When we were in Cambridge, we took a day trip off to the coast of England to visit the picturesque beach town of Southwold. It’s about a 2 hour drive from Cambridge, and Kristen graciously offered to drive us. We went to a couple of beaches in Wales last year, and while this was a similar experience to that, the adorable brightly colored beach houses in Southwold were a standout here. During the summer months you can rent them out, and I think that would be a fun way to spend the day.
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We arrived at the beach and immediately took the path towards the town with a duel purpose mission- a shovel and bucket for Carter for the sand and sandwiches and snacks for us. We popped into Two Magpies Bakery and each grabbed a sandwich and some dessert. Then we popped into a corner pub and grabbed a pint of cider each “to go” in a plastic cup to take to the beach. I love that they do this!
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It was a beautiful sunny day, with those late spring temps hitting the upper 60s. With the wind coming off the sea you needed a light jacket (definitely not swimming weather) but we had the beach pretty much all to ourselves! We enjoyed our little picnic lunch and then spent some time playing in the sand before walking down to the surf to stick our toes in the water. English beaches are pretty rocky, which offers endless hours of entertainment for a 3 year old. We sat and threw rock after rock into the sea for a good hour, and made up games about certain rocks we had to hunt for.
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After a few hours we packed up, walked back into the town to grab one last snack (ice cream and some coffee from Harris & James) before getting back on the road to head back to Cambridge. It was the perfect little beach day and we had so much fun!
-Ash
P.S. In case you missed it, see part one of our travel diary in London here and our travel diary from Cambridge here.