Outside London

SOUTH EAST ENGLAND

South East England is a region rich in experiences. It has something to offer every age group and every traveller.

TUNBRIDGE WELLS AREA - Ashford, Chatham, Maidstone, Sittingbourne

Here in the heart of Kent and the south-east is a landscape of rolling hills, wooded valleys, orchards and vineyards and each season yields its treasures in a myriad of colours. Among the quiet byways are splendid castles, gardens and many historic houses, including Chartwell, home of Churchill, England's greatest figure of the 20th century.

Picture: South East England Picture: South East England Picture: South East England

Day Visits to:

  • Canterbury Cathedral and city
  • The towering, white chalk cliffs of Beachy Head
  • Romantic Hever Castle, home of tragic Queen Anne Boleyn, beheaded by Henry VIII for supposed infidelity, and mother of England's greatest monarch, Queen Elizabeth I
  • Medieval Rye, cobbled streets and smugglers' haunts
  • Dover Castle, notable for its Roman lighthouse, Anglo-Saxon church, medieval castle and secret underground World War II operation rooms
  • Romantic moated Bodiam Castle surpassed for beauty only by nearby Leeds Castle
  • Howletts Zoo, sympathetically housing the largest collection of tigers and gorillas in the world
  • Chatham Naval Dockyard, the most complete 18th century shipyard in the world.
WORTHING

Worthing is a quiet seaside resort with pleasant residential streets just 5km from the bustling popular resort of Brighton - a famously long pier; the Beau Nash Royal Pavilion, resembling outside an Indian Mogul's palace and inside decorated in the Chinese style which was popular in the early 19th century; and a very long sandy/pebbled beach.

Picture: South East England Picture: South East England

Day Visits to:

  • Portsmouth to see the magnificent ships of England's past naval might:- HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar; Henry VIII's Mary Rose, which capsized on her first engagement without firing a gun; HMS Warrior, the most formidable warship of her day
  • Portchester Castle, the most complete Roman fort in northern Europe
  • Gosport Royal Naval Submarine Museum
  • Medieval Rye, cobbled streets and smugglers' haunts
  • Weald Open Air Museum contains a collection of remarkable 14th -18th century buildings surrounded by curving hills
  • Picnic in tiny Bosham where 16th-19th century houses huddle round creeks packed with sailing boats - the towering, white chalk cliffs of Beachy Head.
Picture: Teenage Kids Jumping in the air