seaside trips by train

[franksidebottom]

Hi MN, can anyone recommend a nice beach, no more than 2 hours from any London rail station, I have just taken the kids to Bournemouth for a few days so not there, would prefer sand, it would just be for the day as they are having beach withdrawal symptoms, anywhere else?

Weymouth? Train station is very close to the beach.

Sorry, that's 2hr 40. It is direct though.

Broadstairs. Beach at bottom of high street. Lots of lovely sand, 2 hrs from Victoria or 1h20 from St Pancreas on the high speed

Leigh on Sea or Chalkwell in Essex. (You can walk between the 2) Chalkwell has the better beach, Leigh has cockle sheds, pubs, cafes, ice cream etc.
50 mins from Fenchurch st, both stations are pretty much on the beach

Margate/Broadstairs. Sandy beaches, family oriented resorts.

Thankyou everyone shall keep these for now and future reference. Have accidentally posted this twice so please ignore the other one.

Margate , the beach is ok and the station is just over the road from the beach.

Has anyone been to southend?

I personally wouldn't go to Southend for the beach , it's not even a beach it's the Thames estuary
It's filthy
Amusement arcades and an amusement park yes

Agree with Broadstairs for the beach and then on to Margate for Dreamland, Turner Contemporary

Second broadstairs. Beach at bottom of high street is nice, but lots of rides etc that can get expensive. We used to head for Dumpton bay first (walking route along the top has lovely sea views), so the kids could play in the sand, rock pools etc. Return via the main beech after picnic for a few rides etc before journey home.

Littlehampton? Kids travel for £1 each way with an adult on Southern Rail (if the train runs )

🏖 🍦🏊🏼

A bit of shameless place marking 🏝

Ramsgate has also got a nice beech, but its a bit of a trek from the station.

Frinton in Essex has a lovely sandy beach - it's a v low key town though - if you want a pier and amusements you can get the train or walk along the sea wall to Walton on the Naze.

You need to check tide times though ad high tide covers the beach entirely.

Ok thankyou. Southend is ruled out, shall try broadstairs first I think?

Ryde, Isle of Wight.

1hr 40 on the train, 20 mins on the ferry.
Beautiful sandy beach, lots of beach ents and things to do

clacton for cheesy pier good sandy beach easy walk from station

Just to warn you that Folk Week in Broadstairs is 5-12th August so don't go then (well you can but it will be very busy)

I love southend. More to do than any of the thanet places which is the upside. Whitstable and Herne bay nice. Herne bay has an air show next weekend.

I think Dumpton Gap (bay) is a dog beach and I'm pretty sure that most of if not all of Herne Bay is pebbles not sand , agree with pp about Southend - good for amusements but an awful 'beach' .

Broad stairs but not the main beach- go Louisa Bay which is basically to the left of the main beach as you face out to sea but has rock pools and is quieter. And is lovely.

A warning about Broadstairs - it feels like a very long way up the hill to the station at the end of the day! There's a sweet shop and a bakers to break the journey, though. And chips.

Agree re Isle of Wight, in fact were there at the weekend. Except we actually took the train from Ryde to Shanklin where the beaches are lovely. Dog beach pretty much all the way from Shanklin to Sandown as well...

Broadstairs nice as well, and I've heard that Eastbourne is but never been there yet. Not fussed on Margate, it's very dated now.

BertrandRussell

Louisa Bay is to the right of Viking bay at Broadstairs, there is a small bit of beach to the left, but it's a bit of a walk. Agree about the slog up the High St, especially with tired children!