Both my boys love climbing trees. When I heard about Kingly Vale, set a little further back from Chichester, I knew I had to incorporate this in our camping trip. To reach Kingly Vale, you park in West Stoke Car Park and take a direct path directly there. Kingly Vale is famous for its ancient grove of Yew trees, which purport to be the oldest living things in Britain. Some have been climbed on by so many a child in places there are seated places that are almost polished. However the climb to the top of the valley provides a very exorbitant view and is a perfect place to picnic. You can see all across Chichester harbour and beyond, stretching across the shoreline of the south coast. On our way back down we crossed past the dew pond where my youngest was marvelling at the volume of the tadpoles swimming in it. After a lovely relaxing morning and picnic lunch here, we decided to head to Chichester Marina to walk around the harbour and get a cream tea at The Boathouse Cafe, which was delicious with a glass of bubbles, basking in the glorious sunshine. After tea, we decided to stick around to see a glorious sunset, do a bit of luxury boat spotting and more beach-combing around the harbour. As our campsite had no facilities, we chanced our arm at getting a takeaway pizza at Cider House Kitchen, however as luck would have it they had a spare table, so we jumped at it. I had a wonderful Crab Linguine, and all the boys (husband included) got stuck in to the wood-fired pizzas. The food was tremendous, this was an excellent find. All in all this was THE perfect day. Link to walking route in Kingly Vale.
