Rye was on a list of places to go on a day trip to from London. It's also on my Instagram all the time. So of course I decided to go and have a look at what all the fuss was about!
To get to Rye is just two connecting trains from London. However, there was trackwork or something happening to the second train on the day that I went (typical!), so I had to catch a bus from Ashford International to Rye. The lady who sat next to me on the bus was even less impressed - she was heading further than me to Hastings.
Nevertheless, I made it there nice and early and wandered around town before most people got there! There's nothing quite like wandering around serious tourist destinations in the morning when no one else is about - you have it all to yourself and can just soak it up.
I stopped around 11am and went into a little cafe for brunch, then called in at Lamb House, the National Trust place in Rye.
Rye was only quite a small place and my bus/train home didn't leave until later so I decided to do the long walk to Rye Harbour. In hindsight, I should have got some change to catch the bus, as it was almost 5km there (and 5km back). When I got to the ocean, it was also so windy and not very nice because of it! So it was a little bit of a wasted trek. But there was some nice scenery along the way, and there were some cute little houses in the harbour town. I'm sure it would be absolutely buzzing in the summertime - it was just the type of place for fish and chips and ice creams. It was also apparently a good place for wildlife photography, as I saw this one guy in camo clothing attaching a lens about the length of my leg to his camera.
I walked back to town, went to some of the antique shops there, bought a pastry, then head off back to London.