4-day trip to West Sussex and Isle of Wight in the south of England

I had a super pleasurable four-day trip down to the south of England with family last week. We were a group of eight and travelled in two cars from London.

Below is the itinerary of our trip which includes Ordnance Survey grid references for places which we stopped at. If you need a reminder of how to read Ordnance Survey grid references, check out this article or this video. Pro tip: you can plug an Ordnance Survey grid reference into the UK Grid Reference Finder web app and link out from there to Google Maps or Ordnance Survey.

Itinerary

Day 1 morning: We loaded up our cars and started our journey southwards.

Day 1 early afternoon: We stopped at Kithurst Hill Car Park in the South Downs (TQ 071 125) and did a short walk eastwards to Kithurst Hill (TQ 082 125), then southwards to join the South Downs Way (TQ 082 123), and then north-westwards along the South Downs Way back to our car.

Day 1 late afternoon: We stopped at Pulborough Bridge (TQ 045 185) and did some canoeing and kayaking for an hour along River Arun. We hired our canoes and kayaks via Fluid Adventures. Be sure to book beforehand.

Day 1 evening: We drove to our accommodation in Bersted which is just a touch northwards from the coastal town of Bognor Regis and we rested for the night. We booked our accommodation via Airbnb.

Day 2 morning: We had a slow, relaxed morning knowing that we'd have to get up early for the next two mornings.

Day 2 early afternoon: We drove down to Climping Car Park (TQ 005 007) and walked westwards along the coast. The route was a nice mixture of beach to our left and fields to our right.

Day 2 late afternoon: We drove westwards to West Wittering Beach Car Park (SZ 769 982). Lucky for us the weather was cloudy and forecasted to rain so the beach was nice and quiet. Note that the car park is pre-book only.

Day 2 evening: We drove back to our accommodation and rested for the night.

Day 3 early morning: We got up early, headed for Portsmouth and caught our 9:40am ferry to the Isle of Wight. We booked our ferry via Wightlink and it was around £40 each way per car.

Day 3 late morning: We exited the ferry at Fishbourne and drove to a couple of viewpoints on the Isle of Wight's eastern coast. We stopped first at Bembridge Down Car Park (SZ 626 860) and second at Culver Down Car Park (SZ 636 856).

Day 3 early afternoon: We drive clockwise along the coast to Shanklin where we stopped for some scones and tea at the Old Thatch Teashop. Note that you have to call in and book beforehand.

Day 3 late afternoon: We continued our drive clockwise along the coast up to The Needles Car Park (SZ 307 854) from where we walked the stairs down to the beach. We sat by the beach for a while and then caught the chair lift back up to the top. The chair lift costs £4 per person each way.

Day 3 evening: We got back to our cars and drove straight through to Fishbourne just in time to check in for our 6:40pm return ferry. We exited the ferry at Portsmouth, picked up some food from Umami Street Food and returned to our accommodation.

Day 4 morning: We tidied up and checked out from our accommodation.

Day 4 early afternoon: We drove to Brighton and stayed put in and around Brighton Palace Pier. Again, it was a cloudy day and forecasted to rain, so we got to enjoy the beach in relative quiet. Note that Pay & Display parking in Brighton is super expensive so you're best booking a parking slot beforehand on JustPark or using one of the car parks listed on the Brighton & Hove Cark Parks web page.

Day 4 late afternoon: We drove back to London.