Tourism

British Beaches never bring to mind tropical paradises. But they can still be pretty good.

inGrays has featured many beaches in the proximate area (usually necessitating an hour in the car) but we always try and feature the sandy clean ones with a convivial town attached to its rear. Sunny Sands beach in Folkestone proves to tick all the boxes that we aim to get ticked and we take a moment to shine a light on this small but perfectly formed and sandy haven.
No one wants to go to the beach when it's cold, but equally no one wants to spend half a day in a roasting hot car either and there-in lies the rub if you live in Grays, Southend and the such gets so busy on hot days but if you are willing to get up early and beat the traffic then try Folkestone's Sunny Sands Beach as its exactly an hour's drive away.
It's all sand and no pebbles, so perfect as far as we are concerned (how does places like Brighton with its pebbles get such acclaim?) strangely for a British beach you can actually park for free on the road that straddles this beach (or though you need to descend a good 7 mins walk before you hit the sand) but it is a nice and welcoming touch for a country that is as disdainful of parkers as the UK clearly is. This beach is not big, more a small bay than beach, but its blessed with a number of brick alcove constructions to allow you refuge should any rain suddenly appear, its right next to the Folkestone town and harbour so while it has all the convenience of commercial amenities you would hope to find; it also has a wonderfully long promenade for you to stroll on and gaze at the vast boats going in and out of its harbour. On the day we were there we could not believe that such a fine stretch of coast could remain so empty but there you go, people would seem to flock to places like Southend with its tacky seaside diversion but happily ignore more pleasant environments like Sunny Sands beach. The waters are very very clean we noticed or though still freezing but that's a given in the North Sea. Overall a day here is about as good as it gets beach - wise and being so close it's a must for anyone looking for something a little classier than Southend.

Postcode: CT19 6BL