we are considering adding a day or two in Turnbridge Wells area for our September car trip through England. I only have 1 or 2 nights available to allow. Is that enough time to see the area? We are interested in castles and gardens, cute towns and scenic areas. Can this be done with just a one night stay? We are also going to Bath, Cotswolds, York, northern Wales and Chester. I would probably have to cut down my time in the other areas to accommodate Tunbridge Wells, but I have heard some nice things about the area. The more travel videos I watch, the more confused I become.

I once based a house & garden trip in Tunbridge Wells, mainly because it was easy to get to most of the places by train. I stayed at the Swan Hotel in the pantiles area. The breakfast was wonderful, they had crumpets and smoked haddock, and amazing fruit platters.
Sissinghurst is my favorite garden (allow 2 hours). I also enjoyed Hever Castle and garden, and I spent 4 or 5 hours there. Scotney Castle Garden is in a very romantic setting, and I spent an hour or two there. Rye is a very quaint old town. I missed Great Dixter because it was too hard to get to by train, but it gets rave reviews.
You could easily spend several days in the area. On the other hand, the same things you're looking for can also be found in the other areas you're visiting. The Cotswolds are full of quaint villages, and nearby are Blenheim Palace and gardens, Oxford, and some wonderful gardens are Kiftsgate (my favorite in that area), Sezincote house and garden, and Hidcote Manor garden (Hidcote is most renowned, but IMHO Kiftsgate and Sezincote are much better). North Wales also has it's share of outstanding houses and gardens, including Bodnant Gardens (allow 3-4 hours), Penrhyn Castle and Garden (this is a palace, unlike Edward's fortress-like castles), Plas Newydd (house and garden, allow 3 hours), and Chirk Castle (another palace and garden, allow 3 hours).

I visited Tunbridge Wells expecting it to look like a "Miss Marple" village and was disappointed. Spent about 1 hours there. If you're interested you can e-mail me at [email protected] and I can send you the portion of my trip diary that covered that area. May help you sort things out. You would probably need 2 nights in the area at least. However, in my opinion, you only need 1 night (maybe 1 1/2 days) Bath.

I used Tunbridge Wells as a base for 3 days and quite liked it. I didn't see much of the town beyond the High Street and Pantiles because we stayed right there and just walked around to shop and eat (or else got in the car and headed to other areas). Highlights of our trip were Bodiam Castle, the town of Lewes, and the Seven Sisters (coastal area with impressive white cliffs). We also ducked into London by train one day, which was hassle-free. Because of weather/time of year we didn't see gardens.

Although I like the TW area, I agree with the other poster who said you can find equally enjoyable sites near the other areas you're visiting. My preference would be less long-distance travel, more time to explore selected areas in depth.

I stayed in Tunbridge Wells 2 years ago looking to do the same things you want to do. It's a good location and a nice place - but it takes a long time to travel to the variety of attractions in the area. I spent one night and really only had enough time to see Leeds castle. I'd suggest that if you want to see that area give yourself 2-3 nights - or you might be better off spending your time in another area. Either way, you wont be disappointed.

If you wanted somewhere close to Tunbridge Wells and Sissinghurst Garden and Great Dixter and Pashley Manor - plus Leeds Castle and Hever castle and Bodiam and Rye (all well worth a visit and all within about half an hour by car) I can recommend Church Gates in Cranbrook (www.churchgates.com) for outstanding bed and breakfast. Kent actually has more castles than any other county and also many, many fabulous gardens- Sissinghurst and Great Dixter are rated as the two top 20th Century gardens in England and are a definite must see. Church Gates can also organise garden tours for small groups - I can recommend the hosts very highly.

Pakitty posted that she missed Great Dixter. I have just today spent the afternoon, at the request of my gardening partner, visiting Great Dixter. What a lovely place! The beautiful house (timbered, built from 12/13th century) amongst the wonderful gardens is 'chocolate box' charm. Unfortunately, I know next to nothing about plants and gardening (I leave this to my partner) but he really enjoyed the gardens, and the owner Christopher Lloyd, is famous for his experiments with colourful plants and written books about it. There is a nursery and shop. Not many tourists (a few french and german), but mainly English people getting ideas for their own gardens, I think!

Don't forget that Rye is just up the road (about 20 mins) we carried on to there after Great Dixter, and this village is a real treat. We only live an hour away, and I forget how picturesque it is there. It has everything for the sightseer: Ancient church with fab stained glass windows, cobbled streets reminiscent of Devon/Cornwall, Cream teas served in china teapots, tiny ancient cottages, a marina filled with bobbing yachts, an ancient pub called The Mermaid - which is very haunted, apparently! While I was there, I looked up their accommodation rates (£110 per person per night - not cheap). And also, lots of curiosity shops (such as old books, antiques). We had a lovely afternoon. Quite busy, but not overrun with other tourists at this time of year.
Website for Great Dixter - www.greatdixter.co.uk