Sussex

Getting to Sussex

You will be delighted to know that it is no longer necessary to hack your way through dense forest and fight off fire breathing dragons to penetrate to the heart of Sussex and beyond, to the coast.

Rail

Sussex is in the south-east corner of England. This is synonymous with money, comfort and plentitude. Rail links take commuters daily into the city from Chichester to the west, Bexhill & Hastings to the east and Brighton straight up through the middle of the county.

Road

Four main trunk roads feed traffic from the city out to the coast. These are busy at times and very busy at other times. The trick is to steer clear of rush-hour travel if you can. That is heading generally north in the morning and south in the evening. It must be said that time of day has little effect on some roads.

The main roads are, from east to west - A21 (to Hastings) - A22 (to Eastbourne) - M23 & A23 (to Brighton) & A24 (to Worthing). The quieter A29 (towards Chichester) follows, for some of its route, the major Roman highway "Stane Street" the main route into Londinium.

The A27 follows the coast, to a great extent, from Pevensey right through to Southampton. This road has good sections of dual carraigeway once you get to Lewes (heading west) but the eastern end is often slow and frustrating as lorries make their way along the south coast to the ports of Dover, Folkstone and Newhaven. The other main transverse 'A' road is the A272 which wends its way through the middle of the county from Maresfield in the east to Winchester, one time capital of the country. This road, the only viable way of getting across the county, is very pretty but very slow... drive carefully....

All is not lost for the visitor though. You are here to dally, to linger and enjoy, so use the major roads to get into the area of interest then take the smaller, quieter roads. If you imagine the major roads as forming a grid then the places to visit are in the areas inside the grid. The less hectic places. The less 'developed' places.

Coaches go from London and all over the county.

Just for the record, and don't tell anybody we told you, two very pleasant roads also travel from east to west. The A259 is the real coast road for much of its length. starting at Pevensey it goes right through to Havant near Portsmouth either following the coast or passing through the coastal towns. Don't expect to hurry though!

The second is a little bit trickier in that it is not so much a road but a collection of roads that head in the same general direction. Starting just north of Lewes, the B2116 picks its way delicately along under the shadow of the South Downs. you will need a map and a good map reader to plot your course but it will be well worth it. During your travels on this site many of the places we visit are on or near this route.

Airports

Gatwick Airport, one of the busiest single runway international airports in the world with flights to world-wide destinations, is within the county boundary, just! Click here for a direct link to our Gatwick site

Sea

There is a freight and passenger ferry service between Newhaven and Dieppe (in France). It has been said, rather unkindly in my view, that the best view of Newhaven is from the stern of a departing ferry.

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