Rye, United Kingdom skyline: the 19 most iconic buildings and best views in Rye

Small but interesting as it packs a thousand years into that space. Skeleton in a gibbet is a standout. It was very busy due to the torrential rain so I hope they made some money!

The pictures are of Rye in general and not just the Ypres Tower and museum. Rye is an essentially English, charming and historic medieval town and well worth a two hour or so wander. Plenty of parking available just outside the town centre. Recommended for lovers of history and of half timbered and quaint old buildings. Not ridiculously busy despite fine weather and the school holidays.

This imposing castle was only a few minutes' walk from our hotel when visiting Rye, and we passed it several times. The entrance fee was reasonable and there are displays inside about the history of the castle. One gets fine views from the castle to the River Rother and the surrounding landscape if you can manage to climb the stairs. Below the castle is a lovely Gud Garden with some ancient cannons on display.

Definitely worth a visit if you are in the town or passing the area. Although the museum is small it really has some interesting content not just on the history of the castle but of the local people /areas as well. The view from the tower is worth the entrance fee on its own.

Interesting visit to a 13th century built castle, covers it's history through the years including it's usage and meaning to the local community

It was great going through the castle. It's great learning about the history.

We were disappointed that despite the website and signs outside indicating that during October the tower would be open until 5 , it was closed when we arrived at 3.30. We were informed that this was because the person working there had to catch a bus. He said that it was because the clocks had changed and was now darker - if opening hours are going to be dependent on clock changing this should be make clear on . It is especially poor timing as this was during the October half term and we saw many other families also turn up and be disappointed. We visited the next day instead and enjoyed our visit with a 1 year old and 3 year old. There was enough for children with dressing up and some buttons to press.

There are plenty of interesting old houses in Rye and, in truth, architecturally Lamb House is among the fairly ordinary. So it is it's association with the writers Henry James, E F Benson and Rumer Godden, and their long list of invited literary guests, for which it is best known. The National Trust does a good job of presenting the rooms in the late Victorian style when James would be at home and at his writing desk. The introductory talk given in the entrance hall by volunteers enhances the experience with little details of the houses history and its owners and tenants. The garden is delightful.

Smaller property - but well presented and very knowledgeable volunteers as always! Nice small courtyard garden to wander about and have a short sit in the sun. Personal highlights for me were the historic tiles in and the ways the rooms are dressed.

Lovely, smaller NT property in the older Georgian part of Rye. Home to Henry James. Pretty garden too. No cafe or toilets but it's in the town so there are plenty of cafes and pubs to use nearby.

Please check the opening hours for this National Trust house as it is not open every day. They also open later in the day than most National Trust properties. We were lucky to catch it open on our last day in Rye. There are many memorabilia in the building from the several authors who spent time here, notably the American author Henry James. The garden is larger than one would guess when outside the property, and well worth including in the visit.

In lovely area of Rye to walk around. Interesting house and history, staff knowledge with information about the house/rooms. Tearoom was shut when we went, there are toilets

Beautifully presented house. The gardens are stunning, however. Me and my son spent most of our time outside.

We visited Lamb House for the first time with our Granddaughter Arabella. We all loved the house and felt it’s a must to visit when in Rye. A Beautifully proportioned home with a wonderful feel that is elegantly furnished and very homely. The extremely knowledgeable staff made the visit a delight especially for our soon to be eight year old Granddaughter Arabella and the set quiz made our stay all the more enjoyable. To your wonderful ladies and the Gentleman “ Thank you “ Lamb House “ shouldn’t be missed if your in Rye… The Lester’s plus Arabella x

Worth a visit. Look out for the quirky house names.

Beautiful and emblematic street.

Beautiful! Well preserved piece of history. Fairytale like streets and buildings that take you to a different century!

Beautiful walk around the cobbled street. Interesting buildings.

Lovely street to walk around in good weather. Not friendly for elder persons though. Many cute shops and hotels.

Nothing to see on this road other than walking from the upside down

Iconic & Beautiful Street This is the nicest street in Rye and probably one of the nicest in England. This cobbled street is one of the most photographed in the country. Well worth visiting!

It's a lovely 30 minute walk from Rye along bridle paths through sheep fields to the ruined castle. There's no vehicular access or facilities on site and the castle can only be viewed from the exterior but it is worth the trek.

Walking Shoes required - A gem in the middle of nowhere! After driving to a dead end private road we asked people walking from a field where the castle was and sure enough they were coming from there. It's the middle of nowhere with little signage or parking! Parking drama sorted we started our beautiful adventure on lovely afternoon, we enjoyed the fields, sheep and of course the cattle! Well worth the long drive to find. Local council should seriously consider providing parking, we don't mind paying!

Nice walk through the field with sheep to the castle. Beautiful place. You can't get inside the castle. Free from charge.

Worth the long walk if you enjoy a ruin.Takes about 2 1/2hrs to circumnavigate the nature reserve and the castle is approximately half way round should you choose to go clockwise or anti-clockwise. The ruins themselves are only open to viewing internally by arrangement with English heritage in advance of your visit. Set in spectacular countryside, a haven for birds and other wildlife as well as sheep and cows which roam freely in the adjoining farms, so dogs must be kept on leads. Be warned though that there is very little signage, only a few numbered information boards, so pick up a local map or use Google maps as we did. Some of the paths are maintained some are narrow single file grass and bush paths. Approximately 8mile round trip.

This castle is located far from the town, requiring a 45-minute walk with no signs for directions. There's nothing to see here; it's a closed castle. Make sure to wear boots, as shoes may get dirty when walking on the grassy field.

No tickets+need to access by foot. Took us around 30minutes from Winchelsea road/Strand quay. Better to go there with some sturdy boots - otherwise your shoes might become filthy. The castle itself is not huge, but very interesting and worth the visit. You can only see from the exterior. Small tip! Highly advise using 🍎 maps instead of google to get there☺️

Well it is a bit of a walk but across nice fields to get to this historic castle. It is also known as Winchelsea Castle and was a 16th-century Device Fort built by King Henry VIII to protect the Sussex coast of England against French attacks. It was constructed between 1512 and 1514. It is a bit strange as it has a central keep surrounded by four circular bastions and a circular entrance bastion. Unfortunately it is now a ruin but it is worth the one mile walk.

Wonderful exhibitions and oddities. The staff were so friendly and passionate about their town. Bullseye the greyhound loved his first ever museum visit.

Stopped in this little town the first week of August. The first thing I did was to go to the Rye Heritage Centre for information, and I do not regret it! I joined the morning tour, and it was the best decision I could have made to gain an understanding of the town and its history. The guide (whose name I don't remember) was one of the best. Knowledgeable, and you can see he loves what he does and explains everything and does not look at the clock, answers questions and takes you to places you would not stop otherwise. Big thank you! Brilliant job!

Fabulous Heritage Centre. Displays, old fsdhooned penny machine arcade and an interactive film show about smugglers. But the best bit, for us, was the miniture model of Rye. It was built by a couple in there retirement years. You take a seat and after a short introduction by a lovely gentleman, you watch a film, accompanied by lighting and special effects. Very interesting and an incredible model to say the couple built it in their living room. I won't say any more, just make sure you visit when next in Rye. We bought a ticket on entry and waited about 5 minutes for the show to start.

Small but interesting museum. There’s a very fun interactive display. Staffs are really nice!

The diorama show was very entertaining and informative. Afterwards, we had a fabulous walking tour with Stephen. He is an expert on all things Rye, and kind with a sense of humor! It was also very reasonable at 12.50 pounds per person for the walking tour!

A wonderful experience with informative staff and great interactive rooms displaying Rye's long history.

It is a great Heritage Centre, it's free to go in and look around at all the information cards displayed on the walls about Rye and the Smuggling heritage. You can buy local author guides to Rye and old vintage cookery book, lots of handmade jewellery. There is old penny arcade machines which you buy so many old penny coins for £1 and play the vintage machines. The 'Rye Light and sound model' is £4.50 and well worth it to hear about the history of the town. Gives you a good insight into the town before you have a look around the anicent town of Rye. The staff are very friendly helpful and very knowledgeable. Well worth a visit.

Historical Tower guarding the Rye town entrance This is a landmark building which dates back to the 14th Century. It is absolutely beautiful and super well preserved. Well worth visiting once you are in Rye.

A relic from the time when Rye was a walled town, the gate is magnificent, none of the other gates, and only a small portion of the wall have survived.

Beautiful gate with a small plaque telling of its history. This is essentially a tiny photo op, but worth walking past if wandering the small cute town of Rye.

I was told by an enthusiastic local resident that there used to be three (I may have mis-heard) such Landgates. After checking relevant websites, The Landgate is the only one of four fortified entrances which survived. Clock does not show correct time. I was also told lots of smugglers hid their loot in cellars dotted around the town

Nice historic building. It's quite big compared to how I imagined. It would be even better if we could go in, climb to the top and see the view from there. But of course it's not so big to keep an employee there all day.

A beautiful piece of English history & is a must see if you are visiting the picturesque town of Rye.

A small town full of the most interesting history and lovely little shops. Don’t forget to find the towns hand made map. It’s helpful and beautiful.

A big church for a small town indicating the cinque port status and importance of Rye in medieval times. An interesting interior with plenty of information panels. The only church I've seen where the clock pendulum extends into the nave. For £5 you can climb the tower and view the clock mechanism and the bells up close. From the tower roof there are fantastic views.

If you visit Rye, you simply cannot mis this Church. It's right in the center of the town. If you managed to climb up to the top of the church, you can get a clear and unobstructed view of the entire town of Rye. And there are a lot of old bells stored on the clock tower.

Beautiful and historic church in the old village of Rye. This historic church has been a dominant feature of the town for over 900 years. However it was extensively damaged in 1377 during a raid by French invaders but was later restored. It has one of the oldest working church turret clocks, installed in 1561-2 and the clock's pendulum swings in the body of the church. An additional feature is the Victorian stained glass windows, Plus for a real treat you can also climb the church tower for a panoramic view of Rye.

Great architecture, ancient church with access to the bell tower and roof. Just a shame they decide to be political.and fly a Palestinian flag instead of the union flag or st George flag

Lovely church. I would recommend taking a trip up the tower. Whilst you do need to pay, this gets you a year pass. The views from the top are well worth it. It's also very interesting passing through the bell chamber and past the bell frame. The passage way is a little narrow, and obviously there are steep steps.

Well worth a visit. The stories and myth that surround this place add a magical element. While lighting a candle, you get the sense that you are listened too. I cannot recommend this church enough.

Such a peaceful vibe - lovely church - welcoming volunteers and soulful surrounds. Worth a visit and a prayer 🙏🏽

Small but full of Real History. Not to be confused with 'Ypres Tower' also called, Rye Castle Museum. Easy access. Free, but contributions are encouraged. Use it or lose it. Worthwhile if you are keen on local history. Friendly staff.

This is a nice little local museum that contains a variety of items related to Rye and the surrounding area. It's not actually set in the castle, which is on the edge of town, but there's no need to be disappointed. After all the museum is free (although donations are welcome) and you can easily pop in on your way past.

Interesting exhibition of the city history and it's free as well! It is separate from the museum of Ypres tower

It's only a small museum but packed full of interesting items from years gone by.Well worth a visit

A tiny but very beautiful and authentic town, recommend to visit a flee market.😀

Love visiting this gorgeous seaside town! Great pubs, great shops and plenty to see and do! We went during the Jazz Festival and had a great time for all ages!

Went here to learn about the haunted history and found it very interesting. Would recommend to anyone in the area

Great atmosphere crowned by an ancient building. Wide selection of films and music. You could really feel the passion of the owner

Great shop and very wellcoming!!

You have to admire a place still selling records. Despite the revival in vinyl it still can’t be easy when most people have moved to streaming. This place is worth a visit not least because it’s in a magnificent old building in magnificent old Rye.

Good selection of records at a very reasonable price. The staff are friendly and helpful.

Found a great selection of cast albums in this treasure trove. A huge amount of stock for a relatively small shop. Could have spent hours in there thumbing through everything but had to restrain myself. Can't wait for my next visit!

A great long established traditional rack fulls of excellent correctly priced stock and the man behind the counter was very helpful and friendly. If you like music and you are in rye miss it at your peril!

Brilliant record shop, have been going in for some years now, but went in today and realised this must be one of my favourite crate digging shops (I live in London so am spoilt for choice). All the vinyl I looked at was in mint playing condition, well priced, fantastic variety and very pleasant, knowledgable helpful staff. I highly recommend.

Church serves The Harbour area, I have never been inside, as it is locked, but the graveyard is the resting place of the 17 members of the Rye Harbour lifeboat crew, who died whilst on duty in November 1928. Visited today 7.6.24 to take photos, still couldn't get into the church

Quiet, simple little church.

Lovely church looks interesting, would be nice to view inside.

Best church ever, has history for me + memorial to lost Mary Stamford crew.

Lovely village church. Has all sorts going on from art exhibitions to concerts, as well as church services

Nice church but when I been there everything closed

Loved this place same couldn't visit the inside quite and tranquil. Would love to visit again. 😊❤️

The day I visited, the aftermath of Easter and recent death of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh was evident not only because of many magnificent floral arrangements, but also the presence of an imaginative display and photographic memorial to her Majesty's loyal and supportive husband and consort. St George's has many interesting features, beginning with the delightful wooden carvings either side of the porch entrance. The exterior generally is well preserved with a squat tower and longer than usual nave. The interior is impressive with many intriguing memorials and tombs, a beautifully simple but effective carving of the Madonna and child and a series of paintings depicting the stations of the Cross. When I first visited the church in the late 1960s,there was a simple wooden cradle on display, which had supposedly belonged to the author and creator of Gullivers Travels, Jonathan Swift (Dean Swift). Sadly, this remarkable treasure has gone - hopefully to a more secure home, or possibly removed untimely by thieves for the antique trade. St George's is certainly worth visiting and is easily located as it commands an impressive position overlooking the Brede valley as you approach from the west.

Visiting my paternal family seat

Beautiful And Peaceful

Great traditional C of E church. Nice historical building in a country village setting.

Put a reef on my mother's grave looking very tidy gavin in hastings

Nice views

My friends mum is resting here.