Do you ever have the urge to just drop everything and escape for a few days? I often feel like this and I think it can be the most refreshing, rejuvenating thing you can do sometimes. A couple of weeks ago, that's exactly what we did! After a busy few weeks at work, a university assignment handed in and with just a week until we were due to move out of our flat I was feeling rather exhausted and there was nothing I was craving more than a couple of relaxing days away, somewhere different and more peaceful than London. On my lunch break at work on the Tuesday I texted Rob "pleeeeeease can we drive to the beach tomorrow?" fully expecting him to reply with a no, but to my delight he agreed! The weather was forecast to be twenty four degrees on the Wednesday {in April, can you believe it?!?} so I booked us a last minute stay at The Gallivant at Camber Sands {a hotel I had been wanting to stay at for a while - blog post to follow}.
The Sussex coast is one of the nicest in the UK and is so much easier to get to from London compared with Devon and Cornwall which can take hours, especially if you hit traffic. What with it being a weekday {I do love shift work sometimes} we managed to drive down to Rye in an hour an a half. Rye is situated just off the coast in East Sussex, near Hastings. It is often referred to as "the quaintest town in England" and it is renowned for it's picturesque cobbled streets, medieval buildings and true British charm. It had been on my list of places to visit for a long time!
We arrived mid-afternoon but instead of visiting Rye town straight away we decided to drive through the Romney Marshes {miles and miles of wetlands and conservation areas} to Rye Harbour. My mum used to go here with her old boyfriend when she was young, and I imagined it to be a cute harbour village with boats, fishing nets and a seaside feel to it. Unfortunately it wasn't quite as picturesque as I'd imagined. The village is situated just inland from the sea, along the River Rother. There is indeed a harbour with a small fleet of fishing boats but it didn't have that cute seaside charm I was hoping for. Being so close to the marshlands and the river it's pretty smelly. There were a couple of shops and a pub and I believe there's also a holiday park too. The area was popular with walkers and bird spotters, what with it being so close to the wetland areas, but I can't say either of us are into bird watching really! Never the less, it was a novelty to be able to hear seagulls and it was a truly beautiful day so we sat in the sunshine and had a diet coke before getting back in the car and driving the 3km back to Rye...
We parked the car on one of the side roads and walked up Mermaid Street, Rye's most famous street. It really was as beautiful as the countless instagram photos I had seen! The area was popular with tourists - everyone was snap happy with their cameras, taking photos of the beautiful, chocolate-box houses. I couldn't help but do the same...
And just look at the sky! Brilliant blue!
How beautifully British! It's no wonder people travel from all ends of the earth to see these cobbled streets in real life. As we turned each corner, each street had its own charm. None of the houses were the same, some were covered with ivy and wisteria, others bare brick or painted in pastel shades.
Best of all I loved the old medieval houses with their exposed beams and crooked roofs. This was my personal favourite...
Yep, I'm pretty sure I live here quite happily...
And I loved this old brick building on the High Street, which is an old record shop...
Rye is renowned for it's antique shops, the town is full of them! Almost as if it was a rite of passage for each street to have an antique shop! I was in my element, looking at various pieces of old, rustic furniture and Annie Sloan'd mirrors, chairs and blanket boxes. If you're an antique lover, then I'm sure you would love Rye.
After meandering around the backstreets and along the High Street we stopped off in the cutest greengrocers, Johnson's Fruiterers, to pick up a punnet of fresh strawberries to enjoy on the beach a bit later that afternoon. And after a quick stop off at the Mermaid Street Café for some Móvenpick ice cream {it would have been rude not to!}, we got back in the car and drove along to Camber Sands...
Neither I nor Rob had been to Camber Sands before but I had heard a few people raving about it so I had a feeling it was going to be pretty lovely. We parked our car for free just across the road at The Gallivant where we were staying, checked in, and after a cup of tea we packed up our towels and headed over to the beach. There's a paid car park at the beach which is open until 8pm daily, with a modern toilet block, cafe and shop {just incase you've forgotten your bucket and spade}. To get to the beach from the car park, there is a pretty steep climb up and over the sand dunes but once you reach the top you are graced with the most incredible view. Camber Sands was so much bigger and more beautiful than I had expected, I couldn't believe the vast expanse of BEACH before my eyes!
We couldn't have possibly picked a better day for it, it was so warm without a cloud in the sky. I'm not a massive fan of sand between my toes, but I couldn't help but have that "holiday feeling". And because it was a week day it wasn't too populated, infact it was very pleasant. I can imagine when the weather is nice at weekends or during the holidays, it gets ridiculously busy at Camber. Surely it's the beach that the whole of Sussex flocks to when it's a nice day! We walked over the sand dunes {which is quite tiring after a while, you'd be surprised!} in search of the perfect spot to sunbathe and enjoy some strawberries...
Just look at these views, I love the fresh green Marram grass against the brilliant blue sky.
It felt as if we were in Spain or something, the weather was just so perfect. Very few things in life make me feel more relaxed and content than being by the sea, I love hearing the waves. Strawberries, blue skies and the seaside. Could it get any better?
Naturally, we just had to be cringe and take some selfies...
After a while we wandered down onto the beach itself and trekked, yes trekked {the tide was out so far!} to the sea, looking out for shells along the way.
Are you ready for some photo spam?!
We finally made it to the sea and felt like children again paddling up to our knees! The water was surprisingly warm actually, to my relief.
It's no wonder that Camber Sands has won various awards for being one of the best beaches in Britain, it is truly beautiful with it's vast, empty acres of sand which seem to stretch for miles and miles. The views really were breathtaking. It would be the perfect place to bring your dog if you're a dog owner and if you have children they would no doubt have endless amounts of fun playing in the sand dunes and paddling in the sea.
After another lovely walk through the dunes, we felt totally 'beached' - you know, that wonderful, glowing feeling that you get from an afternoon spent in the seaside air? You just can't beat it.
Lydia xxx
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