Guest Blog – Littlehampton: The West Sussex Coastal Secret Worth Knowing About

You already know about Arundel. The castle rising above the River Arun, the tulips in spring, the jousting in summer, the antique shops and the extraordinary food scene. But fifteen minutes south, where the river meets the sea, there is a coastal town that many Arundel visitors never quite get round to exploring. That is a mistake worth correcting.

Littlehampton is the West Sussex coastal town that is quietly, confidently reinventing itself. A working harbour steeped in history, a genuinely exciting food and drink scene, two stretches of coast that rival anything in the south of England, and a new wave of boutique places to stay that have started to attract the kind of guests who once never ventured this far from Brighton. Come for Arundel. Stay for Littlehampton. Leave wondering why it took you so long to discover it.

The Moment That Stays With You

There is a particular moment in Littlehampton that only reveals itself if you know to look for it. Walk along the river as the afternoon softens into evening and you will find what remains of a working harbour, smaller now than it once was but with its own quiet dignity and a community of fishermen still going about their work. The occasional fishing boat coming back after a day at sea. Seagulls circling for any little snippets from the catch. The smell of salt and river. It is enough to stop you in your tracks.

It is the real grit of life in a coastal town, and the warmth of the people who are in it. And if you want to feel the ghosts of what this place once was, walk along Rope Walk nearby. The buildings that line this quiet path are where rope was made for the tall sailing ships of the British merchant fleet. Long lengths of hemp twisted together in the open air, supplying vessels that sailed from this very harbour to every corner of the world. The industrial history of Littlehampton runs deep, and Rope Walk is the quietest and most evocative way to find it.

Littlehampton has two beaches, and they could not be more different.

East Beach is the town beach, wide and golden at low tide, shingle giving way to sand as the tide recedes. Yes, you will find the smell of vinegar hitting fresh chips and the seagulls swooping for their share. But something here feels more considered than your average seaside town. The new West Green development is perfect for families, with independent food outlets that have quietly raised the bar. The East Beach Cafe, designed by Thomas Heatherwick and one of the most extraordinary buildings on the West Sussex coast, sets a tone that the rest of the town is beginning to match.

The boutique and individual places to stay, the emerging food and drink scene. Littlehampton is becoming more grown up, more like Lymington in the New Forest than the bright lights of Brighton. You can feel the shift happening. And it is well worth arriving early.

West Beach, reached by crossing the red footbridge over the river, is something else entirely. Quieter, wilder, a Site of Special Scientific Interest with one of only three sand dune systems in West Sussex. Dog-friendly all year round, it gives West Wittering a serious run for its money without any of the queues or the heavy car park charges. Walk it on a clear day and the Isle of Wight sits on the horizon. Walk it in the evening as the light goes golden and you will not want to leave.

And this is not only a town for summer. When the beach season ends and the world moves on, Littlehampton quietly reveals itself at its best. The coast empties. The light changes. The restaurants and cafes are easier to get into. The walks are yours alone. For the out of season traveller who knows that the best of a coastal town is often found when the crowds have gone, Littlehampton rewards every visit. Quieter during the week, with a livelier energy at weekends when the town comes into its own. There is always a reason to come back.

Eating and Drinking Well by the Sea

The food scene in Littlehampton has been quietly building for years, and June 2026 is the moment it announces itself properly. The East Beach Cafe, the Thomas Heatherwick-designed building that sits dramatically on the promenade and has been one of the landmarks of the West Sussex coast for nearly two decades, is celebrating its 19th birthday this summer with a Sussex Fizz and Fresh Catch event that captures everything the cafe does best.

The new summer menu is worth making a trip for on its own. An afternoon mezze of hummus, olives and flatbreads, followed by prawn and chorizo with patatas bravas, finished with a lemon posset and shortbread. The new summer drinks list includes Wiston Estate sparkling wine, enjoyed at a table looking out across the beach. Or the homemade lemonade, which is exactly what it should be on a warm West Sussex afternoon.

For the evening, a bowl of mussels at The Beach Club Littlehampton with something cold and the surfers heading in as the light fades.

Or venture a little further into the high street and you will find something that tells you everything about what Littlehampton actually is. Mediterranean, Hungarian and Romanian, Southern Indian: a handful of small independent restaurants that reflect the broad base of this community. A coastal town in the truest sense of the word, home to various communities coming together, all proud to call Littlehampton their home. The food scene here is not curated or designed. It grew organically from the people who live here.

And if you want to combine dinner with the moment described above, the Arun View Inn sits right on the river with a view of the fishing boats and a seafood linguine that earns its place on the menu.

The Foodie Adventurer has found their town.

Something That Will Stay With You: Kite Surfing at Littlehampton

There is a moment, somewhere in your first kite surfing lesson, when the wind fills the kite above you and you feel the pull for the first time. Not the polite nudge you were expecting. A genuine, physical, this-is-real pull that makes you understand immediately why people who do this never quite stop talking about it.

Behind The Beach Watersports is Mikey, founder and lead instructor, and someone who has spent his life chasing the wind. He started sailing at eight years old, moved into windsurfing and never really looked back. He has coached and instructed across the UK and abroad, working in Greece, Turkey, Egypt and the Dominican Republic, judged international windsurfing competitions and logged more hours on the water than most people spend thinking about it. When conditions are good at Littlehampton, Mikey is still out there himself, kitesurfing, wingfoiling, windsurfing, always pushing. That passion is what you feel in a lesson here.

Littlehampton sits at the mouth of the River Arun and offers exceptional conditions from April to October, with the south-westerly wind delivering a cross-onshore flow ideal for learning. Lessons are scheduled around low tide, when flat, knee to waist-deep water stretches up to 150 metres along the beach. You do not need experience. You need a willingness to feel slightly ridiculous for the first twenty minutes and completely exhilarated for the twenty minutes after that.

Guests staying at East Beach Guest House on a Sunday can take advantage of the Surfers Sunday package: 10% off the room rate and 10% off watersports at The Beach Watersports. No surfboard required.

Where to Stay: The New Littlehampton

Something has been happening in Littlehampton. A quiet shift in the quality and character of places to stay that has started to attract a different kind of visitor. The London weekend set who used to bypass the town entirely. The Home Counties explorer looking for somewhere with genuine character rather than a chain hotel formula. The south coast adventurer who wants a proper base rather than a compromise.

East Beach Guest House on South Terrace is at the heart of that shift. The real essence of a small boutique hotel in everything but name, nine individually designed rooms behind a Victorian beachfront terrace, recently reimagined with a level of care and detail that guests consistently describe as unexpected and entirely welcome. The new Home Suite Beachfront wraps you in warm terracotta walls and deep earthy tones, with its own private courtyard for morning coffee and evening wine. The Deluxe Super King is rear-facing and wonderfully quiet, with aged ochre walls and a single spark of teal on the door that makes you stop only a second the first time you see it.

The first floor guest lounge looks directly out to sea, and it is where the continental breakfast arrives each morning with freshly baked pastries. Stand at the window with a coffee and watch the world go by on the water below. The hosts know this stretch of West Sussex better than anyone and share that knowledge freely with every guest who asks. Award-winning Best Boutique Stay in Sussex at the Muddy Stilettos Awards. Top-rated on TripAdvisor in Littlehampton. The kind of welcome that starts before you even arrive.

The Romantic Escapist books the Home Suite for three nights and barely leaves the courtyard. The Base Camper uses the free parking, eats breakfast in the lounge and drives to Arundel Castle for the jousting before coming back to warm walls and a sea view at the end of the day. Both are right.

Book direct at eastbeachhouse.co.uk for the best rates and personalised recommendations before you arrive.

Drink Local: West Sussex Wine Worth Knowing About

West Sussex has become one of the most exciting English wine regions, and staying in Littlehampton puts you well placed to explore it. East Beach Guest House serves wines produced within half an hour of the property, a quiet but genuine commitment to local provenance that runs through everything the hosts do.

The house favourite is Stopham Estate Bacchus, produced at a vineyard planted in 2007 in the hamlet of Stopham near Pulborough. Grown in free-draining sandy soil in the South Downs National Park, it carries bright notes of grapefruit and fresh citrus that taste exactly right at the end of a day on the West Sussex coast. Tinwood Estate, near Chichester, produces award-winning English sparkling wine from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier on chalk and flint soils at the foot of the South Downs. Both are within half an hour of Littlehampton and both offer vineyard tours and tastings throughout the season.

For the Base Camper, a glass of Bacchus at the end of a day exploring the coast and the Downs is the natural full stop to a very good day. East Beach Guest House is happy to point you in the right direction.

Your Coastal Base for the Arundel Area

Littlehampton sits fifteen minutes from Arundel by car. Close enough to make the castle, the festivals and the markets effortless day trips. Far enough to feel like a proper escape in its own right.

The Base Camper knows this instinctively. They wake up at East Beach Guest House to freshly baked pastries and a sea view, head inland for the day, and come back in the evening to warm walls, a glass of something local. A ten minute walk along the river path and the fishing boats are coming in on the harbour below.

Stay in Littlehampton. Everything else is fifteen minutes away. Walk the coast in the morning and the river in the evening. Eat well. Drink local. Watch the world go by from the guest lounge window.

That is what this part of West Sussex is actually about. And now you know where to find it.

East Beach Guest House, Littlehampton, West Sussex  ·  eastbeachhouse.co.uk

Written by Rich Groome, East Beach Guest House  ·  eastbeachhouse.co.uk