England's Gatwick Airport, south of London, is however more human friendly in its layout than most, and British Hot Air Balloonist and modern day Merchant Adventurer Richard Branson's independent airline Virgin Atlantic flies in and out of there from Boston, Newark, and Orlando, and cut price Ryanair flies out of Gatwick to Ireland, Paris and Venice. So it is my preferred port of entry from the East Coast of USA. and my preferred exit port to anywhere from UK!
An on-time morning arrival of our Virgin Atlantic flight from Boston last May saw my Lady and I through entry formalities and out into the main Arrivals hall with our baggage by 9 am, where a representative of Woods Car Rental was awaiting us by appointment. Before leaving home I had arranged for 14 days rental of a Volkswagen Polo Automatic, (most cars in Uk and Ireland are on manual transmission), from them. Their online rental service program is easy to navigate and their quote of $757 for 14 days with unlimited mileage and insurance was most competitive.
Our goal for our first day was the 1st century Roman Palace at Fishbourne just outside Chichester. This is an ancient and peaceful market town with a superb 11th century Norman and early Gothic cathedral. The town was founded by the Romans as Novio Magus and its Roman walls surrounding the old town are still largely intact.
Chichester is a short drive southwest of Gatwick on the West Sussex Channel coast. To get there we passed through the South Downs, once ancient mountains of chalk upheaval, and now worn down into gentle slopes.In early medieval times the rounded slopes of the Downs were covered in oak forest, but centuries of cutting to provide oaken timbers for both houses and the Naval fleets of England have left them all but bare of trees. With breathtaking views of the coast to the south and inland countryside to the north, the Downs are a paradise for walkers and horse riders
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