Family Holidays in West Sussex

What's actually on the books here

There are nine family stays published on BritStays in West Sussex, and the mix tells you a lot before you read a single listing. Five are camping, three are caravanning and one is a holiday park. In other words, this is a region for outdoor-ish family holidays rather than cottages and townhouses — you're choosing between a pitch, a static caravan and a park with a pool and an entertainment programme.

Nine is a small pool of options. That matters more than any other piece of advice on this page: if one of them fits your dates and your family, treat it as the one to book rather than the first of many to compare.

Coast or countryside?

The coastal end of the set is the busier, more geared-up end. Hayling Island has two — Hayling Island Holiday Park, which pairs a swimming pool with a hot tub and evening entertainment, and The Oven Campsite, which also has a pool, evening entertainment and a cafe. Bognor Regis, Southern England is home to Riverside Caravan Park, and Brook Lane Caravan Park sits at Worthing. These are the ones to look at if you want your children tired out by teatime and someone else doing the cooking.

Chichester has the most of any single area, with three, including Fishery Creek (swimming pool, restaurant and playground) and Nunnington Farm Caravan and Camping, which is the plainer, more practical sort of stay — playground, toilets and WiFi. The Spur, also at Chichester, has a swimming pool and a bar. Two more are logged simply as West Sussex: Onslow Caravan Park, with a pool, cafe and playground, and Limeburners Campsite, which leans on a bar, takeaway food and a playground rather than a pool.

What the facilities tell you

Across these nine stays, the most commonly listed facilities are:

• EV Charging Nearby — 7
• Near a Train Station — 6
• Swimming Pool — 6
• Playground — 6
• Near a Bus Stop — 5
• WiFi — 4
• Gift Shop — 3
• Toilets — 3

Two things stand out. First, a pool and a playground are close to standard here rather than a luxury — six of nine have each — so if your children swim, you have real choice. Second, six are near a train station and five near a bus stop, which is unusually good for camping and caravan sites. If you'd rather not drive down and then sit in holiday traffic all week, Riverside Caravan Park is the clearest example: near a bus stop, near a train station and with EV charging nearby.

WiFi appears on four, including Brook Lane Caravan Park and Nunnington Farm Caravan and Camping. Toilets are listed on three — worth checking directly if you're camping, since facilities that aren't listed aren't necessarily absent, just unrecorded.

Couples, and travelling with a dog

Couples can absolutely use this set — The Spur and Limeburners Campsite, with a bar and no pool-and-playground emphasis, read more like adult-friendly bases than the holiday parks do. Just go in knowing school holidays will bring families in numbers.

Dog owners should be straightforward with themselves: pet policies aren't recorded in the facility data for these nine stays. Ring or email before you pay, and ask specifically about dogs on pitches, in vans and around pools and cafes, because the answer varies site by site.

What to do once you're there

For big-ticket days out, Arundel Castle is the obvious one, and Uppark House gives you a National Trust house-and-grounds day. Castle Goring and Wiston House add to the heritage list if you have older children who'll walk round a stately home without mutiny.

For younger ones, Funland Hayling Island sits right by the two Hayling Island stays, and Butlins Bognor Regis is the near neighbour of Riverside Caravan Park. Frensham Common and The Flashes, Churt Common are the free-and-outdoors option when you want a day that costs nothing.

Wet-weather backups: Bognor Regis Museum and Haslemere Educational Museum are both logged under Chichester, and Brighton Toy and Model Museum is an easy crowd-pleaser. Further afield, City Museum in Portsmouth, Trilakes Animal Park and Beaver Water World are day-trip distance rather than round-the-corner, so save them for a day you've planned properly.

When to book

With nine stays and six of them holding a pool, summer school holidays go first — aim to book those weeks in winter or very early spring. May half-term and late August bank holiday are the next tightest. If your dates are flexible, early June and September give you the same pools and playgrounds with far less competition, though check that cafes, bars and evening entertainment are still running outside peak season, as some scale back. Before you confirm, phone and check three things: pitch or van size for your group, whether toilets and showers are on site, and the dog policy.