Any sandy beach suitable for day out from London?

kawan2

Hi,

My 8 year old son would like to go to a beach. I have a Friends & Family railcard that will expire on 31 Jul 2009. Can only travel any day between 18 Jul to 31 Jul 2009 (school holiday doesn't start till 18 Jul).

Can anyone suggest any place that we can get to from any of the London mainline stations for a day out to a place that has a nice sandy beach? Will not be actually swimming; more like pottering around in the sand for the little one. It would be nice but not a necessity if the place has something to look at or do for the adults.

There will be 2 aults and 1 child travelling.

Thanks.

macgyver

What about Southend-on-sea. It has got a few sandy beaches and is not far from London. Good train connections as well.
Camber sands has a good sandy beech as well. then get a train to Rye, Sussex station. Come out of the station and in front of you is some bus stops. You need to get the 711 bus heading to Lydd / Folkestone . That'll take you through Camber, it's only about 3 miles.

sammyw

There are some nice beaches in Essex - Walton, Clacton are easily accessible from London - takes around 90 minutes with no changes normally. Beaches are a 5-10 minute walk from station, depending on your walking speed.
Gt Yarmouth is also a lovely beach - miles of it lol but you'd need to change at norwich and would be a longer journey.

susancs

I agree that Southend is not far and as well as the beach has a long pier with a train on it and Adventure Island theme park for which you buy a daily wrist band for depending on age (you can also use Tesco club deal vouchers). The good thing about it is it is free to get in and if adults don't want to go on the rides they don't purchase a wrist band and can just sit on a bench and wait for the child to come off rides (very short queues even in July there) . They also have a nice jungle restaurant a bit like the Rainforest cafe (but less expensive) with animated realistic looking animals.
http://www.adventureisland.co.uk/

Penny-Pincher!!

What about Herne Bay or Dyme (sp) Church?

Tarry

I second Camber Sands in Sussex and it's quite easy to get too (although the 711 is now the 100). It's a fantastic sandy beach that's reachable from London. Get a train from London to Ashford and than Ashford to Rye and than catch the bus (which is hourly).

sarah_elton

sammyw wrote: »

There are some nice beaches in Essex - Walton, Clacton are easily accessible from London - takes around 90 minutes with no changes normally. Beaches are a 5-10 minute walk from station, depending on your walking speed.
Gt Yarmouth is also a lovely beach - miles of it lol but you'd need to change at norwich and would be a longer journey.

I was going to suggest Walton and Clacton as my other half and I live in Essex and spend most sunny weekend days on the beach at one or the other.

Clacton is a larger town - actually has a town centre with shops etc, more amusement arcades, more on the pier... Station is about 15 mins walk from the front.

Walton is quieter so we actually like it. We've been on a roasting hot August day before and there have only been a few other people on the beach with us! Station is about 10 mins from the front, though the journey is longer than to Clacton.

Both beaches are sandy and despite what people say about British water we've swum off Walton plenty of times and never caught anything.

robmc23

I came across an article the other day on the best UK Beaches - as I'm new to the forums I can't post a link yet (:mad:) but the website is goodbeachguide.co.uk

Hope this helps!!

kawan2

Thank you for the suggestions. I will discuss with the rest of the family as to where will go.

OH has suggested that we go further afield with the Railcard and stay a day or 2 instead of just a day trip. Suggestions have included St Ives, Cromer, Scarborough and Isle of Wight. I had a quick look at the train fares. They were pretty reasonable. The only thing was accommodation was so expensive! Overall, the cost of train fare and accommodation to St Ives cost about nearly much as our trip to Istanbul 2 weeks ago!

Cheers.

inspector_monkfish

Its got to be FRINTON-ON-SEA surely?
go from Liverpool Street station.

its sandwiched inbetween Clacton and Walton
has a lovely long unspoilt sandy beach (got to be about 2 miles) fairly chav-free !!!

we often go there and like it because its not at all commercialised and has no tacky arcades like Clacton and Walton

end of the day, you can wander into the high street and get fish&chips to eat on the Greensward above the beach before you go home
or even an ice-cream for a couple of shops

whatever you choose, make sure you check the Tide times
u wouldn't want to get all the way there and find you can't even get on the beach!!

you can check here (use Walton as a guide):
http://www.tendringdc.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/36FDC028-0113-4F93-A07A-FFFEA977B657/0/TideTable2009PDF.pdf

Frinton beach articles:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/essex/content/articles/2005/08/31/frinton_beach_feature.shtml

http://www.tendringdc.gov.uk/TendringDC/Leisure/Seafront+and+Beaches/FrintononSeaBeach.htm

inspector_monkfish

Where to find the best beaches:

Ten beaches - including Brightlingsea, Frinton-on-Sea, two at Felixstowe and three in Lowestoft - maintained their recommended status.

http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/news/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=News&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=xDefault&itemid=IPED21%20May%202009%2023%3A01%3A48%3A020

http://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/4387931.Tendring_s_tops_for_its_beaches_and_a_sunny_bank_holiday_is_promised/