Rye sits on a small hill that was once almost an island, surrounded by the sea and marshes, and the town still looks the part: a tight cluster of red roofs, a church tower, a stone fort, all perched above the flat expanse of Romney Marsh. It was one of the Cinque Ports, the confederation of Channel towns that supplied ships to the medieval crown in return for privileges, and it was a busy harbour until the sea retreated and the channels silted up. Today the coast is a couple of miles away.
The old town is a delight on foot. Mermaid Street, steep and cobbled, is lined with timber-framed houses and the ancient Mermaid Inn, and Lamb House, once home to the novelist Henry James and later to E. F. Benson, author of the Mapp and Lucia books set in a thinly disguised Rye, is just around the corner. The Ypres Tower, a thirteenth-century fortification, looks out over the marsh. The cobbles are not friendly to bikes, so park at the bottom of the hill and walk up.
The landscape around Rye is distinctive. To the east, Romney Marsh is a flat land of sheep, drainage ditches and isolated medieval churches, under huge skies. To the south-east lie Camber Sands, one of the few large sandy beaches on this part of the coast, and further on Dungeness, a shingle headland with a nuclear power station, lighthouses and fishermen's huts. To the west and north, the land rises into the High Weald, with steep, wooded hills and narrow lanes.
The riding is a pleasing mix. The marsh roads are flat and often straight, but they can have sharp right-angle bends where they follow the field boundaries and ditches, and the wind can be strong. The Weald roads are more challenging, narrow and twisting, sometimes muddy. Rye has cafés, pubs and restaurants serving local fish and lamb from the marsh. Fuel is available in town, but options are limited, so plan ahead if you are heading out onto the marsh in the evening.