Set

Set
on a hill that rises two miles from the briny coast, Rye is
the darling of East Sussex, described by the late poet Patric
Dickinson as a “jewelled brooch worn at South England’s throat”.
Yet the intriguing past of this chocolate-box village is coupled
with a palpably cool present.

In recent decades, the cobbled lanes, half-timbered Tudor
buildings and storied inns have become the stomping ground of
creative city types gone rogue. Venturing off the headline Mermaid
Street, you’ll dip in and out of indie shops peddling vintage
paraphernalia and handicrafts as well as the kind of design-forward
homewares stores, brunch spots, modern seafood restaurants and
micropubs that could have tumbled straight down from the capital.

Rather than taking away from Rye’s unique charm, such modernisms
work in tandem with its history, breathing life into its time-worn
nooks. It’s this blend of old and new, set on the cusp of
countryside lapped by the English Channel, that we really love
about the place. In the space of an afternoon, you can visit the
former home of literary greats, pick up the kind of crafts you’ll
see in the V&A, gaze across red-tile rooftops to Romney Marsh
from a medieval tower and wash down Rye Bay scallops with a crisp
glass of Chapel Down white in a pub once frequented by 18th-century
smugglers.

Easily explored by foot, Rye is just over an hour’s train ride
from London (you’ll have to change at Ashford International) or a
couple of hours by car, making it doable as a day trip and even
better as a long weekend break or stop-off on a road trip along the
South Coast. Dive in.