Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre

The old chalk pit at Amberley has been transformed into something rather special - a sprawling open-air museum where you can actually wander through restored buildings and have a proper poke around industrial heritage. Housed in a former cement works, it's the sort of place where kids run between vintage shops and cottage gardens while adults get lost examining steam engines and printing presses.

You'll find yourself walking past a working blacksmith's forge, a sweet shop frozen in time, and all manner of machinery that once kept Sussex ticking over. The site covers 36 acres, so you need a solid half-day minimum, longer if you're the type who reads every explanatory board. Admission is reasonable and it's open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 4.30pm.

This works brilliantly as part of a broader Arundel-area itinerary. The town itself sits just a few miles north - proper worth a visit for the castle and riverside walks. If you're based at Brookside Caravan Park or Littlehampton's campsite, both within five miles, Amberley slots in perfectly alongside coastal trips and country rambles.

Families with children aged seven-plus tend to get the most from it. Younger ones find the space overwhelming, and teenagers might manage an hour before the lure of their phones takes over. History buffs will lose entire afternoons here. Fair warning: there's limited shade and the cafe is basic, so bring water and sensible shoes. It's genuinely good value, though - one of those places that rewards a slow morning rather than a rushed tick-box visit.