You do not need a car to spend a proper weekend in the High Weald.
From London, the railway takes you straight to Royal Tunbridge Wells. From there, Martins Farm is a short taxi ride into the East Sussex countryside. Once you are here, some of the best parts of the weekend are better explored on foot anyway.
The secret is not trying to recreate London public transport in rural Sussex. Use the train for the long journey, a taxi when it makes sense, and your boots for the interesting bits.
Here is how we would spend two nights at Martins Farm without bringing a car.
Friday: London to Martins Farm
Take the train from London to Tunbridge Wells.
Although there is a station called Frant, we generally recommend getting off at Tunbridge Wells if you are coming to stay with us.
When you arrive, head for the town-side exit, on the Platform 2 side of the station. There is a taxi rank immediately outside and taxis are normally easy to pick up.
From the station, a taxi to Martins Farm is usually around £10. Treat that as a useful local guide rather than a guaranteed fare, as fares can vary.
About ten minutes later, town has given way to the High Weald and you are at the farm.
London → Tunbridge Wells → taxi → Martins Farm.
No hire car required.
A word of warning about Frant station
It is perfectly reasonable to see Frant on the railway map and assume it must be the obvious station for Martins Farm.
It isn’t.
Frant station is at Bells Yew Green, rather than in Frant village itself. More importantly for arriving guests, there is no taxi rank at Frant station.
You can certainly use Frant station, but if you do, arrange a taxi before you arrive.
For most guests coming from London, our advice is simpler:
Get off at Tunbridge Wells and take a taxi from the station.
Saturday morning: stay where you are
There is a temptation with a weekend away to construct an itinerary that resembles a military campaign.
Resist it.
Martins Farm is a 15-acre farmstead in Frant, within the High Weald. Guests at The Oast have the countryside outside the door, so give yourself a morning to enjoy it.
Make breakfast. Take coffee outside. Walk the estate. Read something. Let the dog investigate matters of apparently enormous importance in the hedgerows.
The High Weald is particularly rewarding at walking pace. Its character comes from old lanes and routeways, small fields, woods, farmsteads and villages rather than a succession of enormous visitor attractions.
You’ve come to the countryside.
There is no requirement to immediately leave it.
Saturday afternoon: Tunbridge Wells, then walk home
Later, take a taxi into Royal Tunbridge Wells.
Spend the afternoon around the Pantiles, High Street and Tunbridge Wells Common. Have lunch, browse the shops, stop for coffee, or stay long enough for an early drink.
Then, instead of calling another taxi, walk back to Frant.
This is one of our favourite ways of joining the town and countryside together.
Tunbridge Wells is unusually good for this because the Common reaches remarkably close to the centre of town. The Commons are free to visit, and the network includes both surfaced and unsurfaced paths.
You gradually exchange town for Common, paths, fields and High Weald countryside as you make your way back towards Frant.
And we think this walk is best done Tunbridge Wells to Frant for one compelling piece of route planning.
The pub is at the end.
The Frant to Tunbridge Wells walk
There is a longer 10.6-mile circular walking route from Frant, and roughly half of this provides the basis for the country walk between Frant and Tunbridge Wells. The full RouteYou circuit is currently listed as 10.6 miles with an estimated walking time of 3 hours 48 minutes.
We are not suggesting that you walk the whole 10.6-mile circuit simply to get home from Tunbridge Wells.
Instead, use the relevant section between the town and Frant as your scenic route.
Going the other way, the walk can be picked up from around the back of St Alban’s Church in Frant, eventually bringing you out onto Tunbridge Wells Common.
For guests, however, we prefer doing it backwards:
Tunbridge Wells → Common → High Weald countryside → Frant.
Why?
Keep walking.
The reward for walking in the right direction
Arriving back in Frant brings you conveniently to The George.
Which seems a perfectly reasonable place to stop.
A pint, glass of wine or something to eat feels considerably more deserved after walking back from Tunbridge Wells than it does after stepping out of a taxi.
Afterwards, make the final stretch back towards Martins Farm and The Oast.
You can, of course, do the walk in reverse, starting in Frant and finishing in Tunbridge Wells.
But that puts The George at the beginning.
We rest our case.
A practical note
This is country walking, not an urban promenade.
Conditions change considerably with the seasons. Paths can become wet and muddy, so sensible footwear is strongly recommended.
Use the linked route as your navigation guide and check conditions before setting out rather than relying on this Journal article for turn-by-turn directions.
Sunday: go further into the High Weald by rail
If Saturday demonstrates how easily Tunbridge Wells and Frant can be combined without a car, Sunday gives you the opportunity to use the railway to explore further.
The High Weald National Landscape actively promotes car-free exploration by rail and bus, including countryside walks accessible from railway stations.
One particularly good option is Eridge.
A train to Eridge puts you quickly into the rural High Weald. From the station, the official High Weald guide suggests a circular walk of about 5.5 miles, taking roughly three hours and passing Harrison’s Rocks.
This is precisely the sort of day when travelling by train becomes an advantage rather than a compromise.
There is no car sitting in a distant car park demanding that you eventually find your way back to it.
Arrive. Walk. Eat. Return to the railway.
Or simply don’t go anywhere
There is another perfectly respectable Sunday itinerary.
Stay at Martins Farm.
Have a slow breakfast. Walk around Frant. Find somewhere for Sunday lunch. Return to The Oast. Read the papers. Go home later.
A car-free weekend does not need to become a public-transport endurance challenge to justify itself.
Two nights in the countryside can be quite enough without collecting attractions like fridge magnets.
Coming with a dog?
Yes.
One well-behaved dog is included with a stay at The Oast. If you would like to bring two dogs, ask us before booking and we’ll consider it.
Dogs remain downstairs in The Oast, and the Oast has its own fully enclosed garden.
Travelling by train can work very well with a dog, but check the railway operator’s current rules before setting off.
And remember that countryside walking around Frant means livestock, wildlife, roads, mud and working farmland. Give animals space, use leads where appropriate and follow any instructions on the route.
What you miss by leaving the car at home
It would be silly to pretend a car isn’t useful in the High Weald.
Some of the area’s gardens, vineyards, historic houses, pubs and smaller villages are much easier to reach by road.
If your plan is to visit six places across Kent and East Sussex in two days, bring a car.
But that’s not necessarily the best way to experience this part of the country.
Without one, something interesting happens.
You choose fewer things.
And spend longer doing them.
A walk becomes an afternoon rather than something squeezed between two car parks. Lunch can take as long as lunch takes. Tunbridge Wells becomes somewhere to explore rather than somewhere to pass through.
For a weekend, that can be rather liberating.
Our car-free High Weald weekend
Friday
Train from London to Tunbridge Wells. Leave the station on the town side, Platform 2 side, and pick up a taxi. Allow roughly £10 for the taxi to Martins Farm as a guide. Settle into The Oast. Supper. Stop travelling.
Saturday
Slow morning at Martins Farm. Taxi into Tunbridge Wells. Explore the Pantiles, High Street and Common. Then take the scenic walk back through the countryside towards Frant. Stop at The George. Walk the final stretch back to The Oast.
Sunday
Either use the railway to explore another part of the High Weald, perhaps Eridge and Harrison’s Rocks, or abandon the itinerary entirely and spend another slow day around Frant. Then taxi to Tunbridge Wells and take the train home.
Simple.
What’s on while you’re here
This is the part of this guide we keep changing.
The bones of a car-free High Weald weekend don’t alter very much. The reasons for choosing one particular weekend certainly do.
At the time of this update, Live at The Pantiles continues on Thursday evenings until 3 September 2026 and is free to attend this year. The next event is Hard Lines on Thursday 27 August, from 7pm to 10pm.
The wider local calendar changes constantly, so rather than copying enormous event listings into this article, we’ll keep this section deliberately selective.
We’ll add things that we think could genuinely make a weekend at Martins Farm better: live music, food and wine events, village fairs, gardens, exhibitions, walking events and other worthwhile happenings around Frant, Tunbridge Wells and the High Weald.
And we’ll link to the organisers for current dates and details rather than leave stale information lurking here.
Events last checked: 24 August 2026.
Before you leave London
A little preparation is worthwhile.
Check your train before travelling.
When you reach Tunbridge Wells, use the town-side, Platform 2 side exit for the taxi rank we recommend for the journey to Martins Farm.
If you decide to use Frant station instead, arrange your taxi beforehand because there is no taxi rank there.
Bring proper shoes if you’re planning to walk back from Tunbridge Wells.
Don’t over-plan.
And leave some empty space in the weekend.
The great advantage of getting out of London for 48 hours isn’t discovering how many things you can fit into them.
It’s discovering that you don’t have to.
Plan your stay
The Oast at Martins Farm is in Frant, East Sussex, on the Kent–Sussex border near Royal Tunbridge Wells.
Sleeps four, with one well-behaved dog included and a second considered by prior agreement.
Coming without a car? Get off at Tunbridge Wells and take a taxi from the station.
The pub is at the end.