Travel – A West Sussex Cottage Staycation

There’s been so much going on at the moment, with me not being very well and Jess starting at her new school. Getting into a new routine, while trying to take care of myself and everyone else has been challenging to say the least. This definitely hasn’t been the easiest few months at all. But I’ve taken each day as it comes and celebrated every day that goes well. I feel much more settled now. With everything thats been going on, we shelved our plans to go abroad for the autumn half term and instead booked a couple of nights in a beautiful Air BnB cottage in a little village in West Sussex.

The idea was to pack food, clothes and a pile of board games and just chill for a couple of days. I love West Sussex having spent a lot of my childhood there. My grandparents lived in Chichester and had a beach hut at nearby West Wittering and I have so many happy memories of exploring all the local sights and being with them.

Choosing Our Accommodation

We didn’t really mind where we stayed, as long as it was in The South Downs National Park. We browsed Air BnB looking for somewhere really perfect. As we wanted to spend quite a lot of time in the house, we wanted somewhere that would feel like home, not just a base to rest our heads. Eventually we found the most glorious cottage in the village of West Ashling. This was the most perfect setting, for being in the country while really close to Chichester for convenience.

The village is absolutely beautiful. Filled with a mixture of very old houses and cottages, your typical postcard village with thatched cottages and a beautiful pond. The village is surrounded by fields and farmland and is perfect if like me, you enjoy exploring and long walks. How gorgeous is the little house below with the yellow door, definitely somewhere I would love to live!

Day One

On our first day we headed out for a meal at Smith and Weston. I love this American Western themed restaurant chain, but we don’t have one near us, so we’ve got a little tradition of popping into the Chichester branch whenever we visit. The food is lovely and the kids love all the themed decorations. We even got to eat out dinner in a jail cell! We spend a relaxed evening playing Monopoly and even got Jessica to play for a bit. She’s at that age where hanging out with her parents and little sister isn’t that appealing! Our first night in the cottage was so comfortable and I slept like a dream, in our huge super king size bed.

Day Two

On the second day we headed to one of the places I spent a lot of time with my grandparents when I was little. Fishbourne Roman Palace is one of the main attractions in the Chichester area. It hasn’t changed a bit since I used to go there in the 90s! This is a great place to see a bast array of original Roman mosaics and artefacts. There are also lots of fun activities for kids to take part in. Despite her broken foot Jess managed to try her hand at sword fighting! Lila preferred the craftier activities and made a lovely medallion out of clay.

After that we headed into Chichester for a meal at Wagamama. Since we were in the area we popped into Chichester Cathedral, another place I have been numerous times and love. Its such a beautiful place, with lots to see and plenty of history to absorb.

The evening was spend playing National Trust Monopoly, which went on so long, we didn’t manage to finish it, but it was still very fun.

Day Three

The last day came round so quickly! I didn’t feel ready to leave our beautiful West Sussex cottage. I decided to head out early, for a long country walk. I found a route on an app called iFootpath. The walk was about 4 miles and took in some absolutely stunning fields and villages. I’m going to art a new series of blog posts featuring walks, so I’ll go into this one in a bit more detail in a separate post.

When I returned very muddy but feeling refreshed, it was time to pack up and leave. I was ad to say goodbye to the cottage after such a short stay, but I know I will be back very soon. We headed straight out to another of my favourite local spots.

Bosham is one of my very favourite places, this beautiful area is part of Chichester Harbour and looks especially beautiful at low tide. I’ve always enjoyed a little walk around the village, looking at all the boats and taking in the beautiful view and the fresh sea air. I went here so much when I was younger, but this is the first time I’ve shared it with my own little family. We couldn’t walk around for too long, because of Jess’s foot, but we stayed just long enough. It was perfect. There was time for a quick lunch in the local tearoom, before heading back to London.

We drove home through the gorgeous South Downs, its worth choosing a longer more scenic route rather than just speeding down the A3. It takes much longer, but its so worth it. It was a gorgeous foggy day, not too foggy to drive in, but just enough to make the world look atmospheric and interesting! I made Rob pull over a couple of times so I could take pictures!

What a lovely way to spend a few days together! It just goes to show that holidays don’t have to be long, far away or expensive to be perfect. This year has been all about short UK trips for me and its definitely something I would like to do more of.

I hope you enjoyed reading about our little West Sussex cottage break. I’d love to blog more about travel and some of the places I go and I always say I’ll write more posts and never get round to it! I’m definitely going to try to more in the future!

If you’re interested in using Air Bnb I have a refer a friend link, which gives you money off your first stay. Woohoo! Click here!

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