The British seaside: Dud or dud?

maybe have a look round Barmouth area on the west coast, feel like it's not too cliffy but some nice beaches and probly not crazy expensive

We're just booked a Northumberland coastal holiday that seemed very reasonable. No idea how nice it is going to be - we've heard positive things - but is alongside beaches rather than cliffs. I guess it depends where you are travelling from.

I have the sudden inexplicable desire to go to some godforsaken faded seaside glamour bit of the Essex coast.

Like, Shoeburyness or Walton-on-the-Naze or somewhere. Where has a good pier?

I'm going to yarmouth on Friday who's gonna stop me

Which Yarmouth? I <3 the Isle of Wight Yarmouth but not sure about East Anglia.

Essex walks website recommends me Clacton-on-Sea to Walton-on-the-Naze, 7 mile walk taking in TWO piers. Has anyone done this? It's a sea wall, so it should be pretty much flat, the whole way.

(I confess, half the reason I want to go to Walton-on-the-Naze is the name, and the other half is Tracy Jacks.)

Did you ever do The Broomway?

No, it seemed semi-suicidal to attempt by myself.

Kinda want to do the Saxon church walk on the sea wall at Bradwell (another Macfarlane rec) but the train is quite some way away.

There look to be guided walks.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2014/apr/15/britains-coastline-captured-in-atmospheric-photos-for-rnli-contest-in-pictures

I'm not a big fan of guided walks, really. They never seem to go at the right speed.

Those are beautiful photos; that last one of Sennen looks like a John Martin painting. Which I guess Sennen often does, in a storm.

"They never seem to go at the right speed."

^ Yes, this.

bb, I mean the norfolk yarmouth, as it's near me. I'll probably wander over to hemsby or somewhere once I've checked in at the hotel.

Can anyone recommend a cottage by the (UK) coast, that might be nice/available towards the end of this month ... ?

budget?

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/3414940?s=rPlF

We'd found somewhere in Norfolk for £400 ... but then it was cancelled to be refurbished.

That does look quite nice.

Sorry djh, I just saw this - I go to the Suffolk coast from time to time, Southwold, Aldeburgh, Orford etc, and there quite a few airbnb places for below £400 if you go out of season.

Was in Rhyll last week. It was like a place just recovering from a nuclear or zombie apocalypse. Sea was out and there's several bits of front between the last houses and the littoral, and it felt desolate and hopeless beyond belief. Only saw one or two other people on the front itself, usually negotiating various awkward bits of front infrastructure (two main roads either side of a promenade, then beach), sitting for about ten minutes at a bus stop as if waiting for a bus out of the place, but then moving on. A couple went into the dark entrance of the otherwise closed looking 'Seaworld' aquarium. An old man on a mobility scooter made incredibly slow progress by the main road.

On the way out passed one of the holiday camp resorts, looking very much generally like military camps, apart from various large cartoon characters on each set of huts giving big thumbs up etc.

I grew up in a Devon seaside town. The British seaside is awful and soul crushing. The coast, on the other hand, is wonderful.

We spent a beautiful week on the north Norfolk coast (Stiffkey); we've just booked a week on the Lincolnshire coast for the first week in January. Have never been to Lincolnshire before (and have never met anyone who has).

So ... if you were in Whitby but finding it a bit impossible (too busy, too difficult to physically distance) where would you go? Seaside/coast would get bonus points but anywhere to avoid people, really? Entertaining a six year old gets more points.

Back to Transylvania?

Not an easy task w/ the kicker of entertaining a child! If Whitby's too busy, Robin Hood's Bay probably will be as well, though there is a pretty long stretch of beach. You could go down the coast a bit further and have a stroll around the amazing Ravenscar Hall hotel (the gardens are free to roam around iirc, last time I was there) and it has amazing views.

Your best bet probably could be the Folling Foss Tea Garden, a really nice tea garden in the forest w/ lots of room for kids to run around or do whatever it is kids do :) And for you to enjoy the sights and nature as well (and some grub). Website is here

*Falling Foss, that is

That looks so idyllic. I cannot possibly express how much I want to be sitting outside a tea room in a forest right now.