Mersea Beach Huts

You'll find them lined up like a row of colourful jewellery along West Mersea's shoreline - hundreds of beach huts in shades of blue, red, yellow and green, stretching back from the water's edge. They're the real deal, not some tourist theatre. Locals own most of them, and they've been a fixture here for decades.

Walking the promenade to admire them costs nothing and takes about 20 minutes if you meander. The huts themselves aren't open to the public unless you know someone, but that's not really the point. What matters is the atmosphere - the slight salty air, the clatter of rigging from moored boats, the sense that you've stumbled onto something genuinely belonging to this place rather than built for visitors.

Families with young kids will find the beach pleasant enough, though it's shingle rather than sand. The real pull here is the walk itself and the photo opportunity - the huts are Instagram-worthy without being contrived. If you're staying at West Mersea Holiday Park just across the road, or any of the other parks scattered around Mersea Island, it's an easy evening stroll before supper.

Colchester's only 9 miles inland if you fancy mixing this with larger attractions, but honestly, this is the sort of thing that works best as a half-hour detour rather than a destination in itself. Come for the aesthetic, stay for the peace.