Discover Worthing: Pier, Promenade and Culture

Worthing combines a distinctive promenade with remarkable cultural and architectural history. The town is suited to travellers who want to combine active days with garden visits, historic buildings and distinctive local stories. When choosing your holiday apartment, you can therefore consider whether you mainly want to explore the promenade by bicycle, use rail connections or include several cultural destinations in your itinerary.

Getting there and orientation for planning your trip

Worthing has five railway stations: East Worthing, Worthing, West Worthing, Durrington-on-Sea and Goring-by-Sea. Regular train services run to Brighton, Gatwick Airport, Portsmouth, Southampton and London. This choice is helpful if you want to vary your days: a stay in Worthing can be combined with train journeys to other destinations, without restricting your entire itinerary to a single experience.

The promenade also provides a clear focus locally. The picturesque route makes it easy to get around actively by bicycle, whether your own or a rented Donkey Bike; there are bicycle racks in the town centre. The broad, level promenade is suitable for a family bike ride. This allows you to plan an active day without the trip consisting exclusively of sightseeing.

Gardens and relaxed discoveries

Highdown Gardens offers a different focus. The gardens were recognised by Plant Heritage as a National Plant Collection in 1989. Admission is free. Facilities include a visitor centre, a greenhouse and a sensory garden. Those who want to include plants and garden spaces alongside local history in their trip planning will find an independent focus here. When choosing accommodation, it may be useful to consider your preferred daily rhythm: some days can be devoted to the active promenade, others to a more peaceful garden or cultural programme.

Worthing Pier and historic cultural sites

Worthing Pier opened in 1862 and is one of the town’s defining historic landmarks. Another special feature is the Dome Cinema. The building has been used continuously as a cinema since 1921, is regarded as a rare surviving kursaal or multipurpose building, and is considered one of the five best-preserved early cinemas in England. For visitors who want to combine architecture and cinema history, it is a particularly characterful destination.

Worthing Museum & Art Gallery also offers an independent cultural attraction. Its costume collection is one of the leading resources for costume history in the United Kingdom. The former Worthing Library, the museum and the art gallery opened on 14 December 1908. The Worthing War Memorial provides a further reminder of local history; it was unveiled on 11 April 1921 by Field-Marshal Sir William Robertson and is designated as a Grade II listed monument.

Architectural history from the Middle Ages to the Regency period

The Church of St Mary in Broadwater is designated as a Grade I listed building. The reasons include its outstanding architecture dating from the mid to late 12th century, the extensive preservation of fabric from the 13th century and further medieval building elements. Beach House adds a more recent and elegant chapter to this architectural history: the building was constructed in 1820 by J B Rebecca and features an interior in the Regency style added by the playwright Edward Knoblock.

This allows you to tailor Worthing to your interests: the holiday apartment serves as a base for days spent cycling and along the promenade, for garden visits or for a cultural route taking in the cinema, museum, memorial and historic architecture. The rail connections also provide additional flexibility for excursions to Brighton, London or the other destinations mentioned.

More destinations

Bolney, Findon, Fernhurst, Faygate, Slinfold, Wiston, Angmering and West Wittering offer further inspiration for planning your trip.

For the higher-level travel overview: West Sussex.