This week is set to be a scorcher and while the city may at present feel like a giant hair dryer, there are plenty of places with a cool coastal breeze that you can escape to by the time Saturday rolls around.
For those that live in London, making it through the week is the main goal – tumbling through life in a coffee-fuelled haze. This often means that there’s not much time to think about how the most can be made of this unusually fine June weather.
But for Londoners with a love of sand, sun(ish) and salty sea air, a last-minute day out at the seaside is within easy grasp. Inviting readers to swap the Tube for a helter-skelter, a hastily-grabbed sandwich for some mouth-wateringly delicious vinegar-smothered fish and chips, and a brisk commuter walk along smoggy, busy streets for a leisurely stroll atop breezy clifftops, Sarah Guy’s London on Sea: 50 capital days out on the coast has landed on our desks – just in the nick of time.
Packed with suggestions ranging from delightful beaches such as Camber and West Wittering, to traditional breaks like Felixstowe and Worthing, and more obscure destinations such as Leigh-on-Sea and Dungeness where you would only, perhaps, go once, it’s filled with plenty of inspiration for those eager to escape the heat.
Here are seven of our favourite destinations
1. Deal
Deal is the perfect destination for a grown-up, stress-free break: charming, easily accessible by train and with a fine selection of pubs. The compact town centre resembles a film set, with rows of Georgian houses and fishermen’s cottages leading to a shingle beach lined with boats. No wonder legions of Londoners have snapped up sea-view properties and the DFL (Down From London) influence can be seen in the growing number of upmarket shops and restaurants.
There’s little that’s garish here – even the amusement arcade is low-key, and the must-visit fish and chip shop, Middle Street Fish Bar, is tucked away on one of Deal’s prettiest streets. The pier is similarly unshowy, with nothing on it except fishermen and a no-nonsense café at the end.
You’re spoilt for choice when it comes to drinking haunts, from the Hoy (for wood-fired pizza) to the trad vibe of the The Ship, but it’s hard to resist the siren call of The Bohemian. Close to the sea front, this is a laid-back, late-opening pub with a tucked-away beer garden and generous plates of food.
Deal runs seamlessly into Walmer; both have castles, though Walmer’s is rather grander than Deal’s, with lovely gardens and an ace tea room (check out the sausage rolls). It’s an easy, scenic stroll along the Saxon Shore Way, with the shingle beach, dotted with wild fennel and sea kale, only yards away.
2. Walton-on-the-Naze
Visiting Walton-on-the-Naze is a bit like stepping back in time, with old-school pleasures such as dodgems, sandcastles and kites to the fore, and a nice cup of tea as the drink of choice. Just steps from the shore, the centre of town has seen better days, but it is worth a small detour for fish and chips at Yates or a pint at the Victory.
But there’s so much more to Walton: as well as the family-friendly beach, there are fascinating bits of history, nature and geology to uncover.
Stretching out to sea is one of the longest pleasure piers in the UK; it’s a hulking structure, housing an array of slot machines, a tenpin bowling alley and a popular amusement park with lots of children’s rides. Either side of the pier are miles of golden sands, divided by seaweed-coated groynes, and backed by stacked rows of prettily painted beach huts. The beach – which almost disappears at high tide – is speckled with shells; you might also find a fossil.
The Naze is Walton’s USP, a grassy headland surrounded by water on three sides, patterned by nature trails and home to the Naze Tower which doubles as an art gallery and a tearoom, with homemade cakes and snacks. Beyond the Naze is Hamford Water National Nature Reserve, made up of creeks, salt marshes and mud- and sand-flats, home to seals and important for wildfowl.
3. Thorpeness
This picture-book village by the sea is its own little world, and quite unlike other resorts. It owes its existence to Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie, who built the village as a holiday playground in the early twentieth century.
It’s full of quirky buildings, most notably the House in the Clouds (built as a water tower), but there’s also a windmill and plenty of idiosyncratic faux Tudor and Jacobean houses to marvel over (and stay in); the black-painted wooden cottages along Uplands Road are charming, too. The beach is mainly shingle, colonised in places by some impressive greenery – sea kale, campion, sea pea, sea spurge and even some rosehip bushes – but untouched by ice-cream kiosks.
Thorpeness is very family-friendly – the picturesque boating lake, the Meare, is a highlight – and everything is within walking distance. The Kitchen@Thorpeness is a great place to eat, for a full meal or a snack. The only pub, the Dolphin.
The great attraction of Thorpeness is that there are few attractions. You can walk to Aldeburgh along the beach. In the other direction you reach Sizewell Beach. The shingle beach here is peaceful, backed by dunes and dotted with plants; it’s popular with dog-walkers, as there are no seasonal restrictions.
4. Broadstairs
Broadstairs has an old-fashioned air, right down to its pretty clifftop bandstand, though more than one modish shop has started to appear among the family-run greengrocer’s and candy-floss merchants.
The clifftop setting adds to its charm, and the sandy beaches are a treat, summer or winter. References to Charles Dickens, a frequent visitor to the town, are everywhere, and there’s a Dickens Festival held every summer. Lurid tales of smuggling are also a running theme.
There’s plenty of beach to go round, and it’s easy to walk between many of them (though watch out for the tide). The beaches are sandy, though chalk reef is exposed at low tide. Viking Bay is the main town beach, a sweep of sand backed by cliffs and beach huts; St Mary’s Bay and Stone Bay are the next two beaches heading north and are generally quieter than Viking Bay. All the beaches can be reached by walking or cycling the Viking Coastal Trail.
Wyatt & Jones, which serves knockout modern British food in a brasserie setting close to the beach, wouldn’t look out of place in Shoreditch. Word is out, so book ahead for dinner. Bessie’s Tea Parlour is where to go if you’re after homemade cakes, vintage cake stands and a wide range of teas. Morelli’s gelaterie has been in the same premises since 1932, and is much-photographed; the choice runs from a single scoop to an OTT sundae.
5. Sandgate
A classy little resort just along the coast from Folkestone, Sandgate is known for its antique shops and its HG Wells connection. Happily for the day-tripper, it also has above-average food and drink options and a quiet beach.
The pebble beach is backed by a promenade – it’s an easy one-mile stroll to the bright lights of Folkestone in one direction, and an equally flat three-mile walk to the slightly dimmer lights of Hythe in the other.
Beside antique and junk shops, the main drag is lined with restaurants and coffee shops, and gift shops like the Sandgate Trading Company. There’s a good choice of pubs, including the Inn Doors Micropub. Eateries punch above their weight: Roka offers top-notch pizza; Orchard Lane Coffee House is a metropolitan-style coffee-stop; Comemos is a deli-café with Spanish leanings; and the Boat House café is the place for a bacon roll beside the sea.
The essence of Sandgate – seemingly casual but actually well-presented and carefully executed – is best captured by Loaf. This dog-friendly café has mismatched furniture and a low-key vibe, but the waiting staff are mustard-keen and the quality of the cakes, snacks and coffee is high.
6. Felixstowe
Felixstowe hasn’t yet been rediscovered, which is what makes it so delightful. The glory days of this prime Edwardian resort are long gone, but there’s still plenty to entertain. You can no longer arrive by paddle steamer from London, and the station has been reduced to one platform, but the legacy of the town’s heyday includes some handsome buildings and the Seafront Gardens, restored and Grade II listed. These hug the cliff face behind the beach and, together with the low-key illuminations strung along the promenade, make for a classy seafront.
There are amusements, a theatre (the Spa Pavilion) and a pier (restored in 2017). Families come for the miles of sand and shingle, lined with bright beach huts and the occasional kiosk. The all-day Alex Brasserie is a good spot for a bacon sandwich or a cocktail; there’s a terrace overlooking the sea. Perched in the Gardens, Chilli & Chives @ the Cliff Top has a covetable location, too, and serves lunches and homemade cake.
For quieter beaches, head north towards Old Felixstowe; you can walk all the way along the front. Heading south from the centre of town, on the Landguard Peninsula, there’s a foot ferry that takes passengers to Harwich and Shotley. Also on this side of town is a nature reserve, the eighteenth-century Landguard Fort and Felixstowe Museum; you can walk here along the coast from Felixstowe town.
7. Seaford
Sleepy Seaford is surrounded by some of the loveliest countryside in Sussex. Footpaths lead out of town in all directions, but the most dramatic of these runs east along the cliff to Cuckmere Haven (the scenic flood plain immortalised by painter Eric Ravilious) and on to the Seven Sisters. Fans of Sussex artist Eric Slater can follow the Slater Trail – many of the views are little changed since he captured them in the 1930s.
The town itself has a long sweep of pebble beach, given drama by Seaford Head to the east and Newhaven Harbour in the distant west. The seafront is refreshingly low-key. There are no funfairs or amusements, just a couple of beach kiosks, one of which, Frankie’s, has deckchairs and a sandpit. A well-preserved Martello tower houses the Seaford Museum.
You won’t go hungry: there are several chippies, lots of pubs, cafés of all persuasions, and some good all-day options, notably the Grumpy Chef and Front Room. Shops tend to be independents and include a toy shop and a haberdasher’s alongside a few modish gift shops – charity-shop trawlers will be kept busy.
Sarah Guy is the author of London on Sea published by Ebury Press; £9.99 hardback. Pick up your copy at the Telegraph bookshop here.