I am trying to decide about a suitable touring base for Southeast England and would love some suggestions. At first we were going to try touring by local buses but DH has decided that he will drive. We will have at least one week - maybe two in this area.

Places we know that we want to see:
Sissinghurst, Bodiam, Knole, Scotney, Batemans

Places we might want to see:
Rye, Brighton, Seven sisters area, Tunbridge Wells

So what would be the best place to base ourselves? We have considered Sevenoaks area but maybe Tunbridge Wells would be more central?

Any help appreciated.

Tunbridge Wells is much better served by public transports than Seven Oaks and IMO is a much much much more interesting city - one of the finest I have seen in all of England - this once popular watering-hole of the rich and famous in days long ago.

Tunbridge Wells or Hastings, another nice nice town, on the sea with great train and bus links - very close the Battle, site of the original Battle with William the Conqueror and to me a neat site - steps from the Battle train station, near Hastings, a city with character all its own.

I wouldn't stay in Tunbridge Wells unless you were still going to rely on public transport.

You really do need a car to efficiently tour those rural areas of Kent/East Sussex. Since you'll be driving, I'd pick someplace in/near Tenterden/Hawkshurst. What is your budget? Did you know they let accommodations at Sissinghurst? That would be lovely if it fits in the budget.

Thx so much for replies.
I have just looked at the Tenterden area and it looks promising (if we have a car). If we go back to the original plan (local transit) - then I think Tunbridge Wells looks good. I would love to stay at Sissinghurst but that may be a bit hard on our budget (hoping not to spend more than 80 pounds a night).

We are also considering self-catering accommodation.

Again thanks - this gives me some good places to start with (I had never even heard of Tenterden and it seems well situated) .

There are traditional English B&Bs scattered on roads leading into town and along roads - really do not need reservations IME there are so so so many.

T/Wells sprung to my mind too; the old part of the city is lovely and there are lots of eating possibilities in and around the town.

it's also a very good base for touring.

My only caveat would be that the traffic can be quite heavy but if you avoid rush-hour, it shouldn't be too bad.

if you wanted somewhere smaller, Northiam, Cranbrook and Tenterden are all very nice but you'd need a car. nicest of all of course is Rye, but it's a bit far from some of the places you want to see, it might be more expensive than you'd like and a car would be essential.

>>Hastings, another nice nice town<<

Please tell me you are joking?! Most British people would avoid staying IN Hastings like the plague - it's a real dump.

Thx for all the suggestions. Rye might be a little further East than I want but I will keep it in consideration.

Please tell me you are joking?! Most British people would avoid staying IN Hastings like the plague - it's a real dump>

I've been in many many British towns and Hastings is better than most - I guess you think most British towns are dumps?

Really Hastings has a neat restored old town center - have you been there recently?

Location wise if driving not the best but by train I even used it as a base from which to visit many sites.

Well each to their own but at least from a Yank who has been in zillions of British towns Hastings to me seemed better than most.

Well its not Dover ;-)

Hastings: http://www.chavtowns.co.uk/2005/01/h...avscum-on-sea/

Say no more...

of course Hastings' profile has been raised a little by its being the setting for Foyle's War, and there are some pretty parts of it, but i don't think that even its greatest fans could say that it is charming.

For British towns Hastings ain't bad - that said to me British towns are for the most part blah - a melange of tacky 60s redevelopment and attempts at restoring Victorian brick buildings, peeling tacky facades off, etc. OK Hasting to me was quaint - ah the eye of the beholder - a seaside setting par excellence but yes another ho-hum British town.

https://www.google.com/search?q=hast...=1600&bih=1099

pictures of 'ugly' Hastings!

we had a few days out at Hastings when our kids were small, but preferred Rye, Brighton, Pevensey.

as you say, some parts are quaint but that's about it.

<<of course Hastings' profile has been raised a little by its being the setting for Foyle's War>>

And very heavily edited - what a shock for tourists expecting the genteel backdrop to Foyle and getting the rundown London overspill of real life.

It's not a good base for any of the gardens mentioned by the OP either. There are any number of pretty villages to choose from with far more charm and more central, eg Tenterden, Cranbrook, Biddenden, Lamberhurst, Goudhurst. In fact most villages in that area (I'm from Kent so unashamedly biased).

village life vs city life - I'll take a tacky English city with various restaurants, supermarkets, shopping, etc over the somnolent English village any day but many will feel opposite - Chilham, a quintessential tiny English village dominagted by an ancient castle of the same name would IMO make a sweet small village base close to Canterbury and many of the intended sites I think of OP. Anyway a nice place to stop by for a few hours.

I spent ten years biking thru Kent on business - always on small paved lanes with passing zones and have been all over Britain and feel Kent is the cutest area overall that I have seen - from the oast houses to half-timbered houses it's all sweet.

If driving check out Pilgrim's Way - a meandering narrow one lane road (with 'passing spots') lined for the most part by tall thick hedge rows - the road over which many pilgrims once made the pious trek to Canterbury - it starts around Seven Oaks and goes by south of Maidstone to Canterbury - quaint quaint quaint.

Sevenoaks, Pal.

in fact one Oak after the great storm of 1987.

I am also jotting these villages and towns down to help in my research as well since we want to visit the same places.

Which one or ones have the best option for walking into the high street or main area for restaurants for dinner so driving would not be necessary if you don't mind my asking?