To the seaside by train -- where to go?

penguine

My 6-year-old daughter wants to spend a day at the seaside over the summer holidays. We live in London and will need to go by train as I don't drive. Can anyone recommend a good destination which is under 2 hours (preferably 1 to 1.5 hours) from Waterloo or Waterloo East?

delain

Bournemouth!

probably a bit more than 2 hours but you can get a faster train to bournemouth direct from waterloo so no changing.

and it really is lovely here

davetrousers

delain wrote: »

Bournemouth!

You'll need to get a taxi between the Train Station and Beach though.

delain

They're very close together, and you can catch a bus from the train station down to the centre near the beach.

Also, if you could go from victoria on the coach to bournemouth you can get 'funfares' which is like £8 one way!

delain

And you can get a yellowbuses ticket that lasts all week for £15 and will get you anywhere in the bournemouth area, including christchurch, castlepoint (shopping centre) etc.

loobyloo2

c2c from Fenchurch St, straight to Southend, usually you can get a deal with the tickets to pleasure island at the station too.
Or if you prefer it a bit quieter and away from the amusements, just stay on the Southend train until it teminates at Shoeburyness.

Or stay in London and spend the day in Hyde Park, you can sunbathe and swim in the Serpentine, and hire a rowing boat too.

andyman2303

West Wittering beach is lovely! Although I'm not too sure about getting there by train...it's fairly hidden away from public transport

KeithP

andyman2303 wrote: »

West Wittering beach is lovely! Although I'm not too sure about getting there by train...it's fairly hidden away from public transport

To Chichester by train then approx 20min bus no 52/53.

penguine

Thanks for all the suggestions, having looked at train times I'm now leaning towards Brighton as it's only 1.5 hours door to door (Bournemouth was 2.5 hours!). Does anyone have any suggestions for Brighton? I've been there before, but it was just a short stop on the way to somewhere else.

davetrousers

Will your child be happy at a shingle beach?

That said I do quite like Brighton. You've got the pier which should keep you entertained for a bit.

Nikkisun

To be honest I'd spend the extra hour on the train and go to Bournemouth - lovely sandy beach, and just opposite them are some lovely gardens with mini-golf and a tethered hot air balloon.

In contrast Brighton is a stoney beach (so no sandcastle building there) and other than the pier (which is very expensive) and the sealife centre (one in Bournemouth as well) there's not much else for kids.