Tour 2008 - Eastbourne to Canterbury via Hastings and Rye

Our next destination was Canterbury in Kent and our route followed the coast round through Bexhill and Hastings. A stop at Hastings was planned - we’d read mixed reports about the town and wanted to make up our own minds.

As we drove through Hastings, we noticed there was no parking at all on the seafront, unlike many English seaside resports. Furthermore, all the car parks passed had height barriers, with the exception of the last one which, unfortunately, we didn’t spot in time, and not finding a handy petrol station to do a hasty u-turn had to leave Hastings, for now, unexplored. It looked pleasant enough, what we saw whilst looking for a car park, similar in feel to Eastbourne, and there were plenty of holidaymakers knocking about looking like they were enjoying themselves in the overcast weather. We noticed that the pier, in the middle of the seafront, was closed down, which unfortunately gave a slightly derelict air to that part of town.

Continuing east, we approached the town of Rye, which, whilst not initially on our radar, looked very enticing as we cruised through and an impromptu stop was hastily negotiated with the driver. By following the blue “P” signs for coaches and lorries, we effortlessly ended up in the extremely large Station Car Park, with no height barriers. We spotted a German motorhome parked in one of the many vacant coach bays, and no sign of a ticket, so we figured it would be OK – and it was.

Rye is a lively, compact town and we spent two fascinating hours pottering around the range of independent and specialist shops – including some lovely antique shops. Reluctantly, we headed off for our evening destination - Canterbury Camping and Caravanning Club site.

Image above - main street, Rye. Copyright AvailablePitch.com 2009