Day Trips

[Seabag]

Took a long awaited day trip yesterday, to Mersea Island on the East Coast

A little over 2 hrs drive eastward, and once you leave the A-roads the scenery is really lovely. I'd wanted to visit this coastal area for a long time and I was glad to have finally made the effort

We ate in East Mersea at the Oyster & Ale place, the freshest seafood, served by very pleasant staff. They also have a little shop, selling home smoked Salmon (very good it is too) and cheeses

We then spent a few hours watching the boat racing down at West Mersea. They have an event there, mainly locals and in every craft imaginable. I'd never seen a Duck Punt raced before, but now can say I have

I found the atmosphere and the locals very friendly, much like parts of Devon. I've headed down to Whitstable in the past, but its lost a little something over the years. Too done up, too London like

I'll be back for a visit in the later part of the year, as I fancy a visit to the Tiptree Jam place. I don't know why, its just one of the things I want to have a nose around

My youngest (he's 10) really enjoyed it too, there's literally loads of boat yards and odd beachy bits to play around. He even managed to scrump a few apples (much to his delight) from an old abandoned cottage site

I'm going to explore further down toward Maldon and Osea Island next time

If you've any other Day Trip recommendations, i'd be pleased to hear about them

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/jul/28/holidays-on-mersea-island-essex

[????]

God's own county........

..the most underrated/sneered upon county in England but in reality full of fantatsic places and sound people

[katanita]

Been wanting to do a camping trip to Mersea for ages, especially for the food and the vineyard. Glad to hear it was good.

Was looking for a day trip for yesterday with friends and thought about trying to get out to see the Sea Forts, but boat trips were booked http://londonist.com/2013/05/the-abandoned-estuary-sea-forts-from-wwii.php. Instead took a train to Box Hill and Westhumble from Clapham and did the Box Hill Hike http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1349122056119&ssbinary=true with a stop at the King William IV pub in Mickelham, which did an excellent lunch. You really feel you've earnt it with the walk, too, which is pretty demanding.

Also recommend Dungeness, which is sort of bleak and beautiful, also with a good pub.

[New Girl]

Katanita that is just what I'm looking for for next weekend. Fancy a run and a hike the countryside for some fresh air! How long did take by train and was it am expensive journey!

Glad to hear you both had great days. Will have to check out Mersea. Thanks!!

[katanita]

@newgirl It's about 50 minutes by train from Clapham Junction and I think about ten quid return off peak, less with a network railcard (about six). Trains are once an hour on Saturdays. Then you have about a mile walk from the station to the top of Box Hill along the North Downs way (up to London Road/A24, under the subway, right until the North Downs Way and then over some stepping stones and up a LOT of steps). Then you head to the National Trust centre near the memorial and can pick up a leaflet for the Box Hill Hike and/or follow the signs, it's very well sign posted. It took about 4hrs 45 minutes including to and from the station, and not including a leisurely lunch :)

[katanita]

Could also have a look at parts of the London Loop if after some walks not too far from central London but with a bit of countryside http://www.walklondon.org.uk/route.asp?R=5.

[red devil]

katanita Wrote:

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> Also recommend Dungeness, which is sort of bleak

> and beautiful, also with a good pub.

And worth visiting Derek Jarman's garden...

http://www.gardenvisit.com/garden/derek_jarman_garden_prospect_cottage_dungeness

[MrBen]

Very timely thread Seabag.

I like Deal in Kent in a polystyrene cup of builders tea on a shingle beach kind of way. Definitely moving onto the Londoner second home map with a a few F&B'd up fisherman's cottages but still with plenty old world charm and salty fresh air. And nowhere near as twee as Whitstable or Rye. Lots of good walks, friendly pubs in various states of repair and an interesting mid century pier where there is a big local sea fishing thing happening.

[Seabag]

???? Wrote:

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> God's own county........

>

> ..the most underrated/sneered upon county in

> England but in reality full of fantatsic places

I thought of you ???'s and you're right in what you say

It's beautiful, and real and many other intangible things

Anywhere else to visit ?

pm if you want

[numbers]

???? Wrote:

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> God's own county........

>

> ..the most underrated/sneered upon county in

> England but in reality full of fantatsic places

> and sound people

s' a bit 20th century for my liking...

[El Pibe]

stour valley is lovely, and the area from there to the orwell (albeit suffolk) is truly magical.

[steveo]

Mersea is my old stomping ground. As a kid we had a caravan holiday there and my poor old dad used to have to go to work in Colchester every day while we built sand castles and ate Mivis. I remember having to attend Sunday school classes on the beach.

Years later there were beach bonfire parties in East Mersea. Dope, girls, cider and fire.

The Company Shed is a fine fish food place

[cupatea]

We went camping in Mersea a couple of weeks ago. I love it - second time there. Quiet beaches (some sandy some muddy) wonderful seafood, and some lovely walks.

Thoroughly recommend Fen Farm campsite in East Mersea - very family friendly.

Second the Company Shed.

A highlight was the mini ferry (16 seater!)from East Mersea to Brightlingsea, a little town with colourful beach huts, an open air swimming pool, a pretty marina and some decent cafes.

Also Frinton on Sea but much busier.

Sadly didn't make it to the vineyard...next time.

[intexasatthe moment]

Amazing photos on the Fen Farm campsite site http://www.fenfarm.co.uk/project/90-years-of-fen-farm/.

I've seen static caravans with fences around them ,but never tents . Perhaps they bought the pitch with a view to " upgrading " to a caravan ? Or stayed with the tent ?

some of the structures/tents are pretty ingenious .

[MrBen]

At the first rays of weekend sun chances are someone you know will announce they want to "head down to the coast" to "get out London". Having learned to avoid the worst of this annual phenomenon - the train to Brighton on any bank holiday - I'm liking exploring other less obvious seaside towns and coastal areas.

So East Mersea and Ramsgate are on my list this summer...but anyone with any other trips to escape London cabin fever - post them here?

[indiepanda]

MrBen Wrote:

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> Very timely thread Seabag.

>

> I like Deal in Kent in a polystyrene cup of

> builders tea on a shingle beach kind of way.

> Definitely moving onto the Londoner second home

> map with a a few F&B'd up fisherman's cottages but

> still with plenty old world charm and salty fresh

> air. And nowhere near as twee as Whitstable or

> Rye. Lots of good walks, friendly pubs in various

> states of repair and an interesting mid century

> pier where there is a big local sea fishing thing

> happening.

I went down to Deal a few times last year too. Worth exploring the English heritage owned castle there, and doing the walk along the coast to Walmer and going to the castle there too. Also the food in the restaurant at the end of the pier is worth a try - simple but good fish and chips and I had some lovely dover sole there. It's open well into the evening unlike most cafes so potential to eat surrounded by sea and watch the sunset.

If you go to Rye it's worth driving out of town to Rye Harbour and going for a walk through the nature reserve there - much quieter. The seagulls are far too busy smashing mussels open on the path to try to dive bomb you to steal your chips and the bunnies come out to play around dusk.

I went to Broadstairs a couple of weekends ago. Yes, it is full of places named for Charles Dickens novels because he spent time there writing Bleak House, but it still has some charm, and you can walk for miles along the sandy beach.

I've been going to Hastings for... hmm.. closer to 40 than 30 years now and it was looking quite run down at one point, but it's definitely turned a corner. If you like a good off road walk the country park up on the East Hill side of the town is a perfect spot and if you have a buggy to push you can still go for miles down the promenade past St Leonards. There are some nice cafes and restaurants on George Street in the old town - it's not just cod and chips. The pier is expected to reopen this year - I can still remember playing on the one arm bandits that took half pennies there with my Dad when I was on holiday there as a kiddie - won't see those anymore! It's quite lively but still quiet compared to Brighton.

[Seabag]

Less of a day trip, more of an afternoon escape

We drove to Limehouse and parked in Carr street, from there you can access the canal tow path. We spent a few hours walking (with a few pit stops) up through East London along the canal

http://www.imvisitinglondon.com/limehousecut

The route takes you towards Victoria park http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/pavilion-cafe-1 and a right turn at the appropiate junction sees the canal path head up towards Hackney marshes. We've not done that one yet but it's on our radar. Our boys 14 & 11 loved it, as there so much to look at. Boats, houses and recovering hangovers are all in abundance here.

Eventually we left the tow path and made our way down Kingsland Road and headed Spitalfield's way to have lunch http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/restaurants/fay-maschler-reviews-the-culpeper-kitchen-10131897.html and a great lunch it was too. I like this revamped pub space, it's amazing if you remember its old guise "The Princess Alice" which was essentially a sticky dark old boozer, with a pizzaria on top. Though there's plans afoot to install a rooftop glass house and covers for 15 diners and an outdoor gril this summer

After lunch we ambled towards the direction of the car, then threw caution to the wind and hailed a cab for the last stint. I reckon theres all sorts of variations to this route, trains or full on walking, but in principle it's a good and safe one which we'll revisit again soon, with bikes or a picnic or even solo

It's when you see what's hidden away in this great city

[BrandNewGuy]

Doesn't sound too glamorous, but you can have a great day out jumping on a train to Gravesend, seeing the town, including the Pocahontas memorial and the huge new Sikh temple, then jumping on a ferry for a 10-minute trip across the river to Tilbury. It's then five minutes walk to Tilbury Fort, a really impressive English Heritage-run Napoleonic era fort with lots of space to explore. The back to Gravesend for a pint/bite to eat and a train home.

[Otta]

A couple of years ago a planned trip to Brighton was scuppered by trains, and we ended up in Littlehampton. Very old skool seaside, we had a blast.

[civilservant]

Shoreham http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoreham,_Kent take the train from Denmark Hill or P/Rye towards Sevenoaks

A nice day trip and you'll be home by dinner-time, Thameslink permitting

[Seabag]

Otta Wrote:

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> A couple of years ago a planned trip to Brighton

> was scuppered by trains, and we ended up in

> Littlehampton. Very old skool seaside, we had a

> blast.

I went to a school in LA

Not good

I've a tragic LA story to tell one day

It involves chips and more

[se22cat]

Bath and Stratford upon Avon are both fantastic day trips, even better if you can stay overnight.

[indiepanda]

se22cat Wrote:

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> Bath and Stratford upon Avon are both fantastic

> day trips, even better if you can stay overnight.

I love both places, (Bath especially as I spent my student days there), speaking as a driver I would rather make those weekend trips though - you aren't going get to either in less than 2 hours driving from here, and quite probably more like two and half.