Nice seaside places near London

[Jophhii2req3]

Can anyone recommend nicest seaside places not to far from London and reachable by train? Just came back from abroad and promised the kids to do a couple of trips to the seaside over the summer but not sure where to go. I find some of the British seaside a little depressing having grown up abroad. Where would you recommend for the day or a short weekend. Any suggestions of somewhere nice to go?

Leigh on sea, Broadstairs, Margate, Deal, Ramsgate, Whitstable, Folkestone.
All very easy to get to by train

Portsmouth and Southsea. Loads to do apart from the beach including the Historic Dockyard, Mary Rose Museum, Spinnaker Tower, HMS Victory. Also Gunwharf Keys for outlet shopping. About an hour on the train from Waterloo.
it also has 2 piers with the usual arcades, 2p machines and a fun fair and mini golf.

Aldeburgh is lovely, upmarket.

Southend for funfair and cheesy.

Because Camber Sands is a huge pain to get to by train

Westgate on Sea has a lovely beach... Train direct from Victoria... Nice cafe on the beach and lovely shops in the town and a FANTASTIC bakery called Little Brown Fairy Cakes!

Hastings
Broadstairs
Dymchurch
Southend

If you get the train from Victoria to Ore, after Eastbourne every stop is on the coast. Wide variety of seaside towns and villages.

Seconded Portsmouth. Not sure what the beach is like but the museums are a great day seaside out for the kids and it's really easy to get to by train.

Why go to Brighton? Quick and easy rail route out of London; lots to do besides the sea – South Downs, pavilion, museums, pubs & cafes; excellent beach facilities with showers, loos, cliff lift, ice creams every two feet, fish and chips; pier with rollercoasters; gorgeous deep sea without having to walk miles out, warm as bath water in summer… Yeah, s’rubbish.

Some people should read the op. Dymchurch and Camber Sands are impossible to get to by train. Portsmouth has no beach to speak of (unless you mean Southsea which is a long walk from either station). Dungeness is in the middle of nowhere.

Yes Camber and Dymchurch are a an expensive cab ride from the nearest station: there have to be better options than that.

Lymington. Train from Waterloo, though I think it’s more than 1 1/2 hours. Not sure if there’s a Sandy beach or not but there’s boats and crab fishing and seaside shops, it’s beautiful.

Nearest station to Aldeburgh is either Darsham or Saxmundham which are at least 20 mins by taxi....

Herne Bay
Minnis Bay (Birchington)
Ramsgate
Whitstable
Faversham (though not seaside it has a river and a creek and not far from Whitstable)
Hastings
Brighton

West Wittering is not near London! It's also far too crowded.

Camber Sands is nice (if you like beaches) and Rye is right next door and is lovely. It's not that close to London either though. North Kent or Essex are probably the best options.

Thank you for lots of ideas. Only just got back to the thread. We used to go to Brighton when younger but got a bit bored of it. And have been to Whitstable a little while back - loved it. Will try out a few of the other places. Our kids get car sick hence trying to use public transport. I heard that Margate has become a bit hipsterish of late. But will also give Broadstairs and a few of the others a go.

Hove
littlehampton

If it's by train with no faff I would say

Broadstairs (lovely for both adults and kids)- several nice gold sandy beaches and both upmarket and downmarket food options

Whitstable - nicer for adults I feel, pebbly beach and geared up to oysters, nice bars, pretty little shops

Hastings- good for both adults and kids, proper nice old town, fisherman's huts etc- pebbly beach

Brighton - needs no introduction - good for adults and kids but pebbly beach

Rye/camber- rye is easy to get to on train and is a lovely old town but you will need to get cab to go to camber- but it's not far- beautiful beach but not really facilities

Southend- fun and old school day out- not exactly pretty but does have big funfaircetc

Another vote for Southend, but wanted to add, if you want a more chilled beach without all the amusements and stuff get the same line but get off at Chalkwell or Shoebury - those stations are also right next to the beach whereas Southend Central is a bit of a walk (only about 5-10 minutes but if you're carry loads of beach stuff it migth feel a long way!)

Trains from St Pancras and Victoria go to most of the Kent resorts. Trains from London Bridge and Victoria go to most of the Sussex resorts. Brighton is only a hour and Eastbourne, Worthing, Shoreham, Bognor and Littlehampton are also easily accessible. I do regular days out to both the Kent and Sussex resorts by train. Bournemouth is a longer journey.

If you are in east London Frinton is very easy to get to by train (10 to 20 min walk to beach depending on length of childrens' legs ), lovely sandy beaches although completely covered at high tide, green sward. Possible downside is there are no shops/ icecream/ cafes on the sea front, you have to go to the (charming) high street - this is also an upside for some. This is why when the children were little we used to go to Walton instead, although it is more downmarket - the station is practically on the (also lovely and sandy) beach, there are plenty of food and drink places and a pier for when the tide is in.

The Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness line, all stations from Leigh onwards are walkable to the beach from the station.

Leigh-on-sea, lovely old town, cafes, pubs, cockle sheds
Chalkwell, sandy, grass area behind beach, cafe
Westcliff, cliffs, theatre, cafes
Southend, all the fun of the fair!, large shopping centre, pier
Southend East, Southchurch Hall and Park
Shoeburyness, Gunners Park, Common beach and East beach

I love them all!

I keep seeing Downmarket
Are you trying to say these resorts, you deem Downmarket, are Common ?

Ryde - by train. HAs sandy beach and lovely old fashioned feel.
Otherwise Leigh on Sea, Broadstairs and Littlehampton are the ones I like.

Seaford. Station not far from beach. Proper old fashioned 1950s seaside town vibe. Nothing cool or hip but massive clean (pebble) beach and ice cream vans. What more do you need?