Essex holidays

Walking London’s unsung waterway: the River Lea rises again

Walking a 26-mile stretch from Hertfordshire, our writer witnesses how a neglected artery of the city has been transformed into a recreational and cultural hub

Stephen Emms

03, Apr, 2024 @6:00 AM

The British seaside is full of charm – even when you’re dodging dog poo and drizzle | Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff

Is there anything better than a wintry coastline, in all its grey glory, paired with excellent fish and chips, asks Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff

Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff

28, Feb, 2024 @11:00 AM

Chater’s, Saffron Walden, Essex: ‘Promises little and completely overdelivers’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent

The vibe is simple, sometimes laughably straightforward – but always delicious

Grace Dent

28, Jul, 2023 @11:00 AM

A walk along the Essex coast to a historic pub: the Crooked Billet, Leigh-on-Sea

This stroll past beach huts, wartime ruins and wildfowl cuts through Southend and ends in a 16th-century boozer

Stephen Emms

14, Jul, 2023 @10:00 AM

An arty weekend in … Southend-on-Sea, Essex

The seaside town hosts a street-art festival and the world’s first digital art park, while nearby Leigh is packed with galleries

Rachel Dixon

22, Mar, 2023 @7:00 AM

‘We really need this space’: a holistic retreat for black women

Wellness tourism is almost exclusively a white domain. But one lifestyle coach has made it her mission to challenge that status quo. We join her Essex retreat

Lola Okolosie

21, Jan, 2023 @7:00 AM

An island walk to a great pub: the White Hart, Essex

A tour of Britain’s most easterly inhabited island – Mersea – reveals centuries of history, and a newly revamped pub

Phoebe Taplin

05, Aug, 2022 @6:00 AM

Lads, longing and Leigh-on-Sea: ‘It’s as if someone flipped a switch marked “summertime”’

On 2 July we sent six writers and photographers to capture a typical British summer’s day. Joe Dunthorne headed to Leigh-on-Sea

Joe Dunthorne

26, Jul, 2022 @11:00 AM

Here be serpents … a coastal Essex that time forgot

Our writer explores marshes, boatyards, islands and eerie stretches of the Blackwater and Colne rivers – the setting for new TV drama The Essex Serpent

Carol Donaldson

12, May, 2022 @6:00 AM

A great walk to a great pub: the Sun Inn, Dedham, Essex

A gentle rural landscape is the backdrop to an arty saunter around the River Stour, crisscrossing the Suffolk-Essex border, and ending in a 500-year-old pub

David Bramwell

01, Apr, 2022 @6:00 AM

For a ray of hope in our damaged world, take a train to Epping Forest

This ancient former royal hunting ground on the north-east edge of London has a lot to teach about how people and woods can coexist harmoniously

James Gingell

04, Jan, 2022 @7:00 AM

Geese, seals and sky: a wildlife stay on a remote Essex island

Horsey Island, which can only be reached around low tide, hosts a solitary cottage that gives visitors the chance to sample its peace and sense of mystery