Surprisingly trendy seaside town that claims to have ‘the only sandy beach an hour from London’

A SEASIDE town that is on the up for being one of the trendiest places has a lesser-known sandy beach. Most of Kent is lacking in sandy beaches, with Folkestone being no different. 5 Folkestone has a rare Kent sandy beach - an hour from London Credit: Alamy 5 Sunny Sands is tucked behind the main beach stretch Credit: Alamy 5 It also has the Folkestone Mermaid - similar to the one in Copenhagen Credit: Alamy Give us your best tip for places to visit in and around Benidorm here - and you could win a £100 Amazon voucher The main beach of Folkestone - named one of the best places to live as an up-and-coming seaside town - is shingle, so building sandcastles is out.

But away from the main sands is Sunny Sands beach, tucked behind the converted Harbour Arms. It claims to be the only sandy beach within an hour of London, with trains from St Pancras taking around 55 minutes. Then a short walk or bus from the station, Sunny Sands is under the promenade tunnels where you can find some shade too.

While there are other stretches of sand, such as at Ruislip Lido , that are closer, this is the nearest sandy beach that is on the sea, rather than a lake. It is also home to the Folkestone Mermaid, which is similar to the one in Copenhagen . It is often overlooked in favour of the main beach due to the lack of facilities.

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