Having the ocean so close all the time sometimes makes me forget there are other places in the UK that have beautiful coastlines too!
Being from Cornwall, it’s easy to stop making an effort to visit new places in England, because we have so much on our doorstep already! It’s different with cities; Lord knows I love a weekend trip up to London, or a quick stopover to see my old college hangouts in Bristol, or exploring beautiful York. Cities have a LOT of things that Cornwall just can’t offer, whereas other seaside towns and coastal spots just don’t really cross my mind.
That being said, I’ve had a lovely time exploring Wales before and I’m dying to get up to Scotland some day to discover their coastline, plus, there are 3 places here in the South of England that I’m really keen to visit and tick off my bucketlist!
Dawlish, nr. Exeter
Some of you may have a chuckle at this. I haven’t heard the BEST things about Dawlish, but having always whizzed past on the train from Cornwall and seen it out of the window more times than I can count, it’s somewhere I’ve always had in my mind to visit for a day trip.
With its quaint seaside town feel and promenade walk along the coast, where I’ve watched many people cycle, or jog, or dive into the ocean from, it just feels like somewhere I could easily spend a day imagining myself in a 1950s seaside postcard! Plus, it’s just a few minutes outside Exeter, which is beautiful and one of my favourite cities. It’s super easy to get to both Exeter or Dawlish on the train from Cornwall, and you can also get season train tickets which makes it cheaper to do multiple journeys too. I’d definitely take the train up there purely because it’s a really beautiful coastal journey and I love looking out the window!
Durdle Door & Old Harry Rocks (Jurassic Coast, Dorset)
Everyone and their dog has probably seen these beautiful cliff structures posted on Instagram on Pinterest. It’s an extremely photogenic part of the South coast (located at Lulworth, near Weymouth). I think I’ve visited Dorset once when I was very young – maybe 7 or 8 years old, with my family and family friends, but of course I’ve heard plenty about the stunning Jurassic Coast.
The World Heritage site is a well known spot for ‘fossil-hunting’, and is famous for the ‘Durdle Door’ (an iconic landmark featuring a limestone arch jutting out to sea), and ‘Old Harry Rocks’ (three chalk stack formations at the most easterly point of the Jurassic coast). Both are obviously surrounded by lovely coast path walks, and there are plenty of dog-friendly beaches to stop at along the way. It’s definitely on my to-do list this year!
Brighton
An iconic English seaside town, I’ve always had a desire to visit Brighton for a couple of days. Whether its visiting the Royal Pavilion, checking out the sunset from the observation tower, or playing arcade games on the pier, Brighton seems to always have a lot going on.
The main thing drawing me to Brighton, however, are the famous ‘Lanes’ streets – full of quirky independent cafes, record stores and vintage gems. I’ve heard that the food scene in Brighton is fantastic, with tonnes of great vegan and veggie options.
Where’s your favourite spot on England’s South Coast?
* I did not take the photos in this post (I haven’t visited these places before!); they were sourced from the CC0 website, Pixabay on 22/02/19.
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