Planning first holiday after bereavement - overwhelmed

[SchrodingersKitty]

I'd really welcome some advice about planning a UK holiday in early July. This will be the first break for me and DS (22) since DH died in 2020. We'll be travelling by train so want to find somewhere no more than a 15 minute taxi or bus journey from a station. We want to be by the sea and are looking for somewhere with good walking, sea swimming, and views, with a reasonable number of good eating places and some food shops in walking distance and ideally some interesting history. Keen to avoid huge crowds.

We're in Sussex. I've been looking at the south coast of Dorset, Devon and Cornwall. I'm going round in circles and getting rather overwhelmed.

An added complication is that for this first break I really want to avoid places we've been in the past with DH, which rules out Lyme Regis (which would otherwise be ideal), the bit of the Cornish coast around Noss Mayo, Corfe Castle and Durdle Door.

Any recommendations really gratefully received!

What about jersey or Guernsey if you’d be willing to fly or sail?

Sorry for your loss 💐
How long a train journey could you manage?

Sorry for you loss OP
many years ago my family stayed in a lovely place called Charmouth in Dorset I think. Right on the coast lovely walks etc. We stayed at a holiday place that did lodges
i have no idea about the public transport links, I just remember happy times there so might be worth looking at

Aw, come over to the Isle of Wight, it's beautiful, tranquil and lots of walking and beaches. It's a very therapeutic place. Hope you have a restful holiday wherever you decide to visit.

I was going to suggest IOW 😊

So sorry to hear about your DH. Might be too far but Isles of Scilly is lovely if you would be willing to do helicopter / small plane or boat out. There are taxis on the islands / golf carts or can walk. Great for walking, beautiful gardens at Tresco with tropical plants and red squirrels. Good for sea swimming / canoeing etc /boat tours. Not crowded. Beautiful views and lovely sea food. Is a bit pricey. Ideally stay in Penzance night before if using helicopter or boat and has train station.

Otherwise Pembrokeshire in Wales is nice but not sure how it is on train stations we went with a car and did puffins boat trip from Marloes. Tenby I think has a train station and looks pretty though don't think has puffins. Completely different but maybe could do Scotland by train, can do steam trains if get the right dates, but maybe too far and too cold for sea swimming but good for history.

I'm so sorry for your loss. Come to Thanet. We have beautiful sandy beaches (and there are so many that some of them are very empty), dedicated sea bathing pools, a very active sea swimming community, fabulous walking to nature reserves and great restaurants and interesting food shops. There's a lot of history here or it's 20 minutes on the train to Canterbury.

Get a train to London and then the fast train out of kings cross.

Thank you all - some very intriguing suggestions. I'm inclined to avoid Wales because of potential for rain (remembering many childhood holidays). Isle of Wight is out as another place we went with DH. Charmouth lovely but have also been there. Isle of Scilly or Channel Islands are lovely ideas but feels slightly more effortful than we feel up to at the moment. Reluctant to go north as what we really want to do is swim. Kent is a possibility but it feels a bit too close to home. Perhaps I'm going to have to retrace our steps after all.

Should say, other places that are firmly out are Suffolk (we had to sell our holiday house there when DH was ill and too hard to go back), Norfolk (probably going later in summer to see family), Northumberland, Yorkshire and Lake District - love all, but again, too many memories. Not really up to going as far as Scotland this year. Debating furthest reaches of Cornwall but concerned about crowds.

If the 15min taxi ride could be extended to 40 would you consider Dartmouth? You would get the train to Totnes and then a taxi. From then on, it ticks every box. It has history - the castle, the naval college, Agatha Christie house etc. Amazing fantastic restaurants. Great pubs. Lovely beaches for swimming. Little trips on ferries to pubs up the Dart. Chance of seeing proper yachts. Going crabbing off the quay with chunks of bacon and fishing line. Fishing for bass. Walks to the Day Marker on the headland. Everything walkable in the town - in fact, cars frowned upon. Not crowded before school hols. A proper place rather than a trippers paradise like nearby salcombe. There's a food festival but think that's in the autumn. Also the main festival but that's later in the summer. The estuary is simply stunning. A fair few airbnbs and also decent hotels.

One of our favourite places anywhere.

Hope Cove
Dartmouth and surrounding villages

Totnes itself is also nice for lunch - there's a steamer you get from Dartmouth. Plus there's walks on Dartmoor etc. Views are breathtaking from the top of the hills before you plunge down into town. You'd need decent walking boots!!

Castle cove one of the best local swimming beaches that is walkable from centre of town. 20 mins.

How about the Gower in Wales? Could stay in Mumbles and walk to local beaches etc or get buses further afield. About a 15 minute taxi journey from Swansea and lots of restaurants, food shops etc.
Like Devon/Cornwall but cheaper and less crowded!

It's also where many of the fleet assembled before the D-day landings -up the dart. (i will shut up now. Gets coat).

Just read your post about avoiding Wales due to rain! Hot or miss- much like Cornwall really!

I’d suggest Gower. I know you’ve vetoed Wales but that is a rookie mistake. My fondest memories are swimming in the sea at Tenby in the rain. Literally none went home.

I've been back on forth on exactly that question about Dartmouth - it does look ideal other than the distance from train. Is the steamer a possibility for getting to Dartmouth at start and end of holiday, or is it too intermittent? And what are buses like? Sorry to bombard you with questions!

I'm so sorry you lost your husband. Your son is very young to have lost his dad - it's so sad for both of you.

Why are you limiting yourself to the UK, particularly when so many places hold so many memories? Would you consider going over to France?

@HollowTalk Thank you. Yes, it is very hard for DS. He took a year off from uni and is now back and working very hard but very anxious. Hence me wanting to arrange the least stressful break possible for him when he first gets home, He'll then have a pretty busy summer with uni work (the curse of Oxford work-pressure).

Good question about why UK. It just seemed easier than going abroad at the moment - and there are similar problems about avoiding places we've already been (we travelled a lot in Europe). We only have a week in July as I have to be back for the start of building work, so local seemed easier. But perhaps not really, given that we almost certainly have to go in and out of London by train to get anywhere despite being very close to the south coast.

Fowey in Cornwall is beautiful and could fill everything on your list. I'm not sure how busy it would be before the main school holidays though.

Sorry, message about Dartmouth as to @friskybivalves and @FiveGoMadInDorset

@Oakdog - I'd also been looking at Fowey. Do you happen to know how accessible it is transport-wise?

Guernsey and Jersey are very doable, train to Poole and then a taxi to the ferry, Guernsey has some spectacular beaches plus a sea swimming pool, good bus services round the island and then you can get a boat to Herm or Sark.

sorry for your loss, my DH died three years ago and planning stuff without him can still be overwhelming

Eurostar to Europe? What's your budget? Annecy is easy to get to, no beach but beautiful lake for swimming.