Caravan club sites in East Sussex

Sussex club sites sit between the South Downs and the Channel, and the two halves of the county tour very differently. East Sussex gives you Hastings, Rye and the Seven Sisters, with sites tucked into wooded valleys behind the coast. West Sussex is flatter approaching Chichester Harbour, with easier towing and better access to Arundel and the Witterings.

The Downs are the thing to plan around. The chalk ridge runs the length of the county and the roads that cross it — the A286 up Cocking Hill, the A275 at Ditchling Beacon, the A26 out of Lewes — climb steeply and narrow at the top. Ditchling Beacon in particular is a 1-in-7 with a hairpin and should be avoided entirely with a caravan. Stay on the A27 and the A259 and the county is straightforward.

Summer traffic on the coast road is the other constraint. The A259 between Brighton and Eastbourne crawls from late July, and Brighton itself is poor territory for a large outfit. Base inland and drive in, or use the sites west of Chichester where the roads stay quiet.

Most Sussex club sites run March to November, with a handful open all year on the coast. Spring is the best of it: the Downs are green, the roads are empty and the sites have space.