High Barn Retreats

Eat up historic Eastbourne (50 minutes’ drive), where the waterfront is lined with Victorian buildings – sea kayaking, boat trips and paragliding are some of the ways to soak up the coastal landscapes. Lewes (25 minutes) is very historic and this extends to its pubs and old working brewery, where dry horses shift the beer through town. It’s home to the Lewes Castle & Museum (25 minutes), which has a Sussex history museum, and the Anne of Cleves House (25 minutes) about Henry VII, the Tudors and the Elizabethans. If you’ve got kids to keep entertained on your travels, they might like the petting farm and owls at the Knockhatch Adventure Park (45 minutes), and Drusillas Park (half an hour), which has animals like orangutans, red pandas and armadillos.