Sussex is home to some of the top attractions in the UK, from medieval castles and Norman strongholds to vineyards and botanical gardens; this is a county built for great days out.
Mid Sussex, and in particular Cuckfield, is also where you'll find Ockenden Manor, our Elizabethan manor house hotel, making it a natural base for exploring most of what follows.
Here's our guide to iconic attractions in Sussex that we recommend you visit.
Glyndebourne: Grade II Opera House in Lewes
Image - Graham Carlow
Few Sussex manor houses are as instantly recognisable as Glyndebourne.
Since 1934, this country house near Lewes has been home to one of the UK's most celebrated opera festivals with performances that run from May through August.
The 2026 Festival features Glyndebourne's first-ever production of Puccini's Tosca, alongside new stagings of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos, plus revivals of Billy Budd and Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail.
Whether or not opera is your thing, an evening at Glyndebourne is as much about the gardens and the setting as it is about what's on stage.
Ockenden Manor is around a 35-minute drive from Glyndebourne, close enough for a relaxed pre-theatre swim or a late glass of Sussex after curtain call.
Wakehurst: Kew's Historic House & Botanical Gardens, Near Ardingly
Image - Jim Holden
Part of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Wakehurst is home to the Millennium Seed Bank, the world's largest wild plant seed conservation project. Set across the High Weald National Landscape, it holds more than 2.4 billion seeds from over 40,000 wild plant species.
From June 2026 through to May 2027, Wakehurst is hosting Henry Moore and major Henry Moore sculptures, installed across the American Prairie, Winter Garden and Mansion lawns. These are shown alongside new commissions from contemporary artists Rana Begum, Rafael Pérez Evans and Paloma Varga Weisz.
The sculptures sit in the landscape at Wakehurst, so visitors come across Moore's bronze forms while walking through the grounds, a beautiful way to encounter one of Britain's best-known sculptors.
Wakehurst is a short, scenic drive from Cuckfield through the High Weald (approx 20 minutes), an easy half-day out, or a full day if you want to properly explore the gardens.
Ouse Valley Viaduct: Elegant Railway Bridge in Haywards Heath
Ouse Valley Viaduct has been described as the most elegant viaduct in Britain.
Between Haywards Heath and Balcombe, the grade II listed viaduct carries the London-Brighton railway line across the Ouse in a run of red-brick arches that stand around 30 metres above the valley floor.
It's also a lovely walk with routes from Ardingly Reservoir, Cuckfield, or Balcombe station that wind through farmland and woodland before opening onto the valley, best visited in the early morning or late afternoon.
The viaduct is one of the closest attractions on this list to Ockenden Manor, easily combined with a walk through Cuckfield itself.
Tulley's Farm: Working Farm with Seasonal Events, Near Crawley
Tulleys Farm fields double as a backdrop for its seasonal events, with grounds that change with the calendar, from spring's Tulip Festival through to the Christmas Light Festival in winter.
Autumn brings Shocktober Fest, Europe's largest scream park with multiple horror mazes, a haunted hayride, live music stages and roaming street theatre. This event runs on selected nights from early October to a fireworks finale on 2 November.
Tulleys is also a proper working farm and seasonal produce shop, so there's a reason to visit whatever time of year you come.
Tulleys Farm is a pretty 20 minute drive from Ockenden Manor, an easy add-on to a stay, whatever season you're visiting in.
Ditchling Beacon: The Highest Point in East Sussex
Ditchling Beacon delivers one of the best views in Sussex, and it’s just 25 twenty-five minutes from Cuckfield.
At 248 metres, Ditchling Beacon is the highest point in East Sussex and the third-highest on the whole of the South Downs, with 360-degree views.
Originally an Iron Age hillfort and later serving as a warning beacon, the ramparts are still traceable on the ground.
It also provides an excellent location for varied walks with the South Downs Way running straight over the top, connecting west to the Jack and Jill windmills at Clayton and east to Lewes.
One of the easiest viewpoints to reach from Ockenden Manor is a straightforward 25-minute drive for a walk before dinner or a clear-day picnic at the top.
Lewes Castle: Medieval Castle in The Town of Lewes
Lewes Castle is one of the very first Norman castles in England, built barely a year after the Battle of Hastings.
One of only two castles in the country built with two mottes, William de Warenne chose the site to guard the River Ouse that runs through the South Downs. Climb the zig-zag steps to the keep, and you're rewarded with one of the best 360-degree views in Sussex.
The adjoining Barbican House Museum fills in the story, with artefacts ranging from prehistoric to medieval Sussex.
Around 30 minutes from Ockenden Manor and easily paired with a wander around Lewes itself.
Herstmonceaux Castle:15th Century Castle, near Hailsham
Herstmonceux is one of the earliest significant brick-built castles still standing in England.
Construction began in 1441 by Sir Roger Fiennes, Treasurer to the Household of Henry VI. It was the largest private home in 15th-century England, complete with the wide moat that still surrounds it today.
In the grounds, you'll find the observatory's green domes and a hands-on science centre, sitting alongside the castle's eight themed gardens, spread across 300 acres of woodland and parkland.
Roughly 50 minutes from Ockenden Manor and a different day out to the county's other castles.
The Bluebell Railway: Steam Trains Through the Sussex Weald
The Bluebell Railway in the Sussex Weald offers a hands-on history lesson for families who love steam trains.
One of the first standard-gauge steam railways to reopen to the public, the Bluebell Railway has been running trains since 1960 along the old Lewes-to-East Grinstead line. Today, it operates over 30 vintage steam locomotives.
Each of its four stations is restored to a different era, with Sheffield Park recreating the Victorian railway of the 1880s, and Horsted Keynes the Southern Railway of the 1920s-40s, so on up the line to East Grinstead.
An All Day Rover ticket lets you hop on and off at each one, and Sheffield Park itself has an interactive steam exhibition, a museum and a pub built right into the old station buildings.
Few family days out are as close to Ockenden Manor as the Bluebell Railway; Sheffield Park station, its southern terminus, is barely 15 minutes away.
Brighton Palace Pier & The Lanes: Sussex's Seaside Day Out
No trip to Sussex is complete without a seaside day out in Brighton.
Brighton Palace Pier has stood since 1899, and once hosted a young Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel performing in its theatre.
Today it's one of the longest pleasure piers in the country with arcades, fairground rides and fish & chip shops.
A short walk inland, The Lanes offer the other side of Brighton, with antique dealers, independent jewellers and some of the city's best-loved restaurants.
Brighton is around 45 minutes from Ockenden Manor, an easy day trip before heading back to Cuckfield for the evening.
Lewes Priory: Medieval Ruins in East Sussex
For a free historical day out, Lewes Priory delivers more than its modest ruins suggest.
Founded around 1078 by William de Warenne, the same Norman lord who built Lewes Castle half a kilometre away, it was the first Cluniac priory in England.
Henry III retreated here under siege after his defeat at the Battle of Lewes in 1264. Today it sits in a public park, freely open all year with fragments of the priory church and a recreated medieval herb garden, all framed by South Downs views.
Lewes Priory is around 20 minutes from Ockenden Manor, an easy add-on to a day exploring the rest of the town.
Ashdown Forest: The Real Hundred Acre Wood in Forest Row
Few landscapes in Sussex carry as much cultural significance as Ashdown Forest.
This ancient woodland and lowland heathland sit atop the High Weald, and are the inspiration behind A.A. Milne's Hundred Acre Wood.
Milne lived on the forest's edge, and his son's childhood adventures here became the basis for the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. Gill's Lap is the "Enchanted Place," and the original Poohsticks Bridge is a short, signposted walk away.
2026 marks the centenary of the first Winnie-the-Pooh book, and the forest has marked it with five new themed walks exploring its rarest species, plus a summer of free events and performances.
Ashdown Forest is around 35 minutes from Ockenden Manor, a lovely half-day out for any fans of Winnie the Pooh.
Devil's Dyke: The Best View in Sussex
Image - National Trust, John Miller
For a free day out in Sussex with dramatic scenery, Devil's Dyke is hard to top.
Just five miles from Brighton, this chalk gorge was carved by meltwater at the end of the last Ice Age. John Constable is said to have called the view from the top "the grandest in the world," and on a clear day, you can see as far as the Isle of Wight.
Today, it makes for superb walking country on the South Downs Way. The hilltop was once an Iron Age hillfort, and you can still trace the ramparts on a walk around the summit.
Devil's Dyke is around 25 minutes from Ockenden Manor, easily combined with a trip into Brighton or enjoyed as a scenic half-day on its own.
Why Base Yourself in Mid Sussex?
Whether you're planning an opera evening, an art trip to see Henry Moore or a photography-led walk to the viaduct, staying at Ockenden Manor puts you in the middle of it, with a comfortable room, an award-winning restaurant and a spa to come back to at the end of the day.
