Just off Church Sq stands the sandcastle-esque Ypres Tower (pronounced ‘wipers’). You can scramble through the 13th-century building to learn about its long history as a fort, prison, mortuary and museum (the last two at overlapping times), and an annexe contains one of the last surviving Victorian women’s prisons in the country. From here, there are widescreen views of Rye Bay and even France on very clear days.
Ypres Tower
Rye
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
27.37 MILES
A rich repository of more than 1400 years of Christian history, Canterbury Cathedral is the Church of England’s mother ship, and a truly extraordinary…
21.17 MILES
Leeds Castle, an immense moated pile just east of Maidstone, is often considered the world’s most romantic castle. It's certainly one of the most visited…
28.39 MILES
Occupying top spot, literally and figuratively, in Dover’s townscape, this most impressive of castles was built to bolster the country’s weakest point at…
27.92 MILES
Despite voting leave, the poor port town of Dover is possibly the Southeast community set to suffer most post-Brexit. It was perhaps for that reason that…
11.15 MILES
On this spot raged the pivotal battle in the last successful invasion of England in 1066: an event that had an unparalleled impact on the country’s…
25.58 MILES
The famous cliffs of Beachy Head are the highest point of the chalky rock faces that slice across the rugged coastline at the southern end of the South…
Beaney House of Art & Knowledge
27.26 MILES
This mock-Tudor edifice is the grandest on the main shopping thoroughfare, if not the most authentic. Formerly called the Royal Museum & Art Gallery, it…
28.45 MILES
The biggest draw at Dover Castle is the secret wartime tunnels. The claustrophobic chalk-hewn passageways were excavated during the Napoleonic Wars and…
Nearby Rye attractions
1. Church of St Mary the Virgin
0.06 MILES
Rye’s welcoming, community hub of a church is a hotchpotch of medieval and later styles. Its turret clock is the oldest in England (1561) still working…
0.12 MILES
This Georgian town house is a favourite stomping ground for local apparitions, but its most famous resident was American writer Henry James, who lived…
0.19 MILES
Most start their exploration of Rye on famous Mermaid St, a short walk from the Rye Heritage Centre. It bristles with 15th-century timber-framed houses…
6.53 MILES
Located 2.5 miles south of Tenterden on the B2082, this award-winning vineyard produces some of Kent’s best wine and bubbly. Tours should be booked well…
8.91 MILES
An old-school repository of junk salvaged from various vessels that have sunk in the Channel, plus sections on fossils and diving.
8.92 MILES
Shoals of barnacled exhibits swim around the huge Enterprise fishing boat at this Stade museum, housed in a former fishermens’ church. Next door you can…
8.96 MILES
The seafront area known as the Stade (below East Hill) is home to distinctive black clapboard structures known as Net Shops. These were built to store…
9.03 MILES
On West Hill, a short walk east of the Hastings Castle, is the Smugglers Adventure, where you can explore underground caverns and hear smuggling yarns…