Brighton gets the crowds, Bournemouth gets the hype, but just along the Sussex coast sits Saltdean — a small seaside village of fewer than 9,000 residents that trades the seaside-strip chaos for chalk cliffs, a prize-winning shingle beach and a genuinely striking bit of 1930s architecture.

The beach is the headline act. Saltdean Beach has picked up both a Blue Flag and a Seaside Award for water quality and safety, which matters if you actually want to swim rather than just paddle nervously. When the tide drops, rock pools appear along the base of the cliffs, and the water is calm enough for snorkelling, canoeing and the occasional surfer. Cafes, beach huts and toilets are all on hand, so it works as an easy family day out rather than a rugged expedition.

One honest caveat: this isn't a wild, untouched stretch of coast. Concrete structures frame much of the shoreline — but one of them is a feature, not a flaw. The Undercliff Walk is a flat, car-free three-mile path running beneath the chalk cliffs all the way to Brighton Marina, built in the 1930s and walkable year-round. It's sheltered, there are cafes and free toilets en route, and the views over the English Channel are the kind you'd normally earn with a steep hike. Just check the weather first: rough days bring crashing waves and erosion debris onto the path.

The other reason to come is the Saltdean Lido, a Grade II*-listed modernist complex from 1938 designed by Richard William Herbert Jones — counted among the 'seven wonders of the English seaside'. It's still very much in use: a heated outdoor pool with a crescent-shaped tank, curved wings, an Art Deco fountain, spiral stairs and cantilevered tea terraces, plus a gym, sauna, library, lawns for sunbathing and food served poolside. It's accessible and dog-friendly too. Across the village on Longridge Avenue, the old Ocean Hotel — another 1930s Grade II-listed building with a concave, symmetrical facade and metal-frame windows — has been converted into apartments, so you can't sleep there anymore, but the exterior is worth a detour for anyone into the style.

Practically speaking, Saltdean is easy. It sits roughly 20 miles from both Worthing and Eastbourne, central London is about two hours away by car or public transport, and Gatwick Airport is under 35 miles north — handy if you're flying in. Newhaven, with its own beaches and a nature reserve, is just 10 minutes by car or 15 by bus if you fancy a change of scene. And if the Art Deco bug bites, Worthing has more of the same plus some lovely gardens.

For travellers who like the idea of the English seaside but not the Brighton scrum, Saltdean hits a sweet spot: an award-winning beach, a clifftop walk you can actually do in trainers, and a lido that's as much a piece of design history as a place to swim.

Thanks to Islands for the original report.