Ouse Valley Viaduct Sarah Latham

If you’ve been on Instagram or TikTok recently, you’ll likely to have come across the ultra-Instagrammable Ouse Valley Viaduct. Located in West Sussex, this unsuspecting train bridge is host to an incredible illusion of infinity. The elegant structure of this 1830’s viaduct is, not only a photographer’s dream, but a great place to visit when exploring South East England and one of the best day trips from London. Picture yourself here, read on to find out how to get to the Ouse Valley Viaduct.

Ouse Valley Viaduct Sarah Latham

Where is the Ouse Valley Viaduct?

The Ouse Valley Viaduct can be found between Balcombe and Haywards Heath in West Sussex (Google Maps location here). It is an approximate 90 minute drive from Central London, which is obviously heavily reliant on traffic and road conditions (Google Maps directions here) and an approximate 35 minute drive from Brighton (Google Maps directions here).

Ouse Valley Viaduct Sarah Latham

How to get to the Ouse Valley Viaduct: By Car

My friend, Jordan, and I visited the Ouse Valley Viaduct as a stop on the way to Canterbury and therefore had a car. When we arrived in the area, we initially parked at the Ardingly Reservoir Car Park, as we had been told that was the best place to park to walk down to the viaduct. However, unfortunately, we hadn’t looked up how to get to the viaduct from this carpark and when we arrived both of our phones (we were both with Vodafone/Voxi) had no signal. If you are going to park here and walk, I’d highly recommend of looking up instructions beforehand to not end up in the same situation as us. As we didn’t know how to get there and couldn’t see a map or sign explaining it, we choose to drive back where we had come in the general direction of the Ouse Valley Viaduct as pinged on Google Maps. This ended up being very easy and took us almost directly to the viaduct.

Ouse Valley Viaduct Sarah Latham

We drove up Borde Hill Lane until we saw the viaduct and parked on the side of the road. From what we could see, this looked to be a common car stopping area; however, I can imagine this would get very busy in the summer and weekends so there may not always be space.

Road
Entrance to the public footpath across the road. The red sign specifies no drones in the area.

From here we crossed the road and onto the public footpath towards the viaduct.

Ouse Valley Viaduct Sarah Latham

How to get to the Ouse Valley Viaduct: By Train

As we didn’t visit the Ouse Valley Viaduct by train I can’t provide a personal experience on how to reach this spot by train. However, Balcombe Train Station is a 45 minute walk from this spot. If you’re without a car and willing to visit, getting a train to Balcombe Station may be an option for you. You can find more information about public transport to Ouse Valley Viaduct here.

Ouse Valley Viaduct Sarah Latham

To Keep in Mind

When we visited (Autumn, 2021) the path and surrounding area was very muddy. There are signs at the start of the public footpath to the viaduct that state drones are banned in the area. We visited on a Monday around 10am and were lucky enough to have the place to ourselves, with only one other couple arriving just as we were ready to leave. We imagine on weekends and in summer this would be quite different so if you can visit on a weekday or outside of peak season, I imagine you’re more likely to get the place to yourself.

Ouse Valley Viaduct Sarah Latham

Given that this viaduct really is just a long train bridge, it’s quite impressive how astounding the view from below is. We stopped here on our way to Canterbury. You can read about our stay in Canterbury here: Canterbury Bed & Breakfasts: The Black Horse Inn.

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