Selsey

Selsey is not a town built around large hotels — its accommodation has always leaned towards holiday parks, static caravans and self-catering cottages, reflecting its history as a family seaside resort rather than a conference or city-break destination. Visitors looking for a more conventional hotel stay will generally find better choice a short drive away in Chichester, which has a wider range of options from budget chains to boutique and coaching-inn style hotels, all within easy reach of Selsey via the B2145.

Within Selsey itself and the surrounding Manhood Peninsula villages, the accommodation on offer tends towards guesthouses, bed and breakfasts and holiday cottages, many of them family-run and geared towards guests visiting for the beach, the RNLI station or the birdwatching at Pagham Harbour and Medmerry. These smaller options often suit visitors better than a hotel would, since they tend to be closer to the seafront and the harbour trails than anything in Chichester. For those who do want proper hotel facilities alongside a beachfront stay, Seal Bay Resort's static lodges and its indoor leisure facilities offer something close to a hotel experience while remaining on the doorstep of Selsey's beach.

Selsey rewards a slower pace. Most of what makes it worth visiting is free, outdoors, and tied to the sea in one way or another.

• Selsey Bill — the headland itself, a rocky, current-swept point at the southern tip of the Manhood Peninsula where the coastline turns from south-facing to east-facing. It's one of the most exposed spots on the Sussex coast and a well-known spot for sea fishing and watching the tide race.
• Selsey RNLI Lifeboat Station — a modern station built on stilts over the water in 2017, home to a Shannon class all-weather lifeboat and a smaller D class inshore boat. The free visitor centre has a viewing gallery and exhibits on the crew's history, which stretches back to 1861 and includes ten gallantry awards.
• Fossil hunting on the beach — the shingle and clay around Selsey are known for yielding Eocene-era fossils, including sharks' teeth and fossilised molluscs, washed out of the low cliffs and foreshore after storms.
• Pagham Harbour Nature Reserve — a few miles north of town, this 1,500-acre RSPB reserve of mudflats, saltmarsh and lagoons is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and one of the best birdwatching spots on the south coast, with a free visitor centre and waymarked trails.
• Medmerry Nature Reserve — a large managed realignment site to the west of Selsey, created after coastal flood defences were redrawn inland. It's now a haven for wading birds and has become a favourite for quiet walks and cycling along the sea wall.
• East Beach — a long stretch of shingle where local fishermen sell the day's catch straight from beach huts, including dressed crab and lobster landed just yards away.
• Selsey (Medmerry) Windmill — a restored red-brick smock mill dating from the early 19th century, one of the few reminders of Selsey's agricultural past before the town grew up around tourism and fishing.

Fresh seafood is the obvious draw, given the fishing boats that still work out of Selsey. East Beach's fishermen's huts, including Julie's Hut and Honest Bill's, sell fresh crab, lobster and whatever else has been landed that day. In town, the Crab & Lobster restaurant has built a strong reputation and a mention in the Michelin Guide, while The Boulevard is a popular spot for breakfast and brunch. For something different, Penny's American Diner and The Vault, serving Mediterranean food, add some variety to the town's dining scene. Dog-friendly pubs are plentiful, including the Lifeboat Inn, the Crown Inn and the Hopp Inn, all good for a pint after a day on the beach. A couple of miles north at Sidlesham, overlooking Pagham Harbour, the Crab and Lobster pub-restaurant is widely regarded as the best meal out in the wider area, built around fresh local seafood and harbour views.

Selsey's flat, exposed position at the tip of the Manhood Peninsula makes it a popular spot for coastal camping, though as everywhere in England, wild camping is illegal without the landowner's permission — this is a town built around established holiday parks and touring sites rather than informal pitches. The area's biggest draw for campers is Seal Bay Resort, set along a mile-long beach on the edge of town, which combines touring and camping pitches with static caravans, indoor pools and a full entertainment programme, making it a solid choice for families wanting facilities on hand. Quieter, smaller sites such as Westmount Caravan Park offer a more traditional touring and camping experience for those who prefer fewer frills, while a scattering of further parks across the Manhood Peninsula villages give a choice of settings, from open farmland to sites tucked closer to Pagham Harbour and the South Downs National Park beyond.

The terrain around Selsey is low, flat and shingle-backed rather than dramatic, which suits campers looking for easy access to the beach and cycling routes rather than hilly, sheltered pitches. Wind off the Channel can be brisk even in summer, so a well-pegged tent or an awning built for coastal conditions is worth having, and pitches with some shelter from hedging or dunes are worth seeking out at the more exposed sites. Late spring through to early autumn is the best camping season, when the weather is at its calmest and the days are long enough to fit in a walk around Pagham Harbour or Medmerry as well as time on the beach; a low-tide morning after a summer storm is also prime time for turning up fossils on the shingle.

For campers who want the coastal setting without pitching a tent themselves, glamping options have grown across the wider Chichester district in recent years, ranging from bell tents and pods to fully equipped safari-style lodges, generally set on farms and small sites a short drive from Selsey itself. These suit visitors who want easy access to the RNLI station, the harbour nature reserves and the beach huts on East Beach, but prefer a made-up bed and a fixed roof over a tent pole at the end of the day.