Glamping Rockstars: 8 of the Best Glamping in East Sussex To Rock Your Weekend

For more glamping weekend inspiration, see our guide to Devon glamping: 10 of the best sites, glamping in the Peak District, glamping in The Forest of Dean, glamping in Cornwall with a hot tub, the best glamping in the UK.

East Sussex Glamping 1: A Love Nest in the Woods

Find it: ///branching.toads.snails

The Experience: The Roundhouse is a stunning curved timber glamping cabin made for just the two of you. Inside, there’s a deceptively large, light and airy space for love birds, featuring a well-equipped micro-kitchen, a cosy dining area, and a modern ensuite shower room. The real hero, however, is the gorgeous kingsize bed with its beautiful reclaimed wood headboard and large picture window at the foot of the bed. Lay back and watch the birds come and go. When you’re bored of that (as if), head outside to the wood-fired hot tub and wait for the arrival of the moon. Heavenly.

The Surroundings: The Roundhouse glamping is deliberately hidden away in the wood on Swallowtail Hill Farm in East Sussex. Take a turn off the farm track, cross the rustic bridge, unlatch the gate and you’ll find The Roundhouse in a clearing under an oak tree – and waiting next to it: a hot tub and outdoor dining area. It’s a secluded spot so you’ve complete privacy during your stay. Should you want to wander through the farm’s wildflower meadows, you can. There’s even a farm shop you can pop to for sweets, treats and home-cooked meals.

The Cost: Self-catering 2 night weekend stays from £400

Ad: This inclusion has been kindly sponsored by Swallowtail Hill

East Sussex Glamping 2: A Glass Lodge In The Country

Find it: ///branching.toads.snails 

The Experience: The fully-glazed bi-folding wall of The Long View gazes out over eight acres of lush East Sussex meadow. Roll it back and sit on the chunky king-sized bed; the experience is blissful as the outside sounds and sweet meadow air rushes in. It’s the closest you can come to connecting with nature, without sleeping in the wildflowers themselves. Behind the thick wooden headboard of your bed, the rest of the lodge awaits. It’s a soothing open-plan space with a sofa, dining table and chairs, a wood burner and a fully-equipped micro kitchen. There’s also a neat ensuite with a hot, powerful shower. The cherry on top, of course, is the wood-fired hot tub just a few short steps away.

The Surroundings:  It’s all about the views – and they come in abundance here. The Long View stands in a private corner of Swallowtail Hill’s forty-acre farm in a pretty spot called, helpfully, Eight Acre Meadow. A simply wooden fence separates the lodge’s private garden and dining area from the wilds of the meadow – which, of course, you are free to explore. Barefoot, if the urge takes you.

The Cost: Self-catering 2 night weekend stays from £400

East Sussex Glamping 3: Goldilock’s Timber Cottage 

Find it: ///branching.toads.snails 

The Experience: Custom-made by local carpenters and woodsmen using locally-sourced timber, this glamping cabin in Rye certainly lives up to its name. With rough-cut cladding, a crooked chestnut-shingle roof and lemon-framed windows, Woodcutter’s Cottage is a fairytale place to stay for adults and children. Adults will love snuggling up by the log burner or cwtching in the wood-fired hot tub; kids will love playing hide and seek amongst the trees, toasting marshmallows or catching butterflies. Inside, there’s an enchanting single room with a double bed and two seating areas that convert to (narrow) single beds at night for the children. There’s also a cute wooden kitchen and a separate private shower unit – and, thankfully, no bears in sight.

The Surroundings:  Find Woodcutter’s Cottage neatly knitted into a dell in Dean Wood, an eight-acre chestnut and oak coppiced woodland on the brilliant Swallowtail Hill glamping site in East Sussex. Secluded and private, the cottage is perfect for watching birds and squirrels during the day and foxes and badgers at night. Pour a glass of something naughty, then sit by your firepit where you can cook up a campside feast thanks to the BonFire cooking kit. Beyond the cottage, the farm’s unique landscape is yours to explore. Our top tip: make a beeline for George and Buttons – the two donkeys who live on the farm and will always come over to say ‘hello’.

The Cost: Self-catering 2 night weekend stays from £330

East Sussex Glamping 4: A Super-Cute Mini Cottage 

Find it: ///branching.toads.snails 

The Experience: Meadow Keeper’s Cottage wins the award for cuteness. It is your very own real-life Sylvanian Family glamping cottage in East Sussex, set amongst poppy-dotted meadows with its own private pond. As rustic as a bloomer loaf and as pretty as a charm, this cottage sleeps up to four weekenders under a timber-beamed interior (2 adults and 2 children – although we recommend using it as a love nest for just the pair of you). Although it is off-grid, there’s a hot water tap outside and a small kitchenette inside to make your brew. It also comes with a two-ring gas-fired hob and a wood-burning stove, to keep you toasty warm.

The Surroundings: In the perfect setting between two wildflower meadows, with its own private pond that’s often frequented by heron, and sometimes visited by kingfishers. The cottage is another one of the unique weekend stays on Swallowtail Hill – a forty-acre farm of wildflower meadows and woodland run purely for conservation within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Beyond its stable door, there are farm animals to meet, a farm shop to visit and even a special hillside tent available for hire – ideal for birthday picnics or romantic meals.

The Cost: Self-catering 2 night weekend stays from £290

East Sussex Glamping 5: Alpine Chalets Sussex Style

Find it: ///branching.toads.snails 

The Experience: Penfold & Wood Cabins may look like they belong in the Swiss countryside but are very much at home in leafy green Sussex. This dynamic duo play the part well with their low Alpine-style sloping roofs and wooden verandas. They are both entirely off-grid and are an ideal base for families, friends or a girls’ weekend celebration thanks to their roomy interiors and shared paddock setting. We love the country-cosy open-plan interiors that are prettily dressed with pastoral charm and feature a kitchenette with a 2-ring gas-hob, bouncy double bed and two pull-out single beds. We also #love the upcycled and woodcrafted furniture.

The Surroundings: The two identical cabins share a large paddock at the heart of Swallowtail Hill in East Sussex. The cabins are far enough apart for you to enjoy your own privacy and share the facilities without feeling crowded. On one side, the paddock is fringed by trees; on the other a hill rolls upwards towards the sky – so you always feel rooted into the landscape and connect to Mother Nature. The paddock also has a shared covered cooking prep and washing up area with hot and cold running water and a communal covered dining area. There’s no electricity – so expect to see candles flickering softly at night.

The Cost: Self-catering 2 night weekend stays from £250

East Sussex Glamping 6: Playful Treehouse Hideaway 

Find it: ///slouched.attaching.weary

The Experience: This wonderful family-run treehouse in Sussex certainly knows how to make an impression on the young at heart. A rope-style walkway leads you up to this cantilevered family retreat in true treehouse fashion. Step inside to a Scandinavian-style den of distressed oak wooden walls, oak wood doors and smoked oak flooring. Added to this are three floor-to-ceiling windows, so that the bedroom, kitchen and living space always see eye-to-eye with the clouds. There is a sense of playfulness here, too. The separate children’s bunk room is hung with bird boxes, the shower has a bluebell mural backdrop and there are colour-chaning lights above the beds.

The Surroundings: Downash Wood is a private woodland sitting in 33-acres of land in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty brushing the Kent border, just an hour outside of London. It’s here, you’ll find the Oakey Koakey Treehouse and its smaller, but no less impressive, treehouse sibling, Tinker’s.

The Cost: Weekend stays from £188 pn | See more: Downash Wood Treehouses

East Sussex Glamping 7: A Wildflower Cinema Cabin 

Find it: ///slouched.attaching.weary

The Experience: An architectural gem of a cabin, clad in timber and made sleek black to contrast against the green landscape and disappear in the night. The first thing that strikes you is the glass: Hidey-hole boasts bi-folding doors on either side of the cabin and a huge picture window at the foot of your bedroom. With so much glass, you’re connected to the peace of the East Sussex landscape around you and can watch the wildlife outside 24/7. When you’re finished with nature, click a button and down comes a VIP movie-night screen. Popcorn maker on and settle back in bed for the action to begin.

The Surroundings: Turn into one of the secluded grazing meadows at Downash Wood in East Sussex and Hidey-hole cabin is waiting. If you can peel yourself off the comfy bed or away from the outside Chesney’s log burner, there’s 50-acres of Bewl Water to explore on your doorstep, as well as Ticehurst Village.

The Cost: Weekend stays from £185 pn | See more: Hidey-hole Cabin

East Sussex Glamping 8: High Design Log Cabin 

Find it: ///slouched.attaching.weary

The Experience: The soft natural tones of the cedar-clad walls inside Coddiwomple alone are enough to make the stress melt from your body when you arrive. Carefully designed, this glamping superstar in East Sussex proves how much you can achieve with one open-plan space: there’s a kitchen, bedroom, living space and ensuite shower room. It’s minimally furnished with added touches of luxury to enhance the intimate space, not clutter it. We’re big fans of the bedroom (which you close off at night with a thick curtain) thanks to the picture window at the foot of the bed.

The Surroundings: Just an hour outside of London, sitting in its own private coppice on Downash Wood glamping site. The cabin faces into the woods, sheltering you from the fields beyond; the large bedroom and king-size bed look out onto the aspen and silver birch, so you can watch the local wildlife come and go.

The Cost: Weekend stays from £165 pn | See more: Coddiwomple Cabin