As someone who grew up in East Sussex, I know embarrassingly little about West Sussex. When I caught wind that the coastal town of Worthing is a place worth checking out I jumped on a train and headed down to see if the seaside staple can offer daytrippers and holidayers more than just its pebble beach and iconic pier.
Worthing is undeniably best known for that pier – built in 1862 and now adorned with an art deco building that houses two restaurants. It is one of the largest seaside towns in the South, laid out a few miles west of Brighton. Writer Harold Pinter lived here during the Swinging Sixties, while Oscar Wilde is said to have written The Importance of Being Earnest when staying in the town, and rumour has it that Jane Austen’s final, unfinished novel was based on her experiences in the town.
I was keen to see if Worthing could be as inspirational a visit for me as I stepped off the train and walked coastwards to my first accommodation, the resplendent Ardington Hotel one block back from the seafront. This charming hotel has been family owned since 1928, its many rooms start at a very reasonable £98 per night, and you get a full English included when you book directly. My double room with ensuite was cosy, well heated and had a luxuriously comfortable bed that I didn’t have long to appreciate until I was out the door after my evening check-in and down the road for dinner.
The Ardington’s Indigo restaurant is the only with an AA rosette in all of Worthing but I had my heart set on Crabshack, a nearby local staple that brings seafood to the seaside eater. As my server Trudy attested, not all coastal towns have good seafood restaurants. Luckily her confidence was well founded as the menu here was excellent, from starters of deep fried cockle and shrimp popcorn to incredible mains of fish stew and pan roasted fillet of brill. Be sure to book a table under the outside awning for the full seaside vibe (blankets and heaters provided).
Belly full and a good night’s sleep later, I took a quick breakfast at my hotel before heading out into surprisingly sunny daylight and Worthing’s historic seafront. Recent Olivia Colman film Wicked Little Letters was part-filmed here for the beach scenes, and the town is curiously one of only three places worldwide – alongside Johannesburg and Adelaide – to have hosted the men’s World Bowls championship twice.
Counteracting the chilly October seas is handy local sauna Fire, Salt & Sea on the beach’s pebbles, built into a converted horse box. It can hold up to six and prices start at £15 per person, letting you run back and forth from icy sea to sweltering wooden comfort.
After a run along the front, taking in ice cream vans, a plethora of hotels and rows of occupied beach huts, I headed to my second accommodation for the weekend – the recently-opened Sleep Eco Hotel, so-called for its eco-credentials. Everything is powered by electricity, and sensors ensure lights do not stay on when not needed. The converted wash house was also a school in past years, lending the feel of a friendly dormitory, while check-in is all by a door code emailed to you – no receptionists here. Prices start at £129, and though the iron and board are communal, you get a TV with every streaming service to log into.
Heading back to town I grabbed a bite at Malt cafe, the place that felt most like I was over the county border in Brighton. This is a good thing thanks to specialty coffee, great service and delicious huevos rancheros. By this point it was pushing 2pm on a Saturday and Worthing felt like it hadn’t quite woken up yet despite a population of well over 100,000. I headed next over to The Tasting Room, a tap room owned by couple Olly Parsons and Emma O’Neill Parsons, who run Merakai Brewing Co.
They opened the cosy bar a year and a half ago, brewing all their small batch beers onsite. Though Brighton attracts more tourists, Parsons told me Worthing has the most craft beer bars per capita in the country, drawing more discerning drinkers to the town.“There was a saying when I first came here that you go to Worthing for good beer, Brighton for expensive beer,” he said. “Worthing has the beer scene just because rent and everything is less you don’t have to charge such silly amounts.”
I particularly enjoyed a drop called ‘We Didn’t Know You Were Here’ – something a lot of patrons say after they walk through the door. The can has a tongue in cheek QR code linking to the Merakai website, as well as a map on how to find the tap room.
You’ll find five taps flowing from Thursday to Sunday. From here I took the short walk down to the seafront and the pier, whose art deco Southern Pavilion was rebuilt on the nineteenth-century pier after several gale and fire based disasters.
This now houses local favourite brunch and diner spot Perch on the Pier, but I was there for the Michelin Guide recommended Tern restaurant, set up recently by chef Johnny Stanford. On the top level of the structure, the fine dining experience only has one sitting per night to allow you to luxuriate in either a five- or seven-course tasting menu, naturally paired with appropriate wines.
Everything is British produce, the menu is seasonal, and Stanford said he and his team can, if needed, change the menu every six weeks. This is handy for repeated visits, which I’d recommend as the food is sensational. Small plates, but ones that left me fully sated after five courses.
“The seasonality for us in the UK is tiny, you’ve got six weeks for asparagus, maybe two months for strawberries, so it keeps you on your toes, you have to change the menu,” he said.
The venison and shallot with bone marrow and hollandaise was a particular highlight, as was an intricately made pumpkin dessert. You can get a table, but watching the experts at work in the kitchen from the bar is a great vantage point, with 180 degree views of the sea and setting sun thanks to the long glass windows.
Having worked in restaurants across the country including in nearby Brighton, Stanford was adamant that Worthing is on the up and up. “When I first moved here there weren’t many great independent places. There were even many chain places; it was just your standard run down seaside town,” he said.“It’s like it’s on the turn. We have so many people coming in saying they want to move here or just have from Brighton or London … people are wising up to the fact it’s not just an old people’s place anymore. It’s now got a lot going on for it.”
After rolling happily off to bed, I rose early and headed off to my last stop at Perch’s second location: Perch on the Parade. Fine sea views and a tight but excellent breakfast menu saw me enjoy my Sunday morning with a fry up, coffee and simply watching the world go by. Be sure to book at the weekend as it fills up with locals coming in off the beachfront before long.
I was sad to leave as I rambled up the hill back to the station to head back to the big smog. Sure, London has everything, but sometimes everything is too much. I found the theory that there’s nothing to do in Worthing is far from the truth, and the town has certainly evolved from the picture many Brits may have of it from the last century.
It’s certainly a good place to go for a couple of days and eat your way around, but there are also good beach walks, several cosy bars and enough national music and comedy talent coming through for it to be a place to consider settling in if you’re being priced out of other southern towns. It might be a little sleepy for some, but for others looking for a bit of seaside charm, Worthing is well worthy.