Planning your visit to Bedgebury

 

Open every day except Christmas. CURRENT OPENING HOURS - 8am to 8pm. (For other times of year please see below).

Parking/admission charges (from 1st April 2008) -  £7.50 per car, £20 per minibus, £40 per coach (a Concessions Scheme is available - please call 01580 879820 for details).  Please note that the Pay & Display machines only take coins. Unlimited parking with Friends Membership from £40.

NEW EASIER WAY TO PAY FOR PARKING
Starting on 4th July, Pay by Phone Parking is a quick and secure way to pay for parking at Forestry Commission sites using your mobile phone. Please call 0844 844 9997 and follow the instructions.
Your contribution to the cost of managing the nation's woodlands and forests is vitally important. Every penny raised from parking charges at Forestry Commission sites is reinvested into their management, so this new system has an important part to play in ensuring that parking revenue is collected.

Bedgebury is an outdoor site - please wear suitable clothing and footwear. The Pinetum may close in extreme weather. Please call 01580 879820 or check with the local Met Office.   Dogs are welcome, but must be kept on a lead in the Pinetum.

Directions to Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest

Click on map for larger version

Bedgebury is close to the Kent/East Sussex border, 2 miles north of Flimwell and within an hour’s travel from SE London, Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, Sevenoaks, Ashford, Hastings and Eastbourne.

From London leave the M25 at junction 5 and join the A21 southbound towards Hastings. Bedgebury is signposted off the A21 on the B2079, approximately 12 miles southeast of Tunbridge Wells and 16 miles northwest of Hastings.  From the north and east, take the A262 to Goudhurst, then follow signs to Bedgebury.

Satelite Navigation

The Post Code is TN17 2SJ -  however please be cautious when using Sat Nav.  The OS Grid Reference for Bedgebury's Visitor Centre is TQ 715 332 (The co- ordinates are X = 571576 and Y = 13328). Bedgebury is covered by OS Landranger 1:50,000 map sheet no.188 and Explorer 1:25,000 map 136.

Nearest railway stations 

Etchingham (on the Hastings line from Charing Cross or London Bridge) is the closest station to  Bedgebury.  It's about a 30 minute cycle ride up the A21 (there is a footpath along the edge of the northbound carriageway).  Alternatively, Tunbridge Wells, Frant and Wadhurst (on the Hastings line) and Staplehurst and Marden (on the Ashford line) are also nearby.  Please check www.nationalrail.co.uk.

Nearest Bus Stop
 
Flimwell Corner Farm  (near the Flimwell crossroad).  254 (Tunbridge Wells to Hawkhurst service).
Please check www.travelsoutheast.org.uk

The new Visitor Centre and car park give easy access to both the National Pinetum and Forest. 

BBQs 

Due to the importance of the tree collection at Bedgebury, we do not allow BBQs.  Picnickers, however are very welcome (Bedgebury was recently voted Best Picnic Site in the South)

Opening Hours (2008):

August             8am - 8pm

September       8am - 6pm

October            8am - 5pm

November         8am - 5pm

December         8am - 4pm

Please follow the Forest Code:

• Guard against all risks of fire
• Protect and respect wildlife, plants and trees
• Keep dogs under control
• Take your litter home
• Make no unnecessary noise
• Take only memories home

Please  show consideration for other visitors at all times and be alert to the presence of cyclists, horse riders, forest operations etc on tracks around the forest.  Thank you