Things to Do Near Battle and Hastings, East Sussex
No matter what you enjoy, there’s plenty of things to do near Battle and Hastings. Our location is ideal to explore both locations and the surrounding area.
The historic town of Battle is just 7 minutes away or 1 stop on the train. You can visit Battle Abbey and walk around the battlefield learning about the history and battle of 1066. The town itself is a pleasure to wander around, all the shops are local without a chain insight. Some highlights:
- Spoilt Rotten for sweets and icecream including vegan icecream.
- Bluebells Tearooms and Burtons Tearooms are popular lunchtime haunts.
- French’s Fishmonger will deliver your wet fish order to the park and The Greener Grocer has fresh local fruit and vegetables.
- Taylors Fish and Chips is great for take-aways.
- Trinity, The Sweet Olive, Chequers Inn, and The Abbey Hotel are all great places to eat.
Battle is our closest town and you will find a Co-op and a small Tesco Express and Esso petrol station there too.
Hastings has everything the British seaside should have. The Pier always has lots going on, and there are 3 crazy golf games to play, plus trampolines and fairground rides.
There is also some history; there are two funiculars. The West Hill Railway takes you to Hastings Castle and The Smugglers Adventure and, of course, great views. This funicular has the original victorian carriages. Its lower station is in George Street, the heart of Hasting’s Old Town, and the place to find great eateries and boutique local shops. Our favorites include Monellis for Italian, Seed for Tapas, Boulevard Bookshop for Thai, and The Cornish Bakery for a pastie to go!
The East Hill Railway takes you up to Hastings Country Park, where you can enjoy fantastic views and lovely walks. Its lower station is in Rock-a-Nore, where you find the traditional fisherman’s huts selling the day’s catch. The beach is home to the largest beach launched fleet and makes for some great photos. The area is also home to The Shipwreck Museum, The Fishermans Museum, and The Bluereef Aquarium.
Cooden Beach and Normans Bay are virtually untouched by tourism, great for walking, and dog friendly.
Bexhill-on-Sea has a nice promenade and plenty of places to eat.
Hasting Country Park is dog friendly and includes a lot of coastline stretching to the east towards Rye Harbour Nature Reserve and Camber Sands which is the closest sandy beach.
There’s lots to do in the area:
Stand Up Paddleboarding is possible in a few places locally. Epic Life Bodiam have paddleboards, kayaks, and canoes to hire and offer sessions with an instructor too. Sussex Paddle Board Hire offers inflatable boards for hire with a pump – you don’t need a roof rack – and you can take them anywhere you like. They even have some suggestions for you too.
There’s a GO APE at Bedgebury for any would-be monkeys and Bewl Water has an AquaPark with inflatable fun. The Observatory Science Centre brings astronomy down to earth.
Our closest farm shop is Great Park Farm, but Tibbs Farm offers PYO on a range of fruit and berries, an excellent maze, and a wonderful cafe with superb views. And for something different, Fisherwood Farm offers various alpaca experiences including afternoon tea with them.
There’s plenty of walking opportunities around us.
The most popular walk for our guests is The Crowhurst Walk, which starts at Crowhurst train station, just 1km from us. The 5.5km loop takes you to the ancient yew tree, alongside the ruins of Crowhurst Manor, and into Forewood RSPB Nature Reserve.
The 1066 Country Walk is a 31-mile route split into 6 parts. The guide can be downloaded here.
- Two of the 6 parts start and end in Battle which means they’re easy to explore from the park.
- It has a Bexhill connection which is an 8km walk to the seafront. From Bexhill to West St Leonards is a further 5km where you can hop on a train back to Crowhurst.
Visit 1066 Country have a further nine walks that are in and around Battle. Take a look here.
East Sussex County Council has many more suggestions on their website with routes in easy-to-download format.
If you’re happy to make it up as you go along look for OS Explorer Map 124 of OS Landrange 199.
This area is steeped in history.
- Battle Abbey and the 1066 Battlefield are just minutes away by car. The site is dog friendly and caters to children very well too.
- Like Battle Abbey, Pevensey Castle is an English Heritage property and also great fun for kids with their dungeon.
- Bodiam Castle is small but stunning as it’s encircled by a moat. It’s a National Trust site with a very large car park. There’s great walking along the River Rother straight from the car park too plus there’s a tea room on site and a pub across the road.
- Herstmonceux Castle is a brick-built castle dating back to the 15th century with impressive gardens. Next door is The Observatory Science Centre housed in the astronomical observatory.
Bluebell Coppice Park is proud to belong to 1066 Country. It’s such a great region to visit and we couldn’t possibly hope to cover it all on our site. If you want to know more the Visit 1066 Country Website has information on events and things to do