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.