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A life less complicated

Featured / freedombird / 13 Comments

Having completed a large chunk of the British coastline and visited 1467 beaches on the way, ventured into the unknown, crossing the English Channel for the first time and seeing what the coastline of France has to offer and adding a further 459 beaches to our tally, we are off again. This time, as a complete change we are on the pursuit of stunning scenery and again crossing the channel and meandering down the core of Western Europe to see what we can see…

If you would like to see our earlier journeys around the UK, they have loosely been grouped together by location and you can find the links below.

NB some of the links below are not yet working properly as it is a work in progress….

Beach Guides:

To catch up with our earlier adventures in:

  1. North coast of Cornwall from 5th October 2017 to 11th February 2018 –   Freedombird in Cornwall
  2. Back in Cornwall at various times to complete the coastline – Freedombird back in Cornwall
  3. North coast of Devon from 11th February to 19th March 2018 – Freedombird in North Devon
  4. Somerset from 19th March to 29th April 2018 – Freedombird in Somerset
  5. South Wales coast from 29th April to 14th August 2018 – Freedombird in South Wales
  6. West and North Wales coast from 14th August to 21st October 2018 – Freedombird in West and North Wales
  7. North West England from 21st October to 26th November 2018 and 27th January to 4th February 2019 – Freedombird in North West England
  8. Cumbria from 27th January to 5th April 2019 – Freedombird in Cumbria
  9. South Coast of Scotland from 5th April to 25th May 2019 – Freedombird on the South Coast of Scotland
  10. West Coast of Southern Scotland from 26th May to 17th July 2019 – Freedombird on the West Coast of Southern Scotland
  11. Edinburgh and surrounding area from 18th July to 30th July 2019 – Freedombird in Edinburgh and surrounding beaches
  12. East Coast of Southern Scotland from 28th July to 15th September 2019 – Freedombird on the East Coast of Southern Scotland
  13. North East England from 12th September to 20th November 2019 – Freedombird in the North East of England
  14. Yorkshire from 14th January to 22nd February 2020 – Fredombird in Yorkshire
  15. Lincolnshire from 23rd February to 13th March 2020 – Freedombird in Lincolnshire
  16. Norfolk and Suffolk from 15th to 24th March 2020 and 28th June to 18th July 2025 – Freedombird in Norfolk and Suffolk
  17. Inland England on various dates travelling through – Freedombird in inland England
  18. West Coast of Northern Scotland Part 1 from 11th September to 14th October 2024 – Freedombird on the West Coast of Northern Scotland Part 1
  19. North Coast of Scotland and the Orkneys from 15th to 27th October 2024 – Freedombird on the North Coast of Scotland and the Orkneys
  20. East Coast of Northern Scotland Part 1 from 28th October to 15th November 2024 – Freedombird on the East Coast of Northern Scotland Part 1
  21. In the Highlands of Scotland from 15th to 26th November 2024 and 10th to 21st June 2025 – Freedombird in the Highlands
  22. West Coast of Northern Scotland Part 2 from 8th to 17th April and 31st May to 5th June 2025 – Freedombird on the West Coast of Northern Scotland Part 2
  23. Outer Hebrides Part 1 from 22nd April to 12th May 2025 – Freedombird in the Outer Hebrides Part 1
  24. Outer Hebrides Part 2 from 10th May to 30th May 2025 – Freedombird in the Outer Hebrides Part 2
  25. East Coast of Northern Scotland Part 2 from 15th to 18th June 2025 – Freedombird on the East Coast of Northern Scotland Part 2
  26. North and West Coast of France from 11th September to 7th December 2025 – Freedombird on the North and West Coast of France

Saturday 13th June 2026 – a lovely walk along the Botany Bay Walking Trail….

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A perfect walking day for us today, a little cloud and breeze around making for comfortable walking conditions as we head back up to the coast just to the east of Margate and find free seafront parking in Cliftonville where we join the Botany Bay Walking Trail at Palm Bay Beach, a lovely sandy crescent shaped beach backed by white chalky cliffs….

The trail is actually along the tops of the cliffs but there is an undercliff walk for part of this trail, suitable for when the tide is out or at least when the seas are relatively calm and this was our choice today….

As the undercliff walk finished and we rejoined the upper cliff trail just before we reached the lovely wilder end of Botany Bay Beach….

Around a small headland the wider Bay of Botany Bay opened up….

Surprisingly quiet on this beautiful Saturday afternoon, we continued along the trail until Kingsgate Castle came into view….

Sitting high above the rather lovely Kingsgate Bay with it’s dramatic and perfectly formed chalk archway….

A little further along and the last bay on this section was Joss Bay, probably more popular because of it’s proximity to a car park – this was our turning point….

On returning to the van we drove a few short miles to Broadstairs where we opted for paid parking away from the seafront as it didn’t look like the seafront was as accessible and wandered down through the busy village to Stone Bay to the west and St Mary’s Bay still largely engulfed by the tide….

In the centre of. the town is Viking Bay, clearly the most popular….

Walking along the promenade to the east of town is the much quieter and equally sandy Louise Bay….

Our day is not done yet as we move further south and make a brief stop on the seafront in Ramsgate, choosing the north and quieter end of town to find free parking and walk from Winterstoke Gardens end along the top above Winterstoke Beach

And finally down onto Ramsgate Beach and back along the lower promenade….

A fabulous day, lots of lovely beaches and plenty of good walks.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 45
  • Miles walked – 9
  • Beaches – 10
  • C/P – £2.20
  • O/N – £9.50

Friday 12th June 2026 – a lovely walk along the White Cliffs of Dover….

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Still a bit damp this morning but soon drying up and the clouds gradually thinning as the day wore on and we are keen to get out and about again.

Today we are heading for Dover, well more specifically the White Cliffs and headed for the National Trust car park up above the Port and Dover. The small motorhome specific car park (only taking 8 vans and certainly nothing over 7.5m in length) had just the two spaces left – lo and behold either side of an identical van (me on the right)….

We set off on a rather windy walk along the tops of the White Cliffs with views of Dover castle behind us and the white cliffs ahead (west)….

We were soon looking down on the black sands of Langdon Beach (accessible through a tunnel and steep metal steps – so not for us) and out at the cloud shadows and glimpses of sun out across the English Channel unfortunately it is definitely not clear enough to catch any glimpses of France….

We reached South Foreland Lighthouse and decided to continue along to the next village of St Margaret’s at Cliffe visible along the cliffs in the distance….

A steep climb down onto the beach at the bottom where we took a while recharging our batteries before making the climb back up….

Our return route was slightly more inland and away from the worst of the wind through lush green meadows with glimpses back along the cliffs….

Rejoining the cliff path for a look at the busy Port and down onto Dover and it’s beach in the distance….

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 41
  • Miles walked – 9
  • O/N – £9.50

Thursday 11th June 2026 – a thoroughly miserable day….

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Well yesterday afternoon and evening’s lovely sunshine did not last and this morning we have woken to grey skies and rather than intermittent showers, pretty heavy rainfall lasting for hours at a time with only sporadic breaks in between.

A grey day in Canterbury….

So we have stuff to do, laundry and admin things like catching up on photo organisation and these blogs so we decided to stay put and use the day catching up and binge watching YouTube to get ideas for our next adventures.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 2
  • Laundry – £8.50
  • O/N – £9.50

Wednesday 10th June 2026 – a walk from Birchington to Margate….

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Still some heavy showers around through the morning but the day improved with age. Today we drove to the seafront and free parking at Birchington the next village along (east) of Herne Bay and waited out a particularly heavy downpour before venturing down onto Minni’s Bay, a long stretch of low tide mostly sandy bay….

From here we followed the concrete promenade below the low chalk Birchington Cliffs to the not so sandy Grenham Bay….

Shortly arriving at the lovely sandy West Bay at Westgate-on-Sea….

Around the next headland to the stunning St Mildred’s Bay with it’s seawater paddling pool….

A little further along the path and around the next headland to Westbrook Bay as we arrive into Margate-on-Sea….

And lastly Margate Bay with another tidal pool….

At Margate Bay I had to be a little careful when taking photos because there were several groups of young school children enjoying out of the classroom activities on the beach.

At this point we decided to turn about and make our way back the way we had come – a very enjoyable and totally dry walk.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 41
  • Miles walked – 7
  • Beaches – 6
  • O/N – £9.50

Tuesday 9th June 2026 – Herne Bay and then a walk from Tankerton to Whitstable….

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Wet overnight and several hefty showers during the day but fortunately we managed to dodge the worst and have a good day.

After sitting out an heavy rain shower, we started our day with a walk along the promenade at Herne Bay, the beach here is shingle with some low tide sand just becoming visible so we were glad to be walking along the promenade….

The pier was a delight with lots of little artisan cabins (many of them still closed or probably just opening at weekends) selling lots of crafty bits, speciality coffees and homemade cakes with a small funfair at the end – not an amusement arcade to be seen which is quite refreshing and offering lovely views along the beach….

At the far end (east) of the town a pretty clocktower and just visible on the horizon out at sea the 6 remaining Maunsell Forts (one of the original seven was destroyed when hit by a ship in 1963), abandoned military anti-aircraft installations from WWII….

Retracing our steps and continuing further west we arrived in Hampton and enjoyed far reaching views of Hampton Beach where the sand was more exposed and more rain was on it’s way….

Moving a little further west we found parking along the sea front at Tankerton and after the shower had passed we made our way down onto the promenade above Tankerton beach….

From here we walked in a westerly direction to the small but lively village of Whitstable and it’s shingle working beach – oysters just about everywhere along the sea front being sold from cabins or in sheds – shucked or not, but with a pretty little high street running behind with lots of individual shops and cafes ….

Here the heavens really opened but fortunately we were able to take shelter under a shop awning until it had passed and strolled back to the van in brilliant sunshine!

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 43
  • Miles walked – 6
  • Beaches – 4
  • O/N – £9.50