Kent’s Beautiful Coastline

When you think of the best beaches in Britain and the most beautiful rugged coastline it usually conjures up images of Cornwall, Devon or Norfolk perhaps. However head for south, eastern part of the country and you’ll find yourself in Kent, complete with simply beautiful beaches, gorgeous coastal walks, cute little bays and its famous white cliffs. The Kent coastline stretches for 350 miles and is a fantastic place to holiday, pick one of a number of its lovely seaside towns or head this way for a day trip. Kent’s coastline is perfect for all ages and abilities and there are more blue flag beaches than in any other county. We’ve picked our favourites below.

Dungeness Beach

This first of Kent’s beaches is not the rolling sand that you would imagine but is actually a vast expanse of shingle beach that has a really atmospheric feel to it.

Dungeness has one of the most unique habitats in the country and is technically classed as a desert, that said though it is still home to a number of rare insects and around 600 species of plants.

You’ll also notice the wooden cottage sat on the beach with its driftwood garden, once lived in by film director Derek Jarman.

The imposing sight of the flat land with two lighthouses jutting up and the eerie looking nuclear power station just add to the surreal vibe at this one of Kent’s beaches, it is definitely worth a stroll around if you are in the area.

Minster Leas Beach

The village of Minster is home to the next of Kent’s beaches. Minster is a lovely village that has a Saxon Abbey on the only high ground of the Isle of Sheppey. The Isle of Sheppey is a small island just off the northern coast of Kent which offers lovely beaches, some fantastic places to eat and stay and a little bit of island life just off 46 miles to the east of London.

Minster beach is a really tranquil spot, it has a grassy area that leads down to a long, shingle beach and when the tide is out you’ll be treated to sand as well.

There is a lovely promenade that is very popular with dog walkers and families taking their children out on bikes and it has amazing views over the North Sea, The Swale and The Nore.

St Mary’s Bay

St Mary’s Bay is a lovely sandy one of Kent’s beaches. It is located between Viking Bay and Stone Bay, in the coastal village on the South East Kent coastline. It is gorgeously sandy with flat rocks around the low water mark, there are loads of rock pools for children to explore and it has a promenade linking all of Broadstones beaches so is really easy to get to.

Botany Bay

This is probably the most famous of Kent’s beaches, with the most beautiful views of the white cliffs and chalk stalks and gorgeous sandy beaches, you’ll see why its so popular.

Botany Bay is a great place to come to relax or if you have little ones and relaxing out of the question then wait for low tide and go fossil hunting and exploring in the rock pools. It is safe to swim here if you are heading to this one of Kent’s beaches in the summer time or just chill out and enjoy the peace and tranquility on one of the quiet expanses of soft sand.

The area around Botany Bay is great for golfing, so if this floats your boat then definitely bring your clubs. If not then be sure to explore the unique heritage of nearby Broadstairs with its abundance of independent shops.

Margate Main Sands

The Main Sands at Margate offer your typical British seaside resort and make for a brilliant day out, especially if you have kids in tow.

The beach itself is a wide expanse of lovely golden sand and has a tidal pool, children’s rides and amusement arcades to keep you happy all day long.

There are loads of restaurants, bars and stalls selling lovely fresh seafood just a walk away in the Old Town.

As the sun sets on Margate’s Main Sands the colours reflect on the water and make for a beautiful spot to see the end of the day. During the summer months we’d recommend grabbing some fish and chips and finding a space on the beach, bring some jumpers and blankets too.

St Mildreds Bay

This one of Kent’s beaches is a small sandy bay near to the seaside town of Westgate and not far from Margate.

This lovely beach is backed by cliffs and has a tidal pool at the far end, a promenade to stroll and a handful of places to eat.

St Mildred’s Bay is a good middle ground between the more secluded and quieter beaches in Kent, and the hustle and bustle of the seaside beaches of Margate.

Whichever of Kent’s beaches you decide to head for, have a wander, see the sights, dip your toes and then grab a deckchair and take some time out listening to the waves coming in and the seagulls playing.

England's beautiful South Coast

We might live on a relatively small island but England’s countryside is definitely varied which is fantastic news for us walkers, as provides us with many different opportunities to find walks that suit our mood. The South Coast of England is a beautiful part of the world ranging from sandy beaches to rocky cliff edges and all in between, which means there are too many stunning walks to cover, so I’ll hand pick some personal favourites.

Ramsgate Let’s start over in the East of the south coast of England in Ramsgate. Walking the Ramsgate, Kent coast is a beautiful experience steeped in over 300 years of history and offering some wonderful natural wildlife and manmade architecture along the way. There are many ways to see this area of the south coast of England, be it along the beaches from Ramsgate to Margate, the cliff top walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs or the Contra Trail from Ramsgate to Pegwell Bay; all really different walks offering quite different scenery and showcasing different aspects of the area. You’d be best to decide what sort of walk you’re after, sand between your toes, café lined cliff tops or nature reserve walking from the hustle and bustle of Ramsgate through to the natural peace and tranquillity of Pegwell Bay.

Sussex Moving a little West along the south coast of England brings you to beautiful Sussex, and we think you’ll love the Eastbourne to Seaford walk. This is a dramatic cliff walk starting at Eastbourne’s promenade and passing through Beachy Head as the South Downs meets the sea, Cuckemere Haven and Seven Sisters. In the summer months there are opportunities to have a dip in the ocean along the way and during the colder months the coastal views will be more than enough to keep you happy The area is on a well serviced bus route so there is no need to worry about the linear nature of this walk, you will easily find your way back if you’re happy to hop on a bus once your walk is complete. The beauty of this south coast of England walk is the undulating and magnificent cliffs that you will meet along the way. You can’t fail to be in awe, these cliffs are thought to have been formed by glacier meltwater at the end of the last Ice Age which carved steep sided valleys that became eroded by the sea and formed the beautiful cliffs we see today.

Dorset Following the south coast of England to the west we reach Dorset and the breath taking Lulworth Cove area. This is England's first natural world heritage site, and it is said that in 95 miles you can walk through 185 million years of history in just one week. If you don’t have a week, don’t worry! There are plenty of shorter walks that will equally take your breath away. The obvious highlight of this area is the Durdle Door, a natural limestone arch on the Jurassic coastline that can be reached by a walk down to a sand and shingle beach. A short but reasonably steep walk will bring you to Lulworth Cove, a beautiful little village set in a remarkable, almost full circle cove with quaint tea rooms, pubs and a scattering of shops to enjoy. The water is blue and calm here and at low tide there are some wonderful rock pools to explore. The Studland Heath nature reserve is also important to mention and well worth a visit. These dunes and heathland support threatened species such as the nightjar, sand lizard and ladybird spider. Some of the best views of the heath sweeping down to the shores of Poole Harbour are from the Agglestone – a 400 tonne rock sitting up on a hill alone, it’s very dramatic. There is wide range of habit here including sand dunes, bogs and fresh water lagoons. This is a beautiful part of the south coast of England that is not to be missed.

Cornwall Moving west again we reach the undeniably picturesque Cornwall, which offers rugged windswept landscape through to stunning sandy beaches. We love the Porthcurno to St Ives walks in West Cornwall on the landsend peninsula and about as far West as you can get on the South Coast of England. This whole route will take you a few days but can certainly be broken down into small walks, depending what you are after. Porthcurno offers a beautiful, sweeping bay with some of the clearest waters you’ll find in Cornwall and during summer months if you’re lucky you may find seals and basking sharks, a real treat. Along the route you’ll pass through Sennen Cove and on a summers night the open air Minack Theatre is a magical experience. St Ives is treat in itself too, being Cornwall’s most famous town this seaside is seemingly a subtropical oasis where the beaches are golden and beautiful vegetation surrounds.

These walks are just scratching the surface of the striking south coast of England and I could continue to waffle, but the best thing to do is to go along and find out for yourself, you really won’t be disappointed.