A hip holiday cottage in Rye, England
Climb the turrets of this 14th-century moated castle (owned by the National Trust) with ruined interior. It’s a great place for children to let off steam – buy them a wooden sword in the shop, then let them run riot.
Bodiam station is a stop on the Kent and East Sussex Railway; you can walk the quarter of a mile from the station to the castle itself. The Bodiam Boating Station is also close by, for hiring a row-boat, kayak or SUP.
The atmospheric Jacobean home of Rudyard Kipling, who lived here from 1902 until his death in 1936.
Kipling regarded Bateman’s as a place of sanctuary; with its mellow sandstone architecture and tranquil garden, it’s easy to fathom why. The house is a memorial to the writer, left as he and his wife lived in it, and includes letters, memorabilia and Kipling’s library, where he would write.
Created by Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson, this is one of the world’s most famous gardens, arranged as a series of romantic outdoor ‘rooms’ around a central Elizabethan tower, where Sackville-West used to write.
The garden is part of a wider 450-acre estate, and makes a fine base for a countryside walk.
