Weald & Downland Living Museum

You'll spend a solid few hours wandering around actual historic buildings that have been rescued and rebuilt on this 40-acre site just outside Chichester. We're talking a Tudor farmhouse, a medieval timber-framed cottage, a working windmill - the lot. It's not a museum in the stuffy sense; you walk through proper rooms where costumed staff explain how people actually lived, cooked, and worked centuries ago.

Kids do genuinely engage here, especially if they're the sort who like climbing stairs and poking around old kitchens. Families should allow a good three to four hours minimum, longer if your children are the thorough type. History types will find themselves properly absorbed - the detail in period furnishings and the craftsmanship on display is genuinely impressive, not sanitised or dumbed down.

Check opening hours before you go, as they vary by season. The site can get muddy after rain, so waterproofs aren't a bad shout. If you're based at one of the nearby caravan parks - Chichester Lakeside is only six miles away, or Woodfire at Westerlands slightly closer - this makes for a proper half-day outing that won't exhaust you or drain the bank account if admission is reasonable.

The walk between buildings means it's not ideal for pushing buggies over rough ground, and it's definitely not a quick tick-box visit. But if you've got time and genuine curiosity about how Sussexfolk lived, it's well worth the drive from Chichester.