stannseniors

What about Poole - it's supposed to be a great place for a seaside visit?

Laurie

Stan, Thanks, Poole looks like a great place! But I think it is about a 2 and 1/2 to 3 hour train trip from London.

This may be a little too far for a daytrip for us.

Thanks for the info! Any other thoughts on Brighton? Laurie

vcl

Brighton IS touristy and tacky; it's also a lot of fun. The Pavillion itself is a marvel of excess; poking about the shops in the Lanes is great fun, and the seaside has some wonderful Victoriana. The Olde Ship Hotel is truly old and serves good lunch.
And it's less than a hour from London.

Laurie

Thanks for the information, vcl. We are planning our daytrip to Brighton.

Our friends would really like to eat at an outdoor restaurant with views of the sea.
Can you recommend a place with good food that is reasonably priced?

Thanks for your help! Laurie

janis

The Brighton Pavilion is amazing and there are some fun/schlocky seaside attractions. But Brighton would be about the LAST place I'd choose for "beautiful views and and hiking and a quaint,well preserved small English town."

Brighton is/has none of those things . . . . .

Of the places suggested so far, GeoffHamer's comes closest to what you asked for.

Laurie

Thanks Janis,
I talked with my friends that we are traveling with and they decided that they would really like to see Brighton.

Maybe we will be able to go to Eastbourne on a future trip.

Do you have any recommendations for outdoor restaurants that are reasonably priced?
Thanks! Laurie

jsmith

If you aren't already museumed out from London, a quick look at the Brighton Art Gallery's 20th century decorative arts collection on the first floor covers Art Nouveau to Scandinavian design.