Outdoor Activities in Littlehampton

The town side. Little Hampton Beach puts toilets, food and Harbour Park within reach of the sand, and at that age being close to things beats scenery every time. Climping Beach is shingle and dunes, which is hard going for short legs and worse for pushchair wheels, and there is far less behind it if something is needed in a hurry.

Harbour Park is the rides-and-noise option right by the seafront. Norfolk Gardens Mini Golf is the low-key alternative and works across a surprisingly wide age range. Out of Bounds has an indoor half to it, so hold it back for a day when the wind coming off the sea makes the beach more effort than pleasure.

On an exposed south-coast beach it does. Sun and wind together will drive a family off the sand long before rain manages it, and shingle gives you nothing to build a shelter against. A windbreak earns its space in the boot here. Out of Bounds and Harbour Park are the two listings with somewhere to duck into when it becomes too much.

It is the reason the town is shaped as it is, and the mouth of it carries more boat traffic than most stretches of this coast. Watching it takes no organising and holds a young child's attention for longer than you would expect. Keep hold of hands near the edge, though — a working river mouth has current, moving boats and hard drops.