As with most years, this summer I made a bucket list of things I wanted to accomplish over the season. On that list was of course a trip to the beach. In summer 2018, which, in case you do not live in London, turned out to be three straight months of rainless, 30 degree days and I loved every second of it, I ventured to the beach in Bournemouth. The trip was in what I think was my first week of blogging, so needless to say I did not make a post about it. This year however I was determined.
This summer, although not as glorious as last year, we have had a small number of lovely days. However, being full time employed this summer, my number of free days to spend ticking off items on my summer list, was somewhat more restricted. That being said when the mercury hit 30 degrees on a warm June weekend, it seemed to make perfect sense to visit the beach. The culprit this year was Eastbourne.
Originally intending to venture to Bournemouth (again), when we got on the road there was a lot of traffic that seemed to be heading in the same direction. Changing our plans en route, we diverted and ended up in Eastbourne which made for a fantastic day, some great pictures and some huge-ass seagulls. A seaside town in East Sussex on the south coat of England, Eastbourne is around 20 miles away from it’s brasher big sister Brighton but is a lot prettier in my option.
It was much easier than we expected to find decent parking in Eastbourne, right by the sea. We took our things, pitched a place by the water and settled in to watch the cricket. There is a pebble beach in this seaside town which can be quite uncomfortable after some time, but we still managed to pass a good few hours here enjoying the rays, our food and sea air, before moving into a beach front pub for some refreshments (and more cricket), whiling away a few more hours as the day began to cool off a little.
After this, we meandered our way along the sea front which was a lot prettier than many sea fronts in the UK and more relaxed than I remember it being, on a previous visit to Eastbourne in my childhood. Eventually reaching the pier, it felt only right to grab an ice cream and head out along the pier for some pictures and a lot of pointing at the seagulls taking stuff from pier dwellers.
I am a firm believer that ice-cream in the UK always tastes better at the seaside, especially from one of the old fashioned ice cream shops, with big fat scoops of the creamiest ices known to man. Opting for pots of ice cream instead of on a cone, we picked one white chocolate and raspberry and one vanilla cream with caramel fudge pieces, both with the classic flake.
This was the perfect amount of ice cream for the stroll on the pier as the sun dipped behind the tall Victorian hotels lining the sea front, giving the light a soft amber hue as it coated everything in site. Walking along the pier, it was peppered with people in their golden years, all dressed up, holding hands and enjoying the sunset. A popular destination with many older people, one couple on the promenade had been coming to Eastbourne almost every year that they had been together since meeting in their 20’s, and they were now both heading towards 80 years old, still donning smart evening wear and heels for their evening stroll and in as much love as ever. Talk about old couple goals.
Ending the day, walking back to the car, I couldn’t help but pick up some souvenirs. Not one for candy rock, I instead picked up a super cute seagull magnet as they were such a force to be reckoned with over the whole day.
Just 2 and a half hours from London there are some really picturesque places along the south coast. Although I am not usually a big fan of pebble beaches, it made for some pretty pictures and on the plus side, I did not bring half of the beach home with me on shoes or in my hair.
Have you ever visited Eastbourne or any of the beaches here in the UK? Which ones do you like the best? Let me know in the comments.
Ellies London 
That was absolutely fantastic day and I hope we can catch more days like that before summer is over.
Ps. Love your writing as always xx
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Thank you 😊 I hope we get some good weather next weekend and some sunshine whenever we are off!
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I love Eastbourne too …many years ago we had an Easter egg hunt there and I can remember one little girl getting all of the chocolate from other diners at breakfast…..wonder who that was……🍬🍬🍬🍬
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🤭 I don’t know who that could have been 😇
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Haha, I love your modern art and you got Marshfield ice cream! Their farm is near me and they do such good ice cream. I miss it. 😦 But the sorbet is good too so it’s a win-win. It sounds like you had a great day together, I’ve never been to Eastbourne, in fact I don’t think I’ve seen much of the South East coast. It looks so pretty.
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Modern art is the best 🤭😏 Is it seriously, that’s amazing – I love that ice cream so much! I want to try their sorbet now – I love a good sorbet in summer time. It is so pretty – I didn’t remember it being so pretty. So many seaside towns look a bit dated and gave lost their charm, but this was not one of them! X
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Lovely photos, the evening sun is so pretty! I’ve been to Eastbourne once when I was staying at my aunty’s who lives in London and really enjoyed it, but it’s a bit too far from home! I would love to go again and visit Brighton as well! Ice cream at the seaside is definitely better!x
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Icecream and the seaside just tastes the best doesn’t it? I need to visit Brighton again as I haven’t been since 2015! I like Eastbourne and Bournemouth beaches best – even though one is sand and one is rocks! X
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I wish I was their to join you. Your day looked like a peaceful one. I really appericated that you shared this with us.
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Thank you Laura for reading ♥️ I loved writing this post so much! It was such a lovely relaxing day.
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What a beautiful day you had! I have never been to Eastbourne so maybe I will venture there sometime. Lovely post!
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It’s definitely one of the beaches I’d recommend 😉 Thank you for reading x
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Eastbourne seafront looks so lovely and much more peaceful than Brighton seafront, which is always so busy! Ice cream is always better by the seaside! Vanilla ice cream with a flake is my favourite – the classic 99 x
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It is always best by the sea, it has to be a fact! 🍦 I haven’t been to Brighton in a few years so I need to go back but it is so chaotic compared to Eastbourne or even Bournemouth. I love a classic 99! I had one right at the start of summer! I wanted the classic but they had such wonderful combos of flavours I had to try! 🤣
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Seaside towns are always on my bucket list for summer, just love it. I think my favourite seaside town has to be Brighton, it’s nice a close with a lovely beach and great shops. Perfect for a day out x
Steph | http://www.stephhannam.com
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They are so lovely to visit! I need to go to Brighton – I haven’t been down there since 2015! Tank you for reading my post x
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Well i think you guys should check out Whitley Bay. You can eat whelks and candy rock and go for rides on the dodgems. Eeeee memories!
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Eat a whelk? What the…? Are you asking me to go to a beach in the 1920’s?
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Looks like a lovely day. I always prefered pebble beaches, because sand just get everywhere and it can be so messy. I only had 2 beach days this year, one in Barcelona and one in Valencia. Hope September will be nice so I can squeeze in some day on Slovenian coast.
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It was a great day and I think it was even better because it was much more fun than we expected and it was above both of our expectations. Sand is comfier but that is its only perk – it can get super hot and mannnn does it go all over the place. Not just on the day of your visit either, you (or at least I know I do) find sand on everything for WEEKS! Barcelona and Valencia sound idyllic for sure but Slovenian sounds the most interesting! I bet that is beyond beautiful?! x
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Some towns on Slovenia coast are super charming, like Piran, Portorož, there is also Sečovlje Stalina Nature park. It is pretty but most beaches are not anything special.
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I love to explore these sorts of places – pretty is all I need (and maybe some food in my bag!) x
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