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Town and borough in West Sussex, England
Photo: MilborneOne, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Crawley is a bustling town of 119,000 people (2021) in the northern part of West Sussex, on the border with Surrey, in the South East of England. The biggest influence on the town is Gatwick Airport, which many people claiming it to being the 6th-busiest airport in the world.
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There is a little model train Sundays in summer from 3PM, and the Crawley Museum with Stone Age and Bronze Age remains discovered in the area.
The museum contains a multitude of exhibitions about the town of Crawley and its history.
Mostly known and used by dog owners, it has two former hammer ponds and some nice old trees. Really beautiful in autumn and at springtime when the floors are blue with bluebells.
A large area with a mix of lakes, grassy areas and woodlands, with plenty of pleasant walks. Attractions include various gardens, a maze and a nature centre with a range of animals and birds which is well worth a visit. In addition to this, in the Walled Garden there is a community café that serves a wide variety of dishes, light bites and refreshments. The nature centre charges a nominal fee but other attractions are free of charge.
Accessible from Tilgate Park and has miles of paths for walking and mountain biking. There are several signed short downhill mountain biking courses.
Walk or drive the High Street southwards until it becomes Brighton Road, cross the railway, and keep on Brighton Road until to the right turns Goff's Park Road. Follow Goff's Park Road until it ends onto another road and you see in front of you that nice pub, where you can sit outside and enjoy a pint with nice food.
This Indian restaurant serves great food in a pleasant and modern environment, at a reasonable price.
formerly Shin Mai
This Chinese restaurant serves good quality Chinese food. They specialise in sea food, although this is considerably more expensive than the rest of the menu. Best to go earlier in the evening if you haven't booked as it can get busy.
This place is often highly rated among locals as being the best kebab restaurant in the area. The place has a wide variety of burgers and kebabs, with the burgers being served with fresh salad. In the restaurant, there is also a sitting area where you can eat your food.
The place serves highly rated authentic fish & chips among locals. The place is not in the Town Centre, nor does it have a delivery service.
Wetherspoon's pub.
A 10-minute drive or 8-minute train ride from the Gatwick Airport. Parking is available for hotel guests.
The hotel is a no-frills, informal chain hotel with there being competitive and reasonable prices compared to other hotels. The hotel is also not far from the High Street and the Town Centre, where you can explore many of the sights seen in the 'See' and 'Do' sections.
Probably the largest shopping centre between Croydon and Brighton offering the typical selection of bland chain shops you will find on every UK high street.
The rest of the town centre is not too bad for shopping either.
A pedestrianised zone with extensive shopping.
Has quite a few shops with extended opening hours accessible also to the non-flying public.
Has a few small shops, and also a Lidl, Iceland and a large Tesco Extra Supermarket. This area is a 20-minute walk from the centre.
Wal-Mart
Superstore in the town centre.
Superstore near Gatwick Airport.
By train
There are three relevant train stops for Crawley: Crawley station, Gatwick Airport station and Three Bridges station.
By air
Gatwick Airport (LGW), a major international airport and one of the world's busiest, is on the outskirts of Crawley.
By bus
By bus
Local buses run by Metrobus include routes: 10, 20, 100, 281, 291, 400. Fastway services are managed by Metrobus.
By taxi
You are able to find taxis at the main railway stations (Gatwick Airport, Three Bridges, Crawley) and by booking in advance via private hire companies in the area, which include:
By bicycle
Crawley is small enough to reach all ends cycling and in the town centre there are parking facilities.
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