Suggestions for UK East coast beach town?

Hello OF
will be in UK (York) in July, and looking for East Coast beach town to visit for a few days on way back to London. No kids in tow, just wife and I looking for a few quiet days on the shore.
Looking at Southwold and Aldeburgh.
Any other suggestions appreciated!

Both are nice but bear in mind that both have pebbly beaches. Both are pleasant and have a great ambience.

If you wanted a sandy beach, I can recommend Northumberland; Alnmouth, Bamburgh and other towns along a sandy coast and, since you’re already in York, there’s the Yorkshire coast, again with sandy beaches; Filey and Scarborough.

Have a good trip

I’m a fan of Alnmouth

I can wholeheartedly recommend the North East coast for its beaches (and its castles) but it is a 100+ mile journey in the opposite direction to London.

The Yorkshire coast is pretty good as there is also Whitby, which is a historic little harbour town (Captn Cook and Count Dracula) and has a sandy beach.

You could also call in on Castle Howard (Brideshead revisited) on the way, just north east of York - not a medieval castle but more of a ‘palace’ and one of the finest stately homes in the UK.

If you are set on a sandy beach in East Anglia then look to some where like Holkham/Wells by the sea right at the top of that part of the coastline.
Norwich is worth a visit as it’s kind of the York of East Anglia.

Depends what you want. Amble etc in the north east is nice but it’s a couple of hours from York. The closest to York are Scarborough, Bridlington, Filey, Whitby.

Personally I don’t like Scarborough. Filey is nice and fairly quiet with a large sandy beach and the brigg (large rocky outcrop that’s a nice walk out to see for an hour is so).

Whitby is also nice, with the ruins of the abbey which inspired Bram Stokers Dracula. There’s also Sandsend a mile further north from Whitby which is worth a visit and has a couple of great restaurants. We recently stayed at Saltmoor between Whitby and Sandsenda which was nice for a few days.

Brid south side is a nice sandy beach with a long promenade and we go there fairly often but the town itself is a bit of a dump.
In fact, with the exception of Whitby, most of the seaside towns in Yorkshire and the north east are a bit of a dump due to several decades of neglect and decimation of the fishing industry. Most have some lovely areas at the shore but go back half a mile and not so nice.

This is Brid south beach a few weeks ago. Great for kids as it has a land train, little paddling pool, long wide beach etc. maybe not great for adults as the town itself further up the coast isn’t great.

Thank you @Spruce @Peemacgee and @Davidt for your suggestions. Plenty to choose! Will consult with the trip boss and report with photos 🏖️⛱️

Ha good catch!