Beaches

Camber Sands
Over the sand dunes at the back of the house. Camber Sands is a famous long stretch of golden sand, backed by magnificent dunes. Can be very busy in high summer. Dogs are restricted between the months of May and September.

Winchelsea Beach
15-minute drive. Shingle and sand. Lovely for swimming at high tide as you don’t have to walk out too far and once you’re in the water it’s sandy underfoot. Dogs allowed all year round.

Rye Harbour
Not strictly a beach but well worth a visit as you can park the car and walk (kids can cycle or scooter alongside you as the walk is a nice smooth path) all the way along the estuary (you can see Rye on the opposite side) down to the furthest eastern tip of Winchelsea Beach and look across the water to Camber Sands!

Fairlight
25-minute drive. Shingle with large boulders, patches of sand and towering cliffs. Great for walking and fossil finding. Please note that some areas are used by naturists!

Hastings
35-minute drive. Perhaps you wouldn’t go to Hastings for the beach (although actually it is very clean and safe) but there are plenty of seaside attractions here, such as the aquarium, funfair, crazy golf, the tall black net huts (peculiar to Hastings) and it is home to Britain’s largest beach-launched fishing fleet! You can buy fish straight off the boats here or from one of the many shacks dotted around on the beach.

Dungeness
15-minute drive. Britain’s only desert and home to Derek Jarman’s home & garden (now a museum). Other attractions include the lighthouses (you can climb up the old one), the wartime ‘listening ears”, The power stations, great off-beach fishing, lifeboat station, amazing array of quirky houses on the shingle (many built around railway carriages) and of course is a designated national nature reserve. Take a brisk walk and then enjoy fish and chips at the famously haunted Pilot Inn! (01797 320314) This is a wild and wonderful place that is both bleak and beautiful at the same time. People tend to love it or hate it!

Greatstone
20-minute drive. Beautiful two-mile stretch of golden-sand beach and dunes. Much less busy than camber although fewer facilities and not much beach left at high tide.

Fishing

You can fish straight off the beaches at Winchelsea and Dungeness (great for mackerel in the summer).
Try razor clam hunting or shrimping at low tide at Camber Sands and Winchelsea Beach.
Try crabbing at Rye Harbour along the jetty or harbour wall outside the lifeboat station.

Rye Nook
Just before Rye Harbour – even if you don’t fish it’s worth a visit. With a few lakes of varying size surrounded by trees and reeds. This is a well-stocked, mixed fishery with 30lb+ carp as well as bream, roach and rudd. You can buy your ticket at the village shop in Rye Harbour.

Boat Trips

Bodium Boating Station
Trips along the river Rother.
Riverside Cottage, Rye Road, Newenden, Kent TN18 5PP (25-minute drive)
01797 253838 | www.bodiamboatingstation.co.uk

Electric Boat Trips
Trips along the Royal Military Canal.
The Boat Hut, The Grove, Hythe, Kent, CT21 6AX (40-minute drive)
07885 318301 | www.electricboathythe.co.uk

Churches

Romney Marsh Churches
Famous for its rural historic churches. There are 14 scattered across the march with St Thomas Beckett at Fairfield the most iconic and used as a backdrop for the most recent version of Great Expectations. Marooned amid the marshy landscape with no graveyard or fence to keep the sheep from grazing right up to the door. This really is a magical spot that is the last remnants of a mediaeval village. Other Romney Marsh churches include St Augustine at Brookland, All Saints at Burmarsh, St Clements at Old Romney (Derek Jarman is buried here), St Dunstan at Snargate (do not miss a pint in the Red Lion if you go here- a spit and sawdust pub, serving beer from the barrel, that has barely changed since the war). Check out the Romney Marsh website for more details.
www.theromneymarsh.net

St Thomas’ Church
A 13th-Century church steeped in rich and vibrant local history.
St Thomas Street, Winchelsea TN36 4EB (15-minute drive)
www.winchelseachurch.co.uk

Church of the Holy Spirit
A 13th-Century church steeped in rich and vibrant local history.
Harbour Road, Rye (10-minute drive)

Museums & Galleries

Fishermen’s Museum
A museum dedicated to the fishing industry and maritime history of Hastings.
Rock-A-Nore Rd, Hastings TN34 3DW (30-minute drive)
01424 461446 | www.hastings-fish.co.uk

Shipwreck Museum
An independent charitable museum in the historic Old Town of Hastings. The museum has artefacts from many ships wrecked in the English Channel.
Rock-A-Nore Rd, Hastings TN34 3DW (30-minute drive)
01424 437452 | www.shipwreckmuseum.co.uk

Smugglers Adventure
Telling the story of smuggling on the South Coast of England 200 years ago.
St Clement’s Caves, Hastings TN34 3HY (35-minute drive)
01424 422964 | www.smugglersadventure.co.uk

Hastings Museum and Art Gallery
John’s Place, Bohemia Rd, Hastings TN34 1ET (35-minute drive)
01424 451052 | www.hmag.org.uk

The True Crime Museum
Palace Court, White Rock, Hastings TN34 1JP (30-minute drive)
01424 420115 | www.truecrimemuseum.co.uk

Battle Abbey
1066 Battlefield (with reenactments), museum, abbey ruins and more.
High Street, Battle, East Sussex, TN33 0AD (35-minute drive)
0370 333 1181 | www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/1066-battle-of-hastings-abbey-and-battlefield

Rye Castle Museum
Rye Castle Museum, 3 East Street, Rye, East Sussex TN31 7JY (10-minute drive)
01797 226728 | www.ryemuseum.co.uk

Castles, Houses and Gardens

Camber Castle
Take a family guided tour around the historic castle built by Henry VIII. The castle lies between Rye and Winchelsea and features the ruin of an unusually unaltered artillery fort designed to guard the port of Rye. There are monthly guided walks around Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, including the castle and local farm. Please note that Camber Castle is open by guided tour only.
Rye TN31 7TD (10-minute drive)
0370 333 1181 | www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/camber-castle

Lamb House
Red-brick, Georgian former home of US novelist Henry James, with a peaceful walled garden.
West St, Rye TN31 7ES (10-minute drive)
01580 762334 | www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lamb-house

Great Dixter
Northiam, Rye TN31 6PH (25-minute drive)
01797 252878 | www.greatdixter.co.uk

Theatres

Lamb Players
West Street, Rye TN31 7ES (10-minute drive)
www.thelambplayers.com

The White Rock Theatre
Large venue for classical and rock music, stand-up comedians, circus, panto and community events.
White Rock, Hastings TN34 1JX (35-minute drive)
01424 462288 | www.whiterocktheatre.org.uk