Filter 142 places and 434 upcoming events by where you are, what you fancy and what the weather is doing.
Image: English HeritageThe place where the Battle of Hastings was fought in 1066, with the abbey William the Conqueror built on the spot where Harold is said to have fallen. Walk the battlefield with an audio tour, climb the gatehouse for views and finish at the playground by the café.
Image: Albourne EstateA family-owned vineyard and winery overlooking the South Downs, about eight miles from Brighton, making still and sparkling wine from its own grapes. In season you can book a vineyard tour with wine and cheese, a guided tasting or a self-guided walk through the vines.
Image: Aldingbourne Country CentreA charity-run country centre near Chichester with an open farm, ride-on tractors, play areas, a maze and woodland walks. Profits support the Aldingbourne Trust's work with people with learning disabilities and autism.
Image: National TrustA thatched, timber-framed Wealden hall-house built for the village priest in the early 15th century, and the first building the National Trust ever bought, in 1896. It sits beside the church on The Tye with a cottage garden looking over the Cuckmere Valley.
Image: Amberley MuseumAmberley Museum is a family attraction near Arundel in West Sussex, with plenty to explore both indoors and outdoors. It suits a long family visit, and its 2026 season ends on 1 November, so the October half term is the last chance this year.
Image: The Sussex Archaeological SocietyA 15th-century timber-framed house in Southover, given to Anne of Cleves when her marriage to Henry VIII ended, although she never lived in it. Rooms are set out to show Tudor and Elizabethan home life, and there is a Tudor-style garden to wander afterwards.
Image: Arundel CastleA vast castle above the River Arun, home of the Dukes of Norfolk for nearly a thousand years, with a Norman keep, state rooms and celebrated formal gardens. Go before the season closes on 1 November, then return in spring.
Image: Ashdown ForestOpen heathland and woodland that inspired the Hundred Acre Wood in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. Big skies, long views and miles of paths make it a favourite for dog walks and family rambles, with Poohsticks Bridge an easy target for younger children.
Image: National TrustRudyard Kipling's 17th-century Jacobean home, with his study and rooms kept much as he left them. Outside there is a quiet garden, a working watermill he wrote about and 300 acres of High Weald countryside to walk.
Image: Bates Green GardenA 1.5 acre garden on a working farm near Arlington, planted in a naturalistic style by plantswoman Carolyn McCutchan from 1968. Next to it are a wildflower meadow and a 24 acre ancient oak wood that hosts the Arlington Bluebell Walk each spring.
Image: Visit Eastbourne (Eastbourne Borough Council)Britain's highest chalk sea cliff, rising 162 metres above the lighthouse and the Channel. Walk up from the western end of Eastbourne seafront on the South Downs Way, or park at the top and stroll towards Belle Tout.
Photo: Bewl WaterBewl Water is the South East's largest reservoir, set in the High Weald on the Kent and Sussex border with 13 miles of shoreline. Come for a lakeside walk or bike ride, a watersports session or a summer day on the inflatable Aqua Park, then refuel at the Waterfront Café. It suits families, active groups and dog walkers, and can easily fill a day.
Photo: Alexis Markwick, CC0A traditional volunteer-run town museum in Egerton Park, just behind the seafront clock tower. Collections run from dinosaur footprints and local archaeology to fashion, the De La Warr Pavilion and Bexhill's motor racing heritage.
Image: Bignor Roman VillaBignor Roman Villa preserves the remains of a Roman home with world-class mosaic floors, deep in the South Downs National Park. The mosaics, including a striking head of Medusa, are protected under historic cover buildings, and finds include the Bignor gold ring. A tearoom makes it an easy stop on a Downs day out.
Image: National TrustBirling Gap is where the South Downs meet the sea at the Seven Sisters chalk cliffs, one of the longest undeveloped stretches of the south coast. Walk the clifftop downland, or take the steps down to the shingle beach for rock pools and fossil hunting. The National Trust café, shop and visitor centre sit on the cliff top.
Image: National TrustThe highest point in the South Downs National Park, a heather-covered hill with one of the best views over the Weald from the Temple of the Winds. Easy tracks lead from free car parks through heathland and woods that inspired Tennyson.
Image: Blackberry Farm ParkBlackberry Farm Park is a family-run farm park on the A22 south of Uckfield. Children can feed animals on the farm walk, join animal handling sessions and ride ponies from age two, then head to the big indoor and outdoor play areas. A café, picnic spots and party cabins make it an easy day with young children.
Photo: Chris Heaton, CC BY-SA 2.0A 623-acre stretch of the South Downs ridge just west of Lewes, with views north across the Weald and south towards the coast. Sunken droveways, burial mounds and the route Simon de Montfort is said to have taken to the Battle of Lewes in 1264 give it plenty of history. Bracky Bottom, a secluded coombe, is a lovely spot on a summer evening.
Image: Bluebell RailwayA heritage steam railway running between Sheffield Park and East Grinstead, with a Rover ticket that lets you hop on and off all day. The £1 child fare at weekends and in holidays makes it good value for families.
Image: National TrustA moated 14th-century castle in the Rother valley that looks exactly like a child's drawing of a castle. Inside the walls it is an open ruin, so you can climb the towers and explore the courtyard, then walk the grounds and parkland around the moat.
Image: Bolney Wine EstateBolney Wine Estate has been growing vines in the Sussex countryside since 1972 and now farms 18 acres. Its three-hour guided tour and tasting walks the vineyard before sampling award-winning still and sparkling wines with food pairings. The estate also makes English gin and vermouth.
Image: Borde Hill GardenA botanically rich garden of outdoor garden rooms and champion trees, set in Grade II* listed parkland with woodland walks and an adventure playground with a zip wire. Winter half-price entry makes it a good-value walk from November.
Photo: Philip Windibank, CC BY-SA 2.0Boxgrove Priory was founded around 1107 for just three Benedictine monks, at the foot of the South Downs near Chichester. The tall roofless guest house still stands to full height at its gable ends, while the east end of the priory church survives as the village's parish church.
Photo: Michael Coppins, CC BY-SA 4.0Bramber Castle was built soon after the Norman Conquest on a natural knoll above the River Adur, guarding a gap in the South Downs. It was the Sussex seat of the de Braose family. Today a single wall of its tower still stands 14 metres high, a short walk from the centre of Bramber village.
