Weekend breaks in South East England

A South Downs village with a medieval clergy house and the Seven Sisters nearby

A lively seaside city with a pier, independent shops and nightlife

A Dickens-loved seaside town of sandy bays and sea views

A New Forest village with its own railway station and ponies on the green

The gateway to the Cotswolds, with a sloping High Street and antique shops

A medieval cathedral city with a UNESCO World Heritage cathedral

A pebble-beach town with a Tudor castle and a fine pier

A wild shingle headland of black huts, lighthouses and a famous garden

A riverside town famous for its regatta and rowing

A compact island with chalk cliffs, castles and sandy beaches

A Georgian harbour town with a ferry to the Isle of Wight

The capital of the New Forest, with ponies in the streets

A revived seaside town of art, vintage shops and sandy beaches

Ancient woodland and heath with free-roaming ponies

The city of dreaming spires, ancient colleges and libraries

A hilltop cinque port town of cobbles and smugglers' pubs

A medieval Cinque Port with timber-framed lanes and a private toll bridge

Rolling chalk hills, white cliffs and country pubs

A pretty seaside town famous for oysters and beach huts

An ancient capital with a cathedral, water meadows and a medieval Round Table

A royal castle town beside the Thames, 40 minutes from London

A pretty stone town at the gates of Blenheim Palace

A palace, independent shops and the seafront on day one, and chalk cliffs or a hilltop town on day two.

Colleges, libraries and the river, planned so you see the best of the city without tiring your feet.

A great medieval cathedral, a walkable old city and the coast within 15 minutes.

England's ancient capital, with a great cathedral and a riverside walk that Keats loved.

Wild ponies, forest tracks and a motor museum, easy by train from London.

White chalk cliffs, a historic village and a hilltop town, all close to Brighton.

The Seven Sisters are a row of white chalk cliffs on the Sussex coast, between Seaford and Eastbourne.

Canterbury Cathedral is the mother church of the Anglican Communion and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Whitstable has been known for its oysters for centuries, and the town's harbour and seafront are full of seafood restaurants and stalls.

The New Forest is one of the few places in England where ponies, cattle, pigs and deer roam freely on open heath and ancient woodland, under a system of rights known as commoning.

Brighton Palace Pier opened in 1899 and is one of the most famous seaside piers in Britain, with arcades, rides and food stalls.

Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world, and has been a royal home for nearly a thousand years.

Blenheim Palace is a vast baroque palace and UNESCO World Heritage Site near Woodstock, the birthplace of Winston Churchill.

Bodiam is a perfect 14th-century moated castle, built by a knight returning from the Hundred Years' War, with round towers, battlements and a gatehouse reflected in the water.

The Kent and East Sussex Railway is a heritage steam line of just under 11 miles between Tenterden Town and Bodiam, through the Rother Valley.

Kent has become one of England's best wine regions, thanks to its chalky soils and warm climate, and some of its sparkling wines have beaten champagnes in blind tastings.

The Isle of Wight is one of the best places in England to see red squirrels, because the island has no grey squirrels, which spread disease and have driven red squirrels out elsewhere.

Camber Sands is a huge expanse of golden sand and dunes on the East Sussex coast, with consistent wind and shallow water that make it one of the best kitesurfing spots in the south east.

The Isle of Wight is a favourite for cyclists, with a near-circular route of about 60 miles around the coast, and plenty of shorter rides on quiet lanes and traffic-free trails.

The New Forest has more than 100 miles of waymarked cycle tracks, mostly on flat gravel, through ancient woodland and open heath where ponies graze.

The South Downs Way is a 100-mile national trail between Winchester and Eastbourne, open to walkers, cyclists and horse riders.