Striking coastline, a vast national park and historic towns

Known for its many attributes including its beaches, its English vineyards and its vibrant culture in locations like Brighton, Sussex offers a wide variety of attractions for visitors. In addition to castles, picturesque villages and the beauty of the South Downs, it’s also got a reputation for superb hospitality at its variety of inns, hotels and B&Bs.

Attractions include Battle Abbey with its poignant evocation of the Battle of Hastings, Brighton with its long shingle beach and Prinny’s famous Pavilion which encapsulates the raffishness of the Regency age. Spa hotels, country hotels, charming restaurants-with-rooms and tasteful B&Bs all make up the independently-reviewed Good Hotel Guide’s accommodation in Sussex.

While in the pretty county, vsit the ancient towns of Winchelsea (where Spike Milligan is buried) and Chichester, the market town of Lewes, Rye (once a Cinque Port, now far inland) with its half-timbered medieval buildings lining cobbled streets, and literary associations with Henry James and EF Benson, Arundel and Leeds castles, Ightham Mote, Winston Churchill’s home, Chartwell, Glyndebourne opera house and Charlston Farmhouse (embellished by the Bloomsbury group). Also visit the seaside town of Eastbourne. Walk, cycle or ride a horse in the vast, newly opened South Downs national park. See our recommended hotels in East Sussex and hotels on the South Downs.