East Grinstead

East Grinstead makes a relaxed base for exploring the High Weald, with hotel options ranging from characterful coaching inns on the historic High Street to country house hotels set in the rolling farmland and woodland that surrounds the town. Because East Grinstead sits so close to Gatwick Airport, some visitors also use it as a quieter, greener alternative to an airport hotel, with the added bonus of Ashdown Forest, Standen House and the Bluebell Railway all within easy reach. Families will find the town itself walkable and low-key, with the museum, Chequer Mead Arts Centre and High Street shops all close together, while couples and walkers are better served by the country hotels and inns dotted around the forest fringes. Booking ahead is sensible around the town's May Day Fair and during Bluebell Railway peak season, when rooms can get snapped up quickly. Whether you are after a simple overnight stop between London and the coast or a longer countryside break, East Grinstead's hotels tend to offer straightforward comfort and a genuinely Sussex welcome rather than resort-style extras, and most are within a short drive of the region's best walking and heritage attractions.

The town itself rewards a slow wander, and it is also a springboard to some of Sussex's best-loved countryside and heritage attractions.

• Sackville College — A Jacobean almshouse founded in 1609, tucked just off the High Street. It is where the hymn writer John Mason Neale penned the carol Good King Wenceslas, and the building and chapel are open to visitors on select days.
• East Grinstead Museum — A small, free town museum covering everything from local fossil finds to the story of the Guinea Pig Club and the McIndoe burns unit.
• Standen House and Garden (National Trust) — A late-Victorian Arts and Crafts family home designed by Philip Webb on the edge of town, filled with Morris & Co. fabrics and wallpapers, with a 12-acre hillside garden to explore.
• Ashdown Forest — Open heath and ancient woodland right on the town's doorstep, criss-crossed with walking and riding trails and famously the inspiration for A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories.
• Bluebell Railway — East Grinstead station is the northern terminus of this heritage steam line, which trundles south through the Sussex Weald to Sheffield Park behind vintage locomotives.
• Chequer Mead Arts Centre — The town's main theatre and arts venue, hosting drama, comedy, live music and film throughout the year.
• East Grinstead High Street — One of the longest continuous runs of timber-framed buildings in the country, worth a stroll in its own right, with the Sackville Street and Middle Row areas particularly well preserved.

The High Street has a decent scattering of independent cafes, bakeries and restaurants alongside the usual market-town chains, and the weekly Thursday farmers market is a good spot to pick up local Sussex produce. For a proper pub stop, the surrounding villages on the edge of Ashdown Forest are well known for their traditional Sussex pubs serving hearty food beside open fires in winter and in large gardens come summer.

Wild camping without the landowner's permission is illegal in England, including here in West Sussex, so any camping trip around East Grinstead needs to be booked at a licensed site rather than pitched informally on Ashdown Forest or the surrounding farmland. The good news is that the High Weald around the town is well suited to campers, with rolling countryside, ancient woodland and the open heath of Ashdown Forest all within a short drive, making it easy to combine a few nights under canvas with walking, cycling and horse riding straight from the tent flap.

The camping season here runs broadly from Easter through to late September, with the driest and warmest weather typically arriving in July and August, though the forest is arguably at its best in late summer when the heather is in bloom, and again in early autumn when the Weald's woodlands turn gold. Spring can be a lovely quieter option too, with bluebells carpeting many of the local woods. As with anywhere in the Sussex Weald, it is worth packing for changeable weather and a bit of mud, particularly outside the height of summer.

For those who would rather skip the tent-pitching altogether, glamping has taken off across this part of Sussex, with shepherd's huts, bell tents and safari-style lodges available on farms and small sites within easy reach of East Grinstead. These tend to offer a comfortable, family-friendly way to enjoy the countryside around Ashdown Forest without sacrificing a proper bed or a hot shower, and many sites make a good base for visiting Standen, the Bluebell Railway or simply walking straight out into the forest. Whether you are after a simple field pitch or a fully kitted-out glamping stay, booking ahead is recommended in peak summer months when the best-located sites near the forest fill up quickly.