One of Britain’s best seaside towns is just over one hour from London

London is a marvellous place in sunshine, but even the most die-hard lovers of the capital struggle to resist the call of the sea in balmy summer months. And there is no shortage of beaches near London – here at Time Out we’ve even made a list of all the sandy, rocky and shingly stretches of coast within easy reach of the city.

If you’re looking to narrow down your options and visit a tip-top seaside town, consumer advice site Which? has just published a list of the best coastal settlements in the UK – and one of them is pretty near London. To get its list Which? surveyed 5,000 of its members, who fed back on stuff like trip satisfaction and whether they’d recommend a destination to other holidaymakers. 

Which?’s list is packed with classic British seaside places, with towns in Devon, Dorset and north Wales all making the cut. Top spot was taken by Bamburgh in Northumberland (for the fourth year in a row, no less), and you can read more about that here.

So, what about Which?-acclaimed towns that are near London? The highest-scoring (and nearest) of the lot was Rye. The East Sussex town placed seventh overall and received a ‘destination score’ of 79 percent, with four-star ratings for its food and drink, tourist attractions, scenery, accommodation and value for money.

And best of all, Rye is just over an hour from London by train (one hour and six minutes, if you get the fastest trains). If you’re driving, it’ll typically take around two hours.

Rye was the highest placed sort-of-near-London town in Which?’s list, but there were others in similarly prestigious positions. If you narrow the ranking down to just the towns with five-star beaches (besides, Rye doesn’t have a beach and sits a few kilometres from the sea), Frinton-on-Sea in Essex is just an hour and a half away by train (and around two hours by car).

You can find Which?’s article in full here.

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