48 hours in Rye, East Sussex
Every time I think about how much time I’ve spent wandering the UK, I actually chuckle. I remember when travel for me, meant leaving the country. It’s not that the UK never appealed to me; but I guess I was too engrossed in going abroad that it took the pandemic and its restrictions for me to travel the UK more.
For our 2 weeks off work, there was only one thing on our minds as usual – to travel. First part of our UK travel was spending 48 hours in Rye, East Sussex.
I think the most popular area I always knew about in East Sussex was Brighton but tbh, Rye is probably just as popular. It’s one of the most fun day trips from London thanks to its beach, Camber Sands. However, the city itself is a powerhouse on its own. It’s one of the best-preserved cities from medieval times. Just walking around the town, a lot of doors display proudly what year they were built. There’s a silent pride when you meet the eyes of inhabitants. Usually, a hello accompanies a slow smile and friendly gaze.
Where to stay in Rye
Rye, unlike my usual trips, was planned quite last minute. We hadn’t made up our minds yet where to go so by the time Rye was a yes, accommodation was difficult to find.
My 1st choice was the famous Mermaid Inn on Mermaid Street but you guessed right, fully booked. Next was The Gallivant but the rooms that weren’t too pricey were gone as well. As I was about to give up, I refreshed for the umpteenth time and voilà! The Regent Motel. Every time I see the word “motel“, I imagine a sleazy American style accommodation where the killer is hiding out lol. However this one was proper decent. We stayed in the “Top floor” bedroom, which was newly renovated; it smelled like fresh flowers and newness. We also had free parking, which is super rare and made our 48 hours in Rye, East Sussex easy and relaxed.
The bedroom had beautiful panelling, a huge shower, very very comfortable bed, complimentary tea and coffee. I feel like we’re always lucky with rooms tbh. This one was no exception. The Regent Motel is a family owned accommodation, which is about 5 minutes walk from Rye station. It was close to everyyywhere so it was absolutely perfect.
What to do in Rye
As much as this was our first time in Rye, we knew that we wanted to rest as much as possible. I feel like when you visit a place for the first time, you’re inclined to want to see and do everything. However, we were intentional about our chill time. As Rye is quite small, it is absolutely possible to see everything tbh. For our 48 hours in Rye, East Sussex, we definitely covered a lot.
Mermaid Street
Mermaid Street has been voted one of the most instagrammable streets in England. It is no surprise as its charm is evident from the minute you step on its cobbled grounds. The entire street is beautiful and thankfully, we caught it on a sunny summer morning. Door fronts on the street were adorned with roses, lavender and other flowers. It is such a dreamy street to wander arm in arm with a lover at sunset or just on a solo walk around the beautiful city.
Camber Sands Beach
Who doesn’t love the beach? That person is deffo bad vibes LOL. Camber Sands is proper lush. Aside from the fact you’d most likely get sand in every part of your body, it’s one of the loveliest beaches in England. It is about 10 mins from Rye’s centre, the commute is easy, there is parking and there are buses that travel the route regularly.
Rye Harbour Nature Reserve
This was the coolest and most fascinating place we visited in Rye. It is ideal for nature lovers or just another wander in this lovely town. We had the option to discover wildlife and there were bird watching points for the bird watchers. Rye Harbour Nature Reserve is actually one of the most important and largest wildlife sites in the country. It is home to 4300+ species of plants and animals, which include endangered species.
St Mary’s Church
There has been a church on that site for the last 900 years and is one of the must visits if ever in Rye. It is known as “The Cathedral of East Sussex” and its clock is one of the oldest functioning turret clocks in England. Mr Huguenot Lewys Billiard made it around 1561 and the pendulum wings in the body of the church. It’s a lovely church and you can climb its tower; if you are lucky, you could catch a marriage proposal up there!
Rye Castle Museum & Ypres Tower
Ypres Tower was built around the 13th century, it is an ancient monument and is a Grade 1 listed building. It was initially a prison and courthouse and a women’s prison was added around the 19th century. It later was used as the town’s morgue. Rye Castle Museum is open for exhibits everyday of the year
Gun Garden
After having a peek at Ypres Tower, we followed an arch wall and it led us to Gun Garden. It is just next to the tower and the gun batteries face the sea. This site is a reminder of Rye being a historic medieval port. I assume gun garden would have been the location, which formed a part of the town’s defence. We were there on an early Sunday morning and it just felt so peaceful and serene. I think it gives a lovely view of the town and is just a lovely site for your morning coffee.
Antique Shopping
If there is yet another thing that Rye is known for, it is antique shopping. There are a lot of small and independent shops all around the town’s centre dedicated to this and we realised it’s a popular stop for antique lovers. We are not big on antiques but we did have a little peek in the windows.
Rye to Hastings, East Sussex
Why stay in Rye and not check Hastings out? Since we had 2 full days in Rye, we decided to drive 25 mins to Hastings just to have a feel of this historic town. When I told my friends I was visiting Hastings, they asked if it had anything to do with the Duke of Hastings lol. PS – this is totally a Bridgerton reference.
It was a quiet morning when we drove into Hastings and our first stop was brunch at The Cookhouse Café. It was the first one we spotted so we just walked in and had the loveliest chat with the owner, Csaba. The main reason I was interested in Hastings was to visit the Hastings Castle. It is believed that it was from this site that William of Normandy set off to fight and win the battle of Hastings in 1066. It has been a popular tourist attraction since 1824.
From there, we walked around the town and noticed its pastel colourful buildings. Our last stop before heading home was Judges Bakery for some hot chocolate. It was established in 1826 and is one I was recommended to check out.
Where to eat in Rye
I always feel like a fraud advising where to eat LMAO! The main reason is that Mr E and I really don’t care that much about food when we travel. We’re that couple who will order a takeout Chinese or Indian just to eat in bed when we travel. Except for pasta in Italy and paella in Spain, we aren’t foodies at all. I mention pasta in Italy because we both love seafood pasta; paella in Spain because Mr E loves paella. Otherwise, we’d happily eat rice everyday.
The Cobbles Tearoom
I love my tea and if you give me a cute tearoom, you’ve absolutely made my day. The Cobbles Tearoom is somewhat a popular Rye spot thanks to Instagram. It’s so beautiful and the fact that a lovely family owns it makes it special. We arrived just as it opened on Saturday morning at 9am and got the best seat, which was outside by its flower wall. It is sensory overload as the birds were chirping and bees were swarming but it was perfect. I ordered a breakfast tea, Mr E ordered a coffee and we both had plain scones with cream and jam. Of course, it was delicious and I highly recommend if you’re ever in Rye.
For our 1st night, we got some food from the local Chinese takeout. We kept wondering why it was so busy until we ate our food. Look, the best Chinese take out we have ever had and I’m not even exaggerating. We got the Singapore fried rice, salt and pepper chicken wings and some pork ribs in sauce. Everything was yum!
No surprises that we found an Indian restaurant as well, Mahdi where we had dinner on the 2nd day. We ordered different plates to share and yup, you guessed right, it was all so lovely. For Mahdi, we had to book ahead as it does get busy. We found out it was quite the popular spot and even our reservation was a tight, last minute squeeze.
Not to miss…
- Lots of cute and unusual things in store windows.
- The door signs are all so pretty. We found out there were local shops that could customise them. No wonder they had a similar pattern.
- Lots of cobbled streets. Lots and lots of cobbled streets. Infact, all cobbled streets lol; you get the gist so wear comfy shoes.
Our 48 hours in Rye, East Sussex were fun, eventful and also quite restful. It’s crazy to think of all the things we did in such a short amount of time. However, most things are around each other so it was not a stressful trip at all. I could have seen more if we wanted to but I remember we got back the afternoon after the beach and just stayed in until dinner.
From Rye, it was into the countryside of Surrey Hills.
Wait till I tell you all about it.
Bisous, ‘Bugo x
