Yamp Camp Kitts

South Downs National Park and the High Weald altogether too wild? Opt instead to wander among the gardens at Borde Hill, Sheffield Park, Nymans, Wakehurst and Leonardslee – all handily within half an hour’s drive – where landscapers including Capability Brown put some structure on nature’s wilder impulses. Leonardslee is also a choice stop for zoologists and tipplers, with wallabies (and native species) roaming the grounds, and wine – and chocolate and cheese – tastings on offer. History anoraks should aim for the gardens too, as there’s a dolls’ house museum to explore and afternoon tea to tuck into in the 19th-century mansion. Tastes of the past piqued at Leonardslee? Make the town of Lewes in East Sussex the next stop, 20 minutes from base. It’s home to a medieval castle, the Museum of Sussex Archaeology and a house that Henry VIII’s fourth wife got in the annulment (and then never visited – tsk), which is now a Tudor museum. For explores a little further afield, start 20 minutes from base at Barcombe Mills where there are boats to hire for lengthy days swanning along the river Ouse. Not far enough? Brighton’s Royal Pavilion, aquarium and Palace Pier are 40 minutes away, and the sights, shops, theatres and eateries of London are a 45-minute train journey from Haywards Heath.