Places to visit near Goodwood...
Discussion
I'm about to bring the family down to Sussex (Arundel area) for a short 'staycation', and although I've been driving down to Goodwood from Hertfordshire every year since 1994, I've realised that I don't know the surrounding area at all!
Does anyone (local or otherwise) have any good tips?
I quite fancy visiting Chichester, but if anyone can give me a heads-up it would be massively appreciated. It will be just my wife and my 13 year old daughter (who likes exploring, especially beaches) but i guess pubs with decent food/beer gardens/views would be great to know too!
Sorry to be off topic, but any help really would be appreciated.
Joe
Does anyone (local or otherwise) have any good tips?
I quite fancy visiting Chichester, but if anyone can give me a heads-up it would be massively appreciated. It will be just my wife and my 13 year old daughter (who likes exploring, especially beaches) but i guess pubs with decent food/beer gardens/views would be great to know too!
Sorry to be off topic, but any help really would be appreciated.
Joe
MadCaptainJack said:
Fishbourne Roman Palace
Weald & Downland Open Air Museum
West Wittering Beach (book your car parking online in advance, drive down first thing, and have breakfast in the café)
Definitely those three but also add Arundel Castle, Petworth house, a blast down the A272 if you can find a quiet time or return north via the picturesque villages on the A32 through Meonstoke, West Meon, with some nice pubs there, e.g. The Bucks Head. You would be in the vicinity of that last route if you visited the Royal dockyards at Portsmouth, Mary Rose, Victory.Weald & Downland Open Air Museum
West Wittering Beach (book your car parking online in advance, drive down first thing, and have breakfast in the café)
Plenty to see and do on this stretch of coastline/Southdowns area.
mario328 said:
MadCaptainJack said:
Fishbourne Roman Palace
Weald & Downland Open Air Museum
West Wittering Beach (book your car parking online in advance, drive down first thing, and have breakfast in the café)
Definitely those three but also add Arundel Castle, Petworth house, a blast down the A272 if you can find a quiet time or return north via the picturesque villages on the A32 through Meonstoke, West Meon, with some nice pubs there, e.g. The Bucks Head. You would be in the vicinity of that last route if you visited the Royal dockyards at Portsmouth, Mary Rose, Victory.Weald & Downland Open Air Museum
West Wittering Beach (book your car parking online in advance, drive down first thing, and have breakfast in the café)
Plenty to see and do on this stretch of coastline/Southdowns area.
For a pub meal and the like the various villages around the harbour are often worth a visit (Emsworth, Bosham, Dell Quay, etc)
jmwalkeruk said:
I'm about to bring the family down to Sussex (Arundel area) for a short 'staycation', and although I've been driving down to Goodwood from Hertfordshire every year since 1994, I've realised that I don't know the surrounding area at all!
Does anyone (local or otherwise) have any good tips?
I quite fancy visiting Chichester, but if anyone can give me a heads-up it would be massively appreciated. It will be just my wife and my 13 year old daughter (who likes exploring, especially beaches) but i guess pubs with decent food/beer gardens/views would be great to know too!
Sorry to be off topic, but any help really would be appreciated.
Joe
If you can travel 20 miles Portsmouth is a historic naval city with lots to do and see such as the Historic Dockyard (visit the Mary Rose and HMS Trafalgar), Spinnaker Tower & Gun Wharf Quays for shopping. Does anyone (local or otherwise) have any good tips?
I quite fancy visiting Chichester, but if anyone can give me a heads-up it would be massively appreciated. It will be just my wife and my 13 year old daughter (who likes exploring, especially beaches) but i guess pubs with decent food/beer gardens/views would be great to know too!
Sorry to be off topic, but any help really would be appreciated.
Joe
As for pubs, the Churchillian on top of Portsdown Hill has amazing views over the city but unsure how good it is. Or alternatively in more countryside locations I can recommend the Red Lion, Chalton and The Bat and Ball, Hambledon for great good and views across the South Downs.
Chichester has a very nice Cathedral and some good shops. The Cathedral gardens are nice. In the south of the town there is a very nice canal which you can row down.
Other than Petworth there is another NT place called Uppark which is close by.
Also well worth a visit is Tangmere aviation museum which is an excellent old fashioned museum crammed with stuff and a number of interesting aircraft.
Other than Petworth there is another NT place called Uppark which is close by.
Also well worth a visit is Tangmere aviation museum which is an excellent old fashioned museum crammed with stuff and a number of interesting aircraft.
The Weald & Downland mentioned above is of course where the Repair Shop is recorded, but is interesting in itself and has a decent caff. Lot of walking though!
Petworth House and Park (Lord Egremont) could be combined with a visit to Midhurst along the A272 (where Lord Cowdray hangs out). On the way out of Chi the Frankland Arms at Halnaker might be worth checking out and then there’s the interesting problem of braking on Duncton Hill on the North Face of the Downs before the twisties through the village.
Petworth House and Park (Lord Egremont) could be combined with a visit to Midhurst along the A272 (where Lord Cowdray hangs out). On the way out of Chi the Frankland Arms at Halnaker might be worth checking out and then there’s the interesting problem of braking on Duncton Hill on the North Face of the Downs before the twisties through the village.
Edited by Dogwatch on Wednesday 11th August 00:02
With regard to beaches, my usual answer would be Climping (mainly due to many many happy boyhood memories there!) but it has taken a bit of a battering from storms in recent years so isn't as pretty as it used to be.
People will scoff, but actually Littlehampton beach is really quite nice with a large expanse of sand at low tide. It also had lifeguards if you want to swim and you can watch the boats (fishing and yachts) coming and going along the river. Its also the home of Dutton who make amphibious cars and you often see them on the river. There is also West Beach on the other side of the river which is undergoing a bit of rejuvenation but has a lovely boardwalk through the dunes.
Littlehampton beach can be busy on sunny days, but if you travel a little further east to East Preston beach its never busy, mainly because its bordered by private estates, and you can walk for miles along the beach to the west and not see a soul.
Edited to add don't forget Chichester and Langstone harbours, Hayling Island and Bosham are all worth a visit but all can be busy.
People will scoff, but actually Littlehampton beach is really quite nice with a large expanse of sand at low tide. It also had lifeguards if you want to swim and you can watch the boats (fishing and yachts) coming and going along the river. Its also the home of Dutton who make amphibious cars and you often see them on the river. There is also West Beach on the other side of the river which is undergoing a bit of rejuvenation but has a lovely boardwalk through the dunes.
Littlehampton beach can be busy on sunny days, but if you travel a little further east to East Preston beach its never busy, mainly because its bordered by private estates, and you can walk for miles along the beach to the west and not see a soul.
Edited to add don't forget Chichester and Langstone harbours, Hayling Island and Bosham are all worth a visit but all can be busy.
Just watch whats been happening with the weather when you visit the beach, Southern Water are up to their usual trick of dumping raw sewage in the sea when we get heaving rainfall.
Plenty of nice pubs in the immediate area, The Gribble in Oving (has its own micro brewery), The Fox Goes Free in Charlton, The Partridge in Singleton and the Anglesea Arms in Halnaker (shut until late August for a refit). All of these are only a few miles from the city.
If you like walking then you have Halnaker windmill, the Trundle and Eartham woods where you can follow in the footsteps of the Romans on Stane Street.
Plenty of nice pubs in the immediate area, The Gribble in Oving (has its own micro brewery), The Fox Goes Free in Charlton, The Partridge in Singleton and the Anglesea Arms in Halnaker (shut until late August for a refit). All of these are only a few miles from the city.
If you like walking then you have Halnaker windmill, the Trundle and Eartham woods where you can follow in the footsteps of the Romans on Stane Street.
Bosham is nice village to visit.
The Anchor Bleu pub in the village is a nice and there's a nice little cafe in the village (I forget the name). There is a small art gallery and a few shops in the village to have a nose around and some nice houses along the waterfront. There are some cracking walks and you can follow the estuary for miles, plus you can walk to the bird sanctuary at Fishbourne Channel.
If you like a good walk you can get the water taxi from Smugglers Lane and hop over to West Itchenor, from there Wittering is to the right and Chicester Marina and Apuldram to the left. Bosham village is towards the end of the estuary so it's a good idea not to park on the shingle car park at the end of the village.
The Anchor Bleu pub in the village is a nice and there's a nice little cafe in the village (I forget the name). There is a small art gallery and a few shops in the village to have a nose around and some nice houses along the waterfront. There are some cracking walks and you can follow the estuary for miles, plus you can walk to the bird sanctuary at Fishbourne Channel.
If you like a good walk you can get the water taxi from Smugglers Lane and hop over to West Itchenor, from there Wittering is to the right and Chicester Marina and Apuldram to the left. Bosham village is towards the end of the estuary so it's a good idea not to park on the shingle car park at the end of the village.
I think it's safe to say we'll be back - and I'd like to try some of those more recent suggestions too!
We ended up at the Black Rabbit in Arundel, what a view!
I sent some photos to the in-laws in New Zealand, and honestly, I don't think we properly appreciate what we have here sometimes.
And on the way back, after picking up my Revival tickets from the ticket office (after watching a Spitfire take off) we drove up past Goodwood House to the top of the hill. Sad to say, but that was a highlight of the trip for me!! By the way, hadn't realised quite how narrow the road is - especially past the flint wall. Extra respect to the proper drivers...
We ended up at the Black Rabbit in Arundel, what a view!
I sent some photos to the in-laws in New Zealand, and honestly, I don't think we properly appreciate what we have here sometimes.
And on the way back, after picking up my Revival tickets from the ticket office (after watching a Spitfire take off) we drove up past Goodwood House to the top of the hill. Sad to say, but that was a highlight of the trip for me!! By the way, hadn't realised quite how narrow the road is - especially past the flint wall. Extra respect to the proper drivers...
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