You can stay in a converted train carriage right on the English coastline with beds in first class
Scroll down to read about three other quirky places to visit in the UK
YOU can spend the night in a converted 19th-century train carriage on the English coast.
Located in Selsey in West Sussex lies Seabank – a converted railway carriage that’s been transformed into a beachfront villa.
With enough room for eight guests, the quirky overnight stay has been named one of the best cabins, cottages and castles to stay in by The Times – and it’s easy to see why.
Seabank Selsey consists of two Stroudley railway carriages called Clarrie and Annabel.
Formerly used to ferry passengers between London and Brighton, the train carriages were retired after the Second World War.
Since then, the railway carriages have been transformed into a beachfront villa, with several original features remaining to this day.
The front door of Seabank Selsey lies just steps away from the sea wall, and it’s living room and dining room have panoramic sea views too.
Inside the first carriage, which has been painted in a shade of light blue, guests will find a double bedroom.
The bedroom features original doors from the train carriage with twist handles and holidaymakers are able to enter through either side of the room.
Also inside the first carriage is a L-shaped kitchen and a bathroom.
The train carriages are separated by a long hallway, with the second carriage boasting another double bedroom and two smaller rooms with bunk beds.
There are plenty of more modern features inside the beachfront village, including a TV, a DVD player, a stereo, iPod dock and a radio.
The beachfront villa can sleep up to four adults and four children, with two-night stays starting from £402 per family.
Located in West Sussex, Selsey is around seven miles south of Chichester.
The seaside town is so remote that it’s entirely cut off from the mainland apart from one road in and out.
On hot days, locals and tourists hit Selsey’s two beaches to relax and take in the gorgeous coastlines.
Both Selsey Beach and East Beach are pebbled; however, beautiful sandy stretches of the coast are revealed during low tide.
To get a little taste of the seaside paradise, which has been compared to the South of France, you can only get to it via the B2145.
This B-road briefly becomes a bridge, which is locally known as “the ferry”.
Spanning the water inlet at Pagham Harbour, the bridge was named after a ferryman who took people across to the island and into Selsey.
To the west of Selsey, there is Bracklesham Bay and to east, there is Pagham Harbour while to the north there’s Broad Rife.
Even though it’s just a little town there are lots of little places for food and refreshment.
Anyone wanting to quench their thirst has a number of pubs to choose from, including The Neptune, Fisherman’s Joy and The Hope Inn.
For those looking for something a bit more lively, there’s The Crown Inn, a popular pub that serves delicious food and then turns into a nightclub at 10pm.
Nearby there’s the Medmerry nature reserve, which was man-made in 2013 as part of Europe’s biggest coastal realignment scheme to protect surrounding towns and villages from flooding.
Other quirky getaways Brits can book
FROM hotels shaped like wine bottles to old prison buildings, there’s no shortage of unusual accommodation options.
- Kabirbnb is a hotel shaped like a wine bottle. Located near Chittorgarh Fort in India, the hotel resembles a dark red wine bottle. Despite its small size, there’s enough space to sleep six people.
- CasAnus is a hotel shaped like a bum-hole, and it is arguably one of the weirdest places to spend the night. Created by Dutch artist Joep Van Lieshout in 2007, hundreds of people have stayed in the Belgium-based hotel.
- Malmaison Hotel in Oxford is a former prisoner that’s been transformed into a luxury hotel.
Recently, a World War Two concrete bunker was transformed into a luxury £350-a-night holiday home.
The Grade II listed bunker in Dorset was once part of the RAF Ringstead radar station but has now been converted into a two-bedroom let with sea views.
