Between Portsmouth & Worthing Is England's Seaside Gem With Pebble Beaches & Fresh Seafood

England gets plenty of recognition as a cultural destination. For travelers to Europe looking for amazing historical sites, incredible art galleries, mind-blowing theater, and stunning architecture, England is one of the best destinations to choose. With a stunning live music scene and an increasingly impressive food culture, England is a fantastic place to visit for history buffs, culture lovers, and foodies alike.

But England doesn't get the love and attention it deserves as a destination for a summer vacation. With a reputation for grey, gloomy skies and far too much rain, England's beach towns are often pushed aside for heralded Mediterranean gems in Spain, France, Italy, and Greece. But England has some of the best and most picturesque beaches in the world, and its seaside towns are incredibly charming and delightful. Cornwall in the southwest has sunny weather, golden sands and hidden bays, while the endless wild beaches of Northumberland in the northeast are spectacular. But nowhere does coastal charm quite like the south coast, and Selsey in West Sussex is a wonderful seaside town brimming with quaint allure and more sunlight hours than anywhere else in the U.K.

Selsey sits on the tip of a small spit of coastline, between Portsmouth and Worthing, near Chichester and Bognor Regis in West Sussex. It is just over half an hour by car to Portsmouth and about two and a half hours' drive to London. The nearest airport is Southampton Airport (SOU), which is just under an hour away, while London Gatwick (LGW) offers a wider variety of routes and is nearly an hour and a half by car. Visitors can also arrive by ferry from France and Spain to Portsmouth Harbor.

Selsey's enviable location on the tip of Manhood Peninsula means that it is surrounded by great beaches, a combination of gorgeous pebble beaches and some of the best stretches of sand in England right on its doorstep. For anyone inspired by the remarkable stones of Chesil Beach in Dorset, East Beach is the place to start. A long stretch of picturesque pebbles, smoothed by the rolling waves, stretches out from the town center towards Pagham Harbor, divided by traditional wooden groynes.

On the other side of the peninsula, Selsey West Sands is a gem for families, a wide expanse of golden sand ideal for a day spent building complex sand sculptures or just enjoying the clear, sunny skies. It is right next door to Seal Bay Resort, which makes it a particularly popular spot for families with younger kids. And for anyone looking to lose the crowds and enjoy a touch of peaceful seclusion, Oval Field Beach, tucked away at the southernmost tip of the peninsula, is calm, quiet, and empty, with no facilities, just exquisite sea views.

For watersports fans, Selsey is close to the beaches of East and West Wittering, which offer some of the finest windsurfing and kitesurfing in England. It is also a surprisingly great place for snorkelers and scuba divers, with some wonderful rock formations and atmospheric wrecks to explore. There's also a wealth of marine life, including sea horses, cuttlefish, and harbor seals.

Selsey itself is a wonderfully scenic, traditional English beach town. Surrounded on three sides by water, it is almost an island and reachable only by a single road in and out, across a small bridge. East Beach is fringed by captivating traditional fishermen's huts, where you can still buy fresh, locally caught seafood. Don't miss the opportunity to try the world-famous Selsey Crab, or just grab a snack or a light lunch. Another huge part of Selsey's history is the Selsey Bill Lifeboat Station, from which the Royal National Lifeboat Association operates. The small museum is fun, as is the chance to see a genuine working lifeboat station, not to mention the panoramic views from its viewing platform. One great way to explore the town is on the Selsey Seal Art Trail. Visitors can follow the seal sculptures around town to learn about its history and find hidden gems along the way.

Selsey has a reputation as a foodie town, and it boasts some of Sussex's best seafood restaurants. Try Potter's or Julie's for freshly caught crab and lobster, the Lifeboat Inn or the Seal Pub for a classic British pub experience, or Lal Bar or the Vault for something a little more formal.

Just beyond the town borders, RSPB Pagham Harbor and RSPB Medmerry are two fabulous nature reserves that are worth exploring for any nature lovers. Designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest, they are filled with a dazzling array of bird species and other wildlife and offer spectacular viewing opportunities from a range of hides, lookouts, and trails. Selsey is also a renowned stargazing destination, and the nature reserves are the perfect place to watch the skies when night falls. There are countless other under-the-radar destinations to explore in England if you know where to look.