SWC 154: Rye Circular (in reverse) t=swc.154
Distance: 11 or 12.5 Miles (17.6 or 19.9 km for those more metrically minded)
Difficulty: 4 out of 10
Train: Take the 9:34 AM train from London St. Pancras to Ashford International (9:41 Stratford International) and change onto the Southern service to Eastbourne (arriving 10:11 and departing 10:25) to arrive in Rye at 10:46. Return trains from Rye are at 48 past the hour. Buy a day return to Rye.
Rye is a charming place to start and finish a walk at any time of the year – so thought this would make for a pleasant outing in winter (also, I thought the marsh and dunes would be quite atmospheric and hopefully not too muddy). For a bit of a change, I am suggesting we do the route in reverse, so that the lunch stop in Camber falls later in the walk (after 7 miles/11km -ish). In reverse orientation, the route meanders through the charming center of Rye before crossing the marsh to Camber Sands and its magnificent dunes for lunch (there is a possible extension along the way adding 1.5 miles). After lunch, the route follows the River Rother back to Rye. You can find more information about the walk and download the walk instructions here. As we will be going in reverse, it will be helpful to print the map and/or download the GPX file!
The recommended lunch venue is the Owl Inn in Camber (0 1797 225 284) about 7 miles/11 km into the walk. There are plenty of tea and other watering holes in Rye….my personal favorite being the Ypres Castle Inn….hidden down some steps near the top of the village….
Enjoy the walk!