The Field at Findon

This bijou bell tent camping site in the South Downs National Park is just the place for a quiet getaway close to the south coast. The Field at Findon is home to just four bell tents, which offer rustic off-grid glamping with a few home comforts thrown in. From this location on the edge of a West Sussex village, you can watch horses graze in neighbouring fields and see the stars come out at night. But it’s not so far off the beaten track that you can’t walk to the nearest pub. In fact, there are three – plus a very good butchers nearby.

Each of the bell tents is set up for up to a family of four, with a proper double bed and two comfortably-topped camp singles. Bedding, bunting and solar-powered fairy lights are all provided and there are camp chairs, a table, and a fire pit too. Make sure you order logs or charcoal on booking as there’s no shop on site. In fact, beyond the tents, there’s not much at all. And, in a way, that’s the beauty of the place. It’s proper camping – but it’s been made easy for you. Simple facilities (portable toilets, rustic showers, an open-air washing up sink) are tucked out of sight, between trees.

With this simple set up, if you want more than dinner cooked on the campfire, you’ll have to head out but that's not really a problem here. Did we mention there were three pubs nearby? You’re spoilt for choice – and that’s just in the local village. Further afield, there’s plenty more in seaside Worthing, whose seafront is six miles away. Then there’s Arundel, Littlehampton, Chichester and Brighton – each a few miles further, none more than half an hour in the car. The price you pay for being well connected is a little road noise on site from the nearby A24. But it’s also this that enables a quick route from the M25 – making short breaks in The Field at Findon a perfectly plausible getaway from London and beyond.