The most beautiful beach with clifs and so on... not too far from London. Where?

Question

The most beautiful beach with clifs and so on... not too far from London. Where?

Answer 1

the only places I know of with cliffs near London is on the south coast around Hastings, Dover, east of Brighton at Rottingdean and Saltdean, but I wouldn't rate any of them as spectacular ... to get spectacular white or golden sands with granite cliffs you've got to go to the far west of Cornwall (St Ives, Lands End, Penzance) or to the far west of Wales (St Davids, Tenby), or to North Yorks (Scarborough, Whitby) ... nearer to London with really nice sands is Clacton (a little bit of cliffs but not a lot) or Bournemouth ... but there is a very nice little beach (not big but big enough for younger children) at Hastings

easily accessible from London is the Southend area but that's more river mud with shingle ... when the kids were young I used to do cheap day trips there by train (from Liverpool Street) but we always went to the end of the train line at Shoeburyness, more sand than river mud and no bingo or rollercoasters

there's also Kent, Whitstable (cute), Margate (tacky), Ramsgate (a bit more upmarket) all of which you can get to by train from Victoria

Answer 2

It depends what you consider too far.  But if you want nice beaches and cliffs, you have to travel at least an hour or two from London.  Probably further.