Photo: Arild Vågen, CC BY-SA 4.0Lewes is a hilltop county town with a castle, independent shops and the South Downs on every side. Glynde and Firle are close for walks.
Image: Sussex Archaeological Society (Sussex Past)A Norman castle built after the Battle of Hastings, with steep steps up to the keep and panoramic views across Lewes and the Sussex countryside. The museum covers prehistoric to medieval Sussex, which makes it a handy rainy-day add-on.
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: National TrustThe weatherboarded cottage that was Virginia and Leonard Woolf's country home, with rooms kept as they lived in them and a much-loved cottage garden. It is small and visits are by pre-booked time slot, so plan ahead.
Image: GlyndebourneAn opera house in the Sussex Downs, four miles from Lewes, set in the grounds and gardens of a country house. Audiences can bring a picnic to enjoy in the gardens or dine in the on-site restaurants and marquees.
Image: The Living CoastA 495 hectare 18th-century estate on the edge of Brighton, with woods, chalk grassland and a restored walled garden inside the South Downs National Park. Follow one of three signed trails, let the children loose in the play park, then refuel at the cafés.
Image: One Garden BrightonAn 18th-century walled garden in Stanmer Park, restored and run by Plumpton College and free to wander. Themed show gardens, a café with its own bakery and a market selling plants grown on site make it an easy half day with a walk in the park.
Image: National TrustAt 248 metres, Ditchling Beacon is the highest point in East Sussex, with views to the sea in one direction and across the Weald in the other. The South Downs Way runs along the ridge past the remains of an Iron Age hillfort.
Image: Paradise Park and GardensParadise Park in Newhaven pairs formal and informal gardens, with small lakes, waterfalls and fountains, with indoor planthouses and the Planet Earth Museum. Children can follow the Dinosaur Safari and use the Playzone, and there is a restaurant and coffee shop. A Halloween trail runs through October.
Image: CharlestonThe modernist home and studio of painters Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, a farmhouse near Firle where a timed house visit explores their art and lives. Galleries with changing exhibitions, a walled garden, a cafe and a shop complete the visit.
Image: Sussex Archaeological Society (Sussex Past)For one weekend the medieval house is dressed with holly, ivy and candlelight for a Yuletide celebration. Servants prepare a feast in the kitchen while the noble household celebrates upstairs, showing how Christmas differed between rich and poor.
Image: Paradise Park and GardensParadise Park in Newhaven runs a Halloween trail through October and half term, alongside its gardens, Dinosaur Safari and Playzone. It is an easy add-on to a family visit.
Image: Sussex Archaeological Society (Sussex Past)A Norman castle built after the Battle of Hastings, with steep steps up to the keep and panoramic views across Lewes and the Sussex countryside. The museum covers prehistoric to medieval Sussex, which makes it a handy rainy-day add-on.
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: National TrustThe weatherboarded cottage that was Virginia and Leonard Woolf's country home, with rooms kept as they lived in them and a much-loved cottage garden. It is small and visits are by pre-booked time slot, so plan ahead.
Image: The Living CoastA 495 hectare 18th-century estate on the edge of Brighton, with woods, chalk grassland and a restored walled garden inside the South Downs National Park. Follow one of three signed trails, let the children loose in the play park, then refuel at the cafés.
Image: One Garden BrightonAn 18th-century walled garden in Stanmer Park, restored and run by Plumpton College and free to wander. Themed show gardens, a café with its own bakery and a market selling plants grown on site make it an easy half day with a walk in the park.
Image: National TrustAt 248 metres, Ditchling Beacon is the highest point in East Sussex, with views to the sea in one direction and across the Weald in the other. The South Downs Way runs along the ridge past the remains of an Iron Age hillfort.