Beach recommendations within 2 hour drive of London

[Jamdown123]

Hi All!

I've just looked online and seen that Monday coming looks like good weather!! My DC have an inset day so I thought I might surprise them with a day at the beach.

What are your recommendations? We need sand for sandcastles. Not too busy would be nice because I'll have at least 3 children with me, one being a toddler so lots of running away etc. being within 1 metre of the next beachgoer will be a hassle with all the 'sorry, oh sorry, no don't eat that it's not ours, oh sorry'. Ugh.

;p ;p

Camber Sands in East Sussex? (Near Rye, and the small town of Camber). I’ve not been for a few years but it’s definitely a sandy beach and we had a great couple of days down there.

Whereabouts in London are you? Easier for example to get the south coast from south London, the Essex coast would be a longer journey.

Dymchurch is lovely. It is busy but the beach is huge when the tide is out. There's a little amusement park and plenty of proper beach food like fish and chips and ice cream.

Which side of London?

It takes an hour to cross London.

I'm in West London. I'll be driving through Central London for sure!

But that's good idea PP. I wonder whether I can find a one night airbnb new Camber.

It's going to fair eat into your 2 hours to get to Camber. What about Littlehampton /Worthing /Hove, or going the other direction, Leigh on Sea/Southend?

(eat into your time to cross London, I mean)

Margate in Kent? You could go by train and save the hassle of driving / parking as the station is close to the beach.

West Wittering - less than 2 hours and no need to go through Central London. You need to book parking in advance though.

West London - take the A3 down to West Wittering. It is a massive beach though if you’re on your own and I was there recently when someone lost a small child (found okay).

Camber Sands is a good call but the traffic on the coast road can be a nightmare. We used to avoid going out in the car in the summer as it took so long to get anywhere, and cars parked all along the verges etc. Good luck!

West London? Can you get to Dorset in 2 hrs? Lovely beaches - Studland, Sandbanks, Weymouth, Swanage

I was going to say Camber Sands too - it's great!

Check the tide times for Camber & Dymchurch as when the tide does go out there, it really does go out for a mile or so.

On a good day you could just about make it to Bournemouth in 2 hours.