A Weekend Break in Rye, East Sussex, Rye, England

Rye in Sussex, is one of those pretty little market towns that time seems to have passed by. Nestled between the green rolling hills of the South Downs and the English Channel Rye is a Cinque Port town in Sussex and one of the best-preserved medieval towns in England. If you’re visiting Sussex the higgledy-piggledy half-timbered houses and muddle of steep cobbled lanes, beach walks and ancient inns make Rye town the perfect place for a Sussex weekend break. Read on for some of my favourite things to do in Rye.

When you visit Rye you should start your weekend by wandering through it’s quaint little lanes. With names like Watchbell Lane and Wish Street you can’t fail to be enchanted. Start at Landgate and make your way Rye town centre and the High Street exploring the cobbled lanes leading off it. A weekend break in Rye should always include some ghost hunting so listen out for the ghostly footsteps of smugglers past running through the cobbled alleyways.

Today Rye sits two miles away from the coast, however, before the river silted up the town used to be right on the shoreline and was a prime spot for smuggling. You can see a smuggler’s signalling lamp on display at Ypres Tower home to Rye Castle Museum. The tower, which is known as Wipers tower to locals, is also worth a climb to take in the views over the town and out to the estuary of the river Rother. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).