People have been telling me for years that the pretty little town of Rye in East Sussex is the new Margate. They’ve been saying it for so long, in fact, that they’ve now started insisting St Leonards-on-Sea – a little farther along the train line, right on the coast – is the new Rye. It’s true that both places, like Margate before them, have enjoyed a boom in culture and coffee shops, in artists and artisanal food stores, becoming enclaves of creativity and cafes. I’ve always brushed off these evangelists, scarred by the boredom of growing up farther along the Sussex coast in Worthing in the 1990s. Yet since then, I’ve heard that the area has become destination-worthy, and I’m keen to finally rediscover it through adult eyes.
Primarily because I recently stumbled across the interiors and fashion store Sunless Antiques on Instagram. A beautifully judged mix of mid-century wooden furniture and vintage workwear, it looked like the sort of spot that only owners with a brilliant eye could curate. And it was in St Leonards. Suddenly it seemed I really ought to investigate, especially as I can travel there directly from London with Southern Railway. As I’m nearby, why not stop off in Rye, too?
Almost nothing beats travelling to the seaside by train. Coffee in one hand, Kindle in the other, and that rare opportunity to ignore both in favour of watching the landscape slowly unfurl beyond the window. The city gives way to fields, the fields to villages, the villages to terraces with Regency flourishes that hint the coast can’t be far away. Stepping off the train at St Leonards feels like the beginning of an adventure, armed with little more than Google Maps, a list of recommendations and the unmistakable scent of sea air pulling me instinctively towards the beach.
-
A bacon bap at Goat Ledge makes for the perfect start to the day
And guess what? Those evangelists were right. Heading first to Goat Ledge, the luminous pink-and-orange cafe on the promenade, I pass galleries, antique shops and food markets tucked between charmingly weathered four-storey townhouses. Seagulls screech overhead, the smell of salt mingles with fish and chips and … hang on … is that the aroma of genuinely excellent coffee?
Already relaxed from the journey, I settle at an outdoor table overlooking the stony beach. My bacon bap is impossibly soft, slathered in brown sauce, seafoam curling along the shoreline in front of me. A local institution since opening seven years ago, Goat Ledge has expanded to include Fire on the Beach, serving wood-fired breakfasts on Sundays and lunches and dinners from Thursday to Sunday. People greet one another by name, compare notes on today’s sea temperature (“not too bad”) and drift in and out carrying coffees. There is an easy sense of community to the place.
On the way to Sunless Antiques, I stop at Project 78, a compact gallery that mounts eight exhibitions a year by artists ranging from first-timers to Turner prize winners. Funded by the framing business tucked behind it, the gallery doesn’t need to make money from its exhibitions, giving owner Patrick Jones complete freedom to show whatever excites him. Mark Spellman’s work – for example, a Pringles tube surrounded by gilt-edged flowers – is on display during my visit; next up is Hajra Haider Karrar, guest curator of the Sri Lankan Biennale, south Asia’s most talked about international art show. “If a show fails, that’s fine,” says Jones. “At least it’ll be fascinating.”
-
Visiting Sunless Antiques, the inspiration for the trip
And then, finally, Sunless. Yes, it was absolutely worth the trip. The first thing that strikes me is the light, pouring through vast windows overlooking the sea and spilling across painted white floors. Vintage chairs from the 1950s are given enough breathing room to feel almost like sculpture. Since opening in 2019, the owners have developed an impeccable aesthetic, sourcing furniture and vintage clothing from France. With remarkable restraint, I leave with a 1940s iron candleholder and a mental note to come back soon.
But not before heading to Rye, just over 25 minutes from St Leonards by train, through green countryside dotted with grazing cattle. Rye isn’t quite on the coast, though it somehow feels as though it should be. It has the same easygoing fish-and-chips atmosphere as St Leonards, just without the sea views. The antique shops are larger, but every bit as carefully curated. Soap and Salvation, housed in a former Salvation Army chapel and run by two former Jasper Conran creative directors, sells whatever catches its owners’ eye: a 17th-century desk might sit alongside a 1970s fashion book, while an extraordinary library occupies the mezzanine, tempting you to lose an afternoon among the shelves.
-
McCully & Crane (top), Soap and Salvation (below)
At McCully & Crane, co-owner Marcus McCully tells me there are “no rules” governing what goes on display, resulting in an effortlessly layered mix of art and furniture. “I like those Paris apartments where there’s something from every decade,” he says. “The grandmother’s wardrobe alongside something inherited from an eccentric uncle, and the whole thing is rather faded and fabulous.” It’s a philosophy that perfectly captures the gallery’s appeal.
-
The Winery is the perfect place for a pick-me-up before returning home
Before heading home, I call into the Winery for provisions for the journey back. English wines are made and sold here, great oak barrels quietly nurturing what I’m assured was an exceptional 2025 pinot gris harvest. I try a delicately pale rosé made from pinot meunier grapes from East Sussex, and a crisply fresh chardonnay from grapes around the region. With a long pizza menu too, the place is buzzing in the evenings, but in the late afternoon it’s just the tonic I needed. Back on the Southern Railway train, countryside rolling past once more, I finally make it to the end of the book I’ve been trudging through for months. My head sinks back against the seat, my eyes begin to close, and I realise I’m more relaxed than I’ve felt in weeks. Sometimes the journey really is part of the holiday. And sometimes all it takes is a train ticket to discover somewhere you’d dismissed for years.
For your own trip to explore Sussex by train, head to Southern Railway
