How to spend a weekend in Rye
Rye is a historical town in Sussex, backed by beautiful rolling hills, on the edge of the English channel. It’s one of the best preserved medieval towns in the UK, and is one of a string of great towns to visit along this coast, alongside Hastings, Folkestone and Deal. At all of which you’ll find pebble beaches, proper pubs, the odd artisan homewares store, and plentiful fish and chip shops. What’s not to love?
We spent a weekend here, staying at Tillingham surrounded by its vineyards, and explored the Rye and its beaches on our bikes. My Brompton bike* [partner] made for the perfect coastal companion, easy to fold up and sit neatly in pub gardens, and carry over pebbles on the beach. The brilliant coastal path along Rye Harbour Nature Reserve makes this an excellent cycling destination, as does the fact that Rye station is right in the middle of town and goes direct to London in just 1.5 hours. Whether you’ve got a full weekend to fill or just a day to explore, try and factor the below into your itinerary.
Mermaid Street
In Rye itself, Mermaid Street, the olde-worlde cobbled street that runs up through the town, is sort of the main event. It’s postcard-pretty and totally charming, though, well documented in guidebooks making it a popular haunt for tourists too! Halfway up, stop to admire The Mermaid Inn, a Grade II-listed inn which dates all the way back to 1420 with a turbulent history and a supposed secret passageway from smugglers’ times.
Tillingham
A well-known spot among English wine lovers, Tillingham is just 10-minutes drive from Rye station and is a definite must-do when in the area. Whether you plan to stay in one of the 11 sumptuous bedrooms, swing by for dinner, or just pop in to pick up a few bottles of wine and take a walk around the estate, is up to you, but don’t pass up a chance to visit. Tillingham is a relatively new wine estate that’s sprung up in recent years, with a strong focus on regenerative farming and biodynamic production. Along with rolling vineyards, the estate comprises 11 bedrooms in what was formerly a hop barn; a fantastic restaurant with a fancy but affordable dinner menu; a tasting room, bar and wine shop; and a pizza kitchen outside, perfect for long lunches or summer nights al fresco.
Camber Sands
Catch Camber Sands on a quiet day and it’s total beachy bliss. Go down on a hot summer’s day and it can be kind of carnage. No secret to locals nor out-of-towners, it’s a gorgeous long soft sandy stretch of beach, located to the east of Rye itself, but in walking distance of the town. Tall, wild sand dunes — great for sitting on or sliding down! — set Camber Sands apart from many of the other beaches you’ll find in Sussex, and make it feel that bit more wild and rugged. Even on a cloudy day, it’s a perfect spot for a long stroll.
Winchelsea Beach
Recommended to us by one of the team at Tillingham, Winchelsea Beach is a much quieter, lesser-known beach, located roughly 5km west of Rye. It’s a vast and open beach with very few facilities (no shops or restaurants) but a great spot for a swim, or a quiet day away from the crowds — just watch out for the very fast rising tides if you’re leaving your things on the beach for a swim! Winchelsea Beach is also the perfect starting point for a leisurely cycle into Rye, which is what took us there. A fantastic cycle (or walking!) path runs right alongside the beach all the way from Winchelsea right into Rye itself. Make the most of a sunny day with a leisurely cycle and plentiful swimming stops — bliss! I’d recommend William The Conqueror pub in Rye as the perfect half-way pint stop, before turning round and cycling/ walking back again.
Be wary of fast rising tides at Winchelsea Beach, our bikes very nearly went for a swim too!
Rye Harbour Nature Reserve
The cycle path mentioned above has the beach on one side and Rye Harbour Nature Reserve on the other, making for spectacular scenery right along it. One of the most important conservation sites in Britain, Rye Harbour Nature Reserve can be appreciated from afar, though, its network of footpaths and bird-watching hides are free to visit and definitely worth exploring up close. Calming, coastal and educational too — and all in very easy walking distance of the main streets of town.
Dungeness
The one place we didn’t get to on our trip, so remains high on my to-go list, is Dungeness. If you leave Rye via Camber Sands and keep heading south for another 20 minutes or so by car, you get to Dungeness — a rather strange and surreal headland in Kent made up largely of a shingle beach and low-lying marshland. I say strange without having been myself, because it’s home to a mix of nuclear power stations, old lighthouses and battered fishermen huts, and a sort of vast nothingness that are said to make it seem slightly dystopian. It has its own appeal, one that’s attracted artists over the years. Seek out Prospect Cottage, the much-photographed black cottage formerly owned by film-maker, Derek Jarman. Dungeness Snack Shack is meant to be worth travelling for too.
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