The natural beauty that can be found at under an hour from London by train keeps surprising me. Especially when heading South, you quickly stumble on several Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) – stretches of countryside with unique landscape features designated for conservation. One of those AONBs that I particularly like is the High Weald. Covering parts of Kent, Surrey and Sussex, this 1461km2 area is packed with beautiful places that are enjoyable in every season. It is extremely well connected to London and the Southeast, making it a convenient destination for day trips. Moreover, the number of things to do in the High Weald is varied. There are enduring hikes, beautiful manor houses tucked away in the woods, accessible reservoirs, quirky landmarks and much more.
So, do you plan to get outside this winter, or to find natural places near London that are stunning all year round? Keep on reading and discover 12 beautiful places in the High Weald that are fit for every season. Since I always travel by public transport, I’ve also included the best walking route from the closest station!
Nymans (National Trust)
The Nymans estate and garden date back to the late 19th century. The 600 acres of fields and woodland surrounding the house include all the quintessential views of the High Weald. Thanks to the sheltered location, many exotic plants (as well as local hybrids) thrive in the garden, making it a joy for botanist and photographers alike.
Most of the house unfortunately didn’t survive the Second World War. An attempt was made to partially restore the severely burnt and damaged building, but little remains today. The dark and haunting ruins now form a stunning and spooky backdrop to the formal gardens. The gothic building style only adds to the mysterious scene.
How to get there?
The closest mainline station to Nymans is Balcombe. The journey from London takes 40 minutes (from Victoria) or 55 minutes (from King’s Cross, also calling at London Bridge). The Saturday Walkers Club published an excellent 17 km circular walk that starts at Balcombe station and calls at Nymans. It’s a quiet, off-road walk crossing fields and woodland. You need a full day for the outing (train + walk + visiting Nymans). If you want to cut the distance, you can walk from Balcombe station to Nymans and back rather than completing the circular route.
Wakehurst Place
The Wakehurst estate is managed by the Royal Botanical Gardens (who also run Kew and Wisley Gardens). This means there is an extremely diverse set of attractions, ranging from woodland over formal gardens to lakes with boardwalks. An interesting fact about Wakehurst Place is the seed bank. Indeed, Wakehurst is home to the Millennium Seed Bank, aiming to conserve seeds of 25% of the world’s flora and save several species from extinction. If botanicals are not your thing, the Elizabethan house is worth seeing.
A 3.5 km loop walk of various delightful footpaths goes around the estate and its major highlights. If you want to see everything and do it justice, count on 5 – 6 km to see the estate.
How to get there?
The closest station to Wakehurst Place is Balcombe (5 km walk). Hayward’s Heath is also an option if you want a different slightly longer walk (6 km). Both stations take around 45 minutes to reach from London Victoria, King’s Cross or London Bridge.
To get from the station to Wakehurst, follow the walking path from either station to Ardingly Reservoir (also described in the Ardingly Reservoir section). Along the riverside walking path around Ardingly Reservoir, a turn-off to Wakehurst Place is signposted. This map helps you visualise where to look out for the signposts.
Ouse Valley Viaduct
The iconic Ouse Valley Viaduct, also known as Balcombe Viaduct, is part of the London – Brighton main line. Its height (29 metres) and 37 arches containing around 11 million of bricks make the viaduct into an impressive example of engineering. Thanks to its solitaire location in the High Weald and various ornaments, the viaduct is extremely photogenic. More and more people have been concluding this in the past few years, so avoid weekends if you want to see the Ouse Valley Viaduct in peace and quiet.
I’ve known of the viaduct for years, passing over it several times on the train. It wasn’t until last summer though that I decided to walk over and see the viaduct from underneath. A nice walking path along the river Ouse takes you up to the viaduct. It’s an impressive sight from the moment it comes into view. You need to walk up close though to admire the brickwork. It has been repaired and restored over time, adding a mosaic of colour.
How to get there?
Getting to Ouse Valley Viaduct by foot isn’t difficult, but it requires a little puzzling. A pretty 3.5 km circular walk takes you to the viaduct and back from the car park at Ardingly Reservoir. Getting to the car park on foot is easy from either Balcombe or Hayward’s Heath station. I followed this walk documented by the Saturday Walkers Club. It starts in Hayward’s Heath and ends in Balcombe. You can easily add the loop to the viaduct as you crossed the car park.
Both Balcombe and Hayward’s Heath are within 45 minutes from London Victoria, King’s Cross or London Bridge.
Sissinghurst Castle Garden
Sissinghurst is probably one of the most famous – if not the most famous – sites to visit in the High Weald. Avoid weekends if you can, because it’s immensely popular. The creator of the property is Vita Sackville – West, English author and journalist and close friend of Virginia Woolf. Alone in the tower of Sissinghurst Castle, Vita found inspiration for many of her works.
But the main draw of Sissinghurst are its formal gardens, landscaped by Vita and her husband themselves. Each of the garden chambers has a unique character and colour palette. Although not large (just 5 acres), the garden, house and surrounding woodland make for a full day out.
How to get there?
There is no mainline station at Sissinghurst, however Staplehurst is at walkable distance (8km as the crow flies). Getting there takes an hour from London Charing Cross. The Sunday Walkers Club offers an outline for a 12 km walk (one way) to Sissinghurst from Staplehurst. On our visit to Sissinghurst, we booked a taxi to take us from the station to the gardens, to make sure we’d have enough time to visit.
Ardingly Reservoir
Ardingly Reservoir is a man-made lake feeding the River Ouse. It is part of a nature reserve and provides lots of opportunities for walking and water sports. The reservoir makes a nice picknick stop as a part of a countryside walk or a visit to nearby Wakehurst. If you’re planning to rent a kayak or paddleboard or go windsurfing, you can easily spend the day by the lake. The reservoir does get busy on summer weekends, especially around the activity centre. Follow the waterside walking path around the reservoir to find quieter spots and beaches the back (note that swimming is prohibited!).
How to get there?
Ardingly Reservoir sits in between Balcombe and Hayward’s Heath stations. The journey from London to each station (they are 5 minutes apart) takes around 45 minutes from Victoria, King’s Cross or London Bridge.
There are 2 popular options to walk to the reservoir, both of which can be found on the Saturday Walkers Club website. The first option is a 15km point-to-point walk from Haywards Heath to Balcombe via the reservoir. The second option is a circular walk starting and ending at Balcombe Station. I always have a slight preference for point-to-point, but both walks cover beautiful stretches of countryside.
Hever Castle & Gardens
Hever Castle was on my list of day trips in the High Weald for a long time, but somehow I only managed to go there last autumn. I can’t believe I waited to so long to discover this gem! You can visit the fortified castle with its three floors of antique furnitureand learn about its history (this is where Anne Boleyn spent her youth!).
For me however the biggest draw are the gardens. The castle estate contains a wide range of gardens in different styles as well as a boating lake offering fantastic views. A 5 km trail goes around the lake. Exploring the various gardens adds another couple of kilometres to the visit.
How to get there?
Visiting Hever Castle by rail is easy. Hever station is just 40 minutes from London Bridge and 1.5 km from the castle. A nice countryside walk is signposted, but here are directions, also including a circular walk around the property (7 km in total).
Bayham Old Abbey
Bayham Abbey was founded in the early 13th century and remained in function until the 16th century. What remains today, is a set of impressive ruins. The ruins have been slightly enhanced in the 18th century to provide a more scenic backdrop to the nearby Bayham Abbey Mansion. The location of the abbey is relatively remote and secluded, on the banks of the River Teise. The canons would seek out these quiet locations where they could provide for themselves. Today, all these elements make the abbey a fascinating and mysterious place. Going around takes around an hour and, although the site is managed by English Heritage, it’s completely free!
How to get there?
The closest mainline station is Frant which takes and hour to reach from London Charing Cross. In the nearby hamlet Bells Yew green, you can join a footpath that goes more or less parallel to the main road to Lamberhurst. Unfortunately I could find a good description to link to. It’s not a long walk through (around 5 km). If you don’t fancy retracing your steps, you can continue to Scotney Castle or Bewl Water and catch the train home from Wadhurst instead.
Great Dixter House & Gardens + Bodiam Castle
If you want to combine a visit to a quintessentially British house and garden with a moated medieval castle, head to Great Dixter and Bodiam Castle! Located in the adjacent towns of Northiam and Bodiam, these properties are unique in their own way.
Great Dixter, in its current form, is a relatively new construction. Albeit built in the early 20th century around the foundations of an existing house, it’s the perfect, romantic recreation of a medieval mansion. The businessman who owned the house also added a sophisticated garden packed with bold borders and topiary.
Bodiam Castle is completely different. Built in defence against the 14th century French invasions, Bodiam has a classic quadrangular outline with corner towers and a robust look. Yet, the details of the structure and its position in an artificial watery landscape suggest that beauty was almost as important as defence to its creators.
How to get there?
The best train station to start from is Robertsbridge. At 1.20hrs from London Charing Cross, this is the furthest train ride on this list! An alternative is to take the train to Rye (50 mins and a change at Ashford) and do a longer walk.
I recommend splitting both places across two days to leave enough time for the actual visits rather than just walk. This circular walk takes you from Robertsbridge to Bodiam Castle. You can shorten it by walking out and back rather than doing the circuit. Add on this route from Bodiam to Nortiam via Great Dixter and you have a complete day. There’s the possibility to return on the Kent & East Sussex Light Railway.
Scotney Castle & Bewl Water
Start this day from Wadhurst village, a lovely market town lined with Georgian houses. Then head to Bewl Water reservoir (and spend the day here if you like). Bewl Water offers a range of water sports, walking trails and quiet spots for picknicks.
We didn’t linger and instead walked onwards to Scotney Castle. The country house and formal gardens are lovely, but the most interesting and peculiar part of the side is the old castle. The moated, medieval castle was built in defence against the 14th century French invasions, but it fell into disrepair. Today, the ruins provide a mysterious backdrop to the Scotney Castle estate.
How to get there?
The closest mainline station to Scotney Castle is Wadhurst. The journey from London Charing Cross takes an hour. This GPS routes map sets out a walk around Bewl Water with an extension to Scotney Castle. The circuit around Bewl Water alone is close to 20 km, so combining it with a visit to Wadhurst is not advisable. We followed the left side of the reservoir (from Wadhurst) and walked out and back.
Harrisson’s Rocks & the Spa Valley Railway
This is an extremely varied that has a riverside walk, a moated mansion and a vintage train ride to offer. Perhaps you even want to throuw a rock climbing session into the mix?
I’ve visited the area several times in different configurations. Riding the Spa Valley Railway steam train, coupled with a visit to Tunbridge Wells, made a great day out with my in-laws. Between my husband and I, we like to keep it more active. Walking to Harisson’s Rocks and / or Groombridge Place along the river and through the surrounding woods are great options.
The sandstone crag at Harisson’s Rocks is a popular area for climbers. If you’re new to climbing, many local clubs offer taster lessons as well as extended courses at Harisson’s Rocks.
Groombridge Place is privately owned and the house cannot be visited. But the gardens are open to the public and they boast, amongst others, a treetop walk!
How to get there?
The best start for this day trip is Tunbridge Wells (1h from London Charing Cross) or Eridge (1h from London Bridge). You can ride the Spa Valley Railway from either station. If you only want to walk, Eridge is the best starting point. The Saturday Walkers Club has got a 17km circular walk starting from Eridge and coming by Groombridge Place. If you want to mix it up, you can cut the walk short at Groombridge to catch the Spa Valley railway (or indeed ride the train first and pick up the walk).
Two beautiful bonus places in the High Weald
Here are two bonus places to discover in the High Weald! I’ve only had the opportunity to visit these briefly in passing, not as dedicated day trips. They are high on my bucket list of day trips from London though. Both are National Trust properties.
Standen House & Garden
There are various reasons you should visit Standen House & Garden. The sandstone house constructed with local materials is a great example of the Wealden building style. The 12 acres landscaped garden is packed with geometrical layouts and compartments with colourful flower beds. And if you’re still looking for more, the property also contains the surrounding Standen Wood, which is listed as a nature reserve and a haven for birdwatchers.
How to get there?
Standen is best reached from East Grinstead station. A direct train from London Victoria takes you there in an hour. A 3.5 km walk from the station (one-way) leads to the house and garden. But unless you’re pressed for time, it would be a pity not to combine Standen with a longer walk and enjoy the beauty of the High Weald to the fullest. The Saturday Walker’s Club outlines circular walking options ranging from 7.5 to 20 km.
Sheffield Park & Garden
Sheffield Park is an 18th century landscape garden by the hand of Capability Brown. The landscape architect is remembered as “England’s greatest gardener”. Needless to say that the vast, informal park and garden with a gothic mansion in the middle are rather impressive. Whilst the garden is managed by the National Trust, the mansion is still in private ownership and cannot be visited.
Sheffield Park is one of these places that are beautiful any time of year. Massive rhododendrons and azaleas brighten it up in Spring, whilst the colours of the parkland add autumnal charm later in the year.
How to get there?
The closest main line station to Sheffield Park is Hayward’s Heath (45 mins from London Bridge, Victoria or St Pancras). Admittedly, it’s quite far. You will need a good 2.5 hours to reach Sheffield Park. The Saturday Walkers Club proposes a 19 km circular route that can be modified (shortened) if you want to focus on visiting the park and garden rather than walking.
There’s also a more special way to visit Sheffield park. The historic Bluebell Railway runs between East Grinstead and Sheffield Park. Combine a ride on this heritage railway with a visit of the gardens. You can travel back by Bluebell Railway too, of follow the walk to Hayward’s Heath. The Bluebell Railway also passes fairly closely to Standen and is a good option if you want to reduce the walking time.
