There are some really nice places in Essex, it’s quite a big place! The strip along the Thames Esturary though, I wouldn’t see as a holiday destination 😉 I did grow up there but wouldn’t ever move back. It remains busy due to proximity to London and decent employment, but those are reasons to live there, not visit.

North Essex is OK, plenty of sleepy villages and decent country pubs plus you can use it as a base to visit Suffolk and Cambs. I live in a village on the Herts side of Bishop’s Stortford and usually cycle into nearby bits of Essex and south Cambs, there really isn’t anything to complain about.

Mersea Island is worth a look – very different from Canvey!