Hi,

We’re planning on heading from Yorkshire to Sussex after the BH weekend for a family break, probably camping. We have a 7 and 5 year old and will be looking for things to do in and around the Sussex and Kent. I won’t be taking my bike so forget biking on/in the Downs. Any recommendations of

+ campsites for a van
+ stuff to do when the weather’s good/bad
+ feasibility of a day trip to France from Ashford on the Eurostar
+ decent sandy beaches in or out of towns

Thangyaverymuch

West Sussex – West Wittering beach
Tangmere aviation museum if you like old military aircraft

East Sussex – Drusillas Wildlife Park is great with families. The beach at Rye is beautiful. Bodiam castle is amazing.

Bocketts Farm, Surrey/Kent border, tremendous fun for kids.

Sorry just remembered Spring Barn Farm near Lewes but your kids are older than mine, think it would possibly still appeal though.

This is quite interesting:

home

Bedgebury is a great family day out. It has a go ape, both adults and kids. My youngest is just 6, and he did the junior one last year. There are also loads of hidden playgrounds in the woods to explore. You can also hire bikes from Quench if you want to – either family trails or the Red Route.

Beach wise, Bexhill beach is great for a town beach. Plentiful free parking on the prom. Shingle beach, coffee shops, fish and chips.

Hastings is a bit of everything. A bit of a dive, but the old town is nice, loads for the kids to do on the beachfront.

Druzillas is a great day out for the kids – slightly cheaper if you book online in advance.

Try Tenterden for the Kent & East Sussex steam railway. It runs to Bodiam and back. Get off in Bodiam and visit the castle, lunch in the pub, then steam train back. Tenterden has a great park for the kids – with a Costa right next door for the adults. It also has a great swimming pool with wave machine and slides.

Thanks y’all. Excellent service as usual 😀

Canterbury is a lovely city.

Recently stayed at Forgewood campsite on Kent / Sussex border which was nice, lots of kids at weekend. Bit more basic than some but camp fires are encouraged. Lovely walk through Erige Park. Crowborough nearby with Waitrose and a lovely leisure centre. Tunbridge Wells close by too as is Pooh Sticks Bridge.

Hastings is great especially the crazy golf and old town.

This is my neck of the woods, I can point you in the right direction for good family friendly pubs too
Drusillas Zoo
Bluebell Steam Railway
Ashdown Forest
Rye
Camber Sands – sand for miles
Whitstable
Romney & Hythe Railway
Eastbourne
Cuckmere Haven – nice walks to seven sisters, kayaking, friston forest nearby
Bodiam Castle
Hever Casyle
Hertsmonceaux Observatory Science Centre – http://www.the-observatory.org/
Normans Bay Campsite
Bay View Campsite

Leeds Castle

The french day trip is definitely feasable.

My turf too

rewskipretty much nails it, although I’d add Battle and Battle Abbey – with the 1066 battlefield and education stuff, and possibly the old town in Hastings with the funicular railway. I live 1 mile from Drusillas and it is great for that age group

Leeds Castle is great (not in that there Yorkshire but could be a fun gag with the kids !)
Beach at West Wittering including the National Trust dunes is very nice. Fish and Chips good there too.

(@rewski has a good list, clearly in the know)

Day trip to France in the eurotunnel is very easy. You are much better taking the tunnel/car than just the train as really with the train you can only go to Lille/Paris or Brussels. A day trip is usually quite cheap (we just did a 5 day ticket which was about 50% of longer period return). Head for somehwere like Boulogne sur Mer (quite a big place) or beaches at La Touquet/Berk (quite windy, land yachting). To be honest it would be worth trying to find a cheap chambre d’hote or Logis Hotel and stay over. Port towns like Feecamp or Honfleur are very nice if you have the time to drive further. If you want to buy wine/beer do so at normal French supermarket and not the tourist places near the tunnel (you can buy blanc de blanc fizz for 4 or 5 euro, we had it at my daughters wedding in place of champagne)

Dover castle is pretty cool.
Broadstairs is a lovely little beach/harbour.
Brighton if that’s your thing.
Arundel is pleasant.

bookmarked.

If you’re going to be in the Eastbourne / Lewes area, then include Middle Farm. Cracking cider shop 8) and it has animals for the kids.

In a Kent direction there’s Port Lympne animal reserve not far from the Eurotunnel.

No idea about the town or accommodation but Tenterden is fairly in the middle for many of the places mentioned above

Whereabouts? Kent/Sussex is a pretty huge area, and things like:

Bocketts Farm, Surrey/Kent border, tremendous fun for kids.

Are potentially even further! I’d not call Leatherhead on the “Surrey/Kent border” – it’s about 20 miles away from Kent, and even further from Sussex!

Rewski’s list looks good, many of those are pretty central too.

Bluebell railway is fantastic. The attention to detail is incredible (period luggage on the platforms, period fixtures and fittings in the buildings). Worth checking to see if they have any special events on as they’re great too.

Anyone local(ish) MUST check out their Rail Ale evenings.

then include Middle Farm. Cracking cider shop

may I add the national collection of ciders and perry, awesome, you can try them all too. Watch out for the wasps though 😉

@ scuttler – when are you going? I ask because there’s lots of events like Mediaeval Festivals at castles and Country Shows, Steam Rallies, Classic cars etc this time of year.

Just avoid Ashford it’s the pox-hole of the south.
rye is worth a wander, I actually prefer rye harbour for a walk along the beach rather than the sandy camber side of the rye channel but I’m not one for sitting on a beach, if you are the camber is more sandcastle territory.

If you find yourself near appledore then take a small detour to look at Fairfield church, the key is hanging up outside the front door of the house opposite, don’t knock just take the key but remember to put it back!
It’s also worth stopping at the red lion in snargate for an unspoilt country pub, it has been modernised slightly and the loos now flush but I remember somebody asking for ice and lemon “we don’t do food” was the reply.

Newhaven fort
Brighton Pier
Various boat trip things in the Marina
Newhaven-Dieppe …
7 Sisters / Seaford Head
Friston Forest / Cuckmere Haven
Last w/e in August is the Shoreham Airshow – hopefully with the Lancasters turing up…

Blackland Farm near East Grinstead pretty much backs onto the Bluebell railway. It’s geared up for Scouts / Guides etc but might be worth a look?

And following on from rewski’s comment, don’t try too many samples at Middle farm 😀

Bluebell railway is fantastic. The attention to detail is incredible (period luggage on the platforms, period fixtures and fittings in the buildings). Worth checking to see if they have any special events on as they’re great too.

Strangely I went yesterday with ms njee20, agree it’s a very enjoyable day out!

*waves at sussex locals*

Depends which part of Sussex/Kent you end up in. Lots of gems as listed above.

Personal faves

Arundel Castle (West Sussex) – outstanding got it all castle
Knole, Sevenoaks, Kent- awesome National Trust grounds and house
Port Lympne, Kent – excellent safari style park.

Oh and if you visit the Bluebell railway there’s a good farm nearby at Turners Hill (Tulleys farm) that has a maize maze until 7th Sept. Their Farm shop is really wel stocked too 🙂

TM

Fishers Farm in Sussex was an absolute hit with my two boys over the summer, despite it being a really hot day.

http://www.fishersfarmpark.co.uk

Well priced and plenty to do, located near Billingshurst

Fishers Farm in Sussex was an absolute hit with my two boys over the summer, despite it being a really hot day.

If you’re ever there again TSC give me a shout – I live in Billi, can show you the local riding!

All I remember about Kentish holidays is the Hovercraft coming up the beach at Ramsgate.
Awesome stuff!

If you’re ever there again TSC give me a shout – I live in Billi, can show you the local riding!

Thank you. That however would have changed the make-up of the holiday quite a lot……

Next trip over in Oct, although without the bike, but I have friends moving to a new build by the station so I’ll be heading that way for sure.

Used to live that way, our fave day trips were:

Whitstable (shingle beach, working harbour, lifeboat station, some nice pubs and places to eat.. always something going on in the summer)
Knole Park (Deer and loads of space for kids to run around, climb trees etc)
Broadstairs (quaint harbour, fab ice cream, nice sandy beach… you can even surf there on a low tide with a Northerly swell!)
Joss Bay – nice sandy beach just down the road from above. Good rock pools on low tide). Another of Kent’s rare surf spots.
Rye – Lovely spot for a wander. Camber huge sandy beach nearby.
Hastings Old Town is very interesting
Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway is fun. Fab fish and chips at the Pilot Inn on the landward end of Dungeness (which is worth a visit for the oddness alone).

We camped here in our van on a few occasions (you can make your own jokes). It was fine. Decent, friendly pub not far from Rye and handy for exploring Rye Marsh. There are a few nice sites near Canterbury too. I’d personally avoid some of the coastal sites as they tend to be static city.

http://thecockinnpeasmarsh.co.uk/pages/Cock-inn-caravan-park.php

Thanks all, had a great time and here’s what we did and some quick thoughts:

On the way (and to dodge the manky weather at the start of the week) we went to Chartwell NT (Churchill’s house) which was ace. One of those ‘real’ NT places in terms of it being more like a time capsule and less like a museum.

We camped near Bexhill which is a great place to stay. Bexhill prom (free parking), the De La Ware Centre, the leisure pool and the awesome playground in Egerton Park all made life very easy.

We visited Battleand the Abbey (OK), Hastings Country Park (great views across Pett Levels), Rye (fantastic), Camber Sands to watch the kitesurfers, Herstmonceaux Science Centre (brilliant and we went 1500-1800 so the last hour we had most if it to ourselves), Eastbourne for great fish and chips and a wander, Beachy Head and even caught a bit of the Shoreham airshow but managed to miss the Vulcan cos we drove along the A27 and not the coast road from Newhaven to Brighton to get to a new campsite to visit friends over near Worthing. Over there we caught the best of the beach at Littlehampton before spending the afternoon at Arundel Lido and wandering around.

Evidently there’s loads down there and I’ll revisit this thread in a couple of years as I felt we only just scratched the surface and never even went inside a castle or on a train. I might even have a gander at Rightmove 😮

Missed this before. Glad you enjoyed it.

All the above was my life as a kid 🙂 Port Lympne (and Howletts zoo – the other Aspinall one), Drusillas, Camber Sands.

Joss Bay was mentioned – think we used to go to another one too (Botany Bay?). Broadstairs for a Knickerbockerglory at Morelli’s.

Maybe someone know more about the Hornby visitor centre? (was a factory still when I was a kid but think it’s more of a museum/visitor centre now?)

Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway was always my favourite. Dungeness end is quite surreal.

After that, it’s trying to tie up visiting dates with actual events. eg Dickens Festival in Rochester (might be one in Broadstairs too) if that’s your kind of thing.

There was a Vulcan at Shoreham Air Show 😮 ?!

Golly gosh…Sooooo many ‘local-ish’ riders I didn’t realise!

We should organise a “Sussex(y) Rider fest” sometime!!!

DrP

There was a Vulcan at Shoreham Air Show?

Twitter has its uses – https://twitter.com/XH558

Ex-local-ish rider in my case, although the bit that might not be Boris Island after all (yet), is still “home”.
Loads of roadie riding. Had ideas of MTBing down the steep side of the north downs, but I think it’s banned on the section I was thinking.

Ta scuttler

Golly gosh…Sooooo many ‘local-ish’ riders I didn’t realise!

We should organise a “Sussex(y) Rider fest” sometime!!!

DrP

If you’re going to organise a ride it should have some refreshments.

BEER

We were in Whistable last week and Rye the year before.

The Hornby Visitors Centre is OK if you like toy trains, Airfix and Scalextric (Which I do 😀 ). £12 entry fee for a family of 4, so it won’t break the bank. It isn’t massive but should occupy you for an hour or two. The shop is good too, but I’m skint so couldn’t do a trolley dash 😐 .

Things we did that were good…

• Deal Castle & Walmer Castle – Only a mile apart, go and see where the Duke of Wellington had his last cup of tea (English Heritage)
• Dover Castle – Really good. Loads to do (EH)
• Iightem Mote – Stunning (National Trust)
• Scotney Castle (NT)
• Broadstairs – Nice beach
• Battle Abbey (EH)
• Drusilla’s – Very good (Tesco vouchers)
• The lighthouse 2 miles east of Dover (can’t remember its name) (NT) & St Margret’s
• Rare Breeds Centre – They have pig racing! (£25 family ticket)
• Howletts (Expensive, but you can do it on Tesco vouchers)
• Lower Lees Country Park – Big playground and a good café.
• Bedgebury – Very good playgrounds and family bike trails
• Margate shell grotto (Strange and, to me anyway, a bit creepy, £8 for a family of 4) & Hornby Visitors Centre – Only a mile apart
• Manston Spitfire Museum (Free) – Close to the Hornby place, so you can see the Airfix Spitfires then see the real thing 15 minutes later.
• Whitstable, Rye, Herne bay (good prom and swimming pool), Winchelsea and Camber Sands were all worth a visit as were the numerous pretty villages scattered about the place.
• Every other NT property in a 30 mile radius. There are so many that I forget their names.

Things we did that were not so good…

• Canterbury – underwhelming.
• Margate and Ramsgate – looked bloody awful, but it was raining.

We rented houses on both occasions very close to the centre. If you are thinking of this GET ONE WITH A PARKING SPACE[/u] or you will be stuffed as on road parking is a nightmare / non-existent.

We did it on a budget using Tesco vouchers where possible.

As you can guess we also like castles and country houses. You can get English Heritage membership from Tesco. National Trust family membership is about £90 IIRC correctly, but will pay for itself very quickly if you use it. Most NT properties have playgrounds. Some of the EH ones do kids’ activities, usually mock battles with rubber swords.

Margate’s a dump. Only thing it had going for it was the classic roller coasters. But some numpty decided to raze that to the ground rather than the town.
Ramsgate’s better.
Broadstairs is better still.

Usually we’d visit 2-3 places in a day, and end up having lunch or tea somewhere like Joss Bay or Camber Sands.

12quid is not that bad a price really. Could easily imagine it being 4 times that these days.

South Foreland Lighthouse?

Is the castle and dungeons at Hastings still open to the public?

South Foreland Lighthouse?

That’s the bunny!