Hastings and the Battle of 1066

Published 28 September 2026 · By the Guide to London editorial team · Editor: Terje Moy

Southeastern runs direct from London Charing Cross to Hastings in 1 hour 32 minutes on the faster trains and 1 hour 44 on the rest, twice an hour, and a Super Off-Peak Day Return was £38.80 in late September 2026. Battle, where the battle of 1066 was actually fought, is one stop back up the same line: 13 minutes from Hastings, £5.90 return, or 1 hour 18 minutes direct from London. Doing both in one day works, and it is the version of this trip we would recommend.

Hastings is a working fishing town with a Victorian resort bolted onto the side of it. The boats are still winched up onto the shingle because there is no harbour, and the black tarred net sheds behind them are the best-known thing on the East Sussex coast. Battle, six miles inland, is a small town built around the abbey that William the Conqueror founded on the ground where Harold's army was destroyed. The battle of 1066 did not happen in Hastings, which is the first thing to know.

Our guide to Rye and Camber Sands covers the next town east along this coast, and our round-up of the seaside in a day from London ranks the beaches. This page is about the pair: the trains, the abbey, and the two cliff railways that make Hastings worth the extra hour.

The ticket, and the trap at St Pancras

The cheap flexible ticket for this trip is the Super Off-Peak Day Return, at £38.80 to Hastings. It comes with a route restriction printed on it: not valid on the Southeastern high-speed services between St Pancras, Stratford, Ebbsfleet, Gravesend and Ashford. Hastings can be reached that way, via Ashford, but not on this fare.

So travel from Charing Cross, Waterloo East or London Bridge, which is also the faster route. Off-peak validity generally starts with trains leaving after 09:30 on weekdays and applies all day at weekends and on bank holidays. Advance singles on the direct trains were £14.40 to £16.50 each when we looked, so two of them can undercut the return if you are willing to be tied to named departures. Our guide to buying British train tickets explains which is the false economy.

Children aged 5 to 15 get 50% off Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak fares, and any National Railcard gives an adult a third off; see railcards worth buying as a visitor.

Battle Abbey: what you actually see

English Heritage runs the site as 1066 Battle of Hastings, Abbey and Battlefield. It has three parts: the abbey ruins and the standing gatehouse on the High Street, a visitor centre, and the battlefield itself, walked on a marked route with an audio guide.

Be clear about what the battlefield is. It is a sloping field with a hedge, an orchard and some sheep. The point is the ground: you stand where the English shield wall stood on the ridge and look down the slope the Norman cavalry had to come up, and the whole tactical argument of the day becomes obvious in about thirty seconds. Allow two hours, or three with the abbey ruins and the exhibition. Prices depend on the day and on whether you add English Heritage's optional donation. Booked online without the donation, an adult pays £13.85 on an off-peak day, £15.38 on a standard day and £17.00 at peak; a child aged 5 to 17 pays £7.65 on a standard day; and a family of two adults and up to three children pays £38.59. At the gate the same standard adult ticket is £18.10 and the family ticket £45.40. Weekdays from late September are priced as off-peak and Saturdays as standard, so a Tuesday visit is genuinely cheaper than a Saturday one.

Getting from Battle station to the abbey

Battle station is at the bottom of the town and the abbey is at the top of the High Street: about a quarter of an hour on foot, uphill the whole way, with the gatehouse the large stone building you cannot miss at the top. National Rail rates the station step-free category B3, meaning some step-free access to the platforms but possibly in one direction only, with no lifts. There are toilets, and taxis wait outside, which is the sensible answer if the hill is a problem.

Hastings: the two cliff railways

Hastings is built in a gap between two hills, and the borough council runs a funicular railway up each of them. They are the best value in the town and the easiest way to understand its shape.

The East Hill Lift, at the far end of Rock-a-Nore Road beyond the fishing quarter, opened in August 1902 and is the steepest funicular railway in the United Kingdom. It has step-free access with room for a wheelchair or a pushchair, though not a larger mobility scooter, and dogs are welcome. At the top you are on the edge of Hastings Country Park, looking straight down on the fleet. The West Hill Lift, reached from George Street in the Old Town, is older still, from 1891, and runs its original wooden Victorian carriages through a tunnel cut into the hill; because of that design it is not wheelchair accessible and has limited room for a pushchair. It comes out beside the ruins of Hastings Castle.

A family ticket covers up to two adults and three children. The important line in that table is the last one: from 1 October the East Hill Lift runs only at weekends, while the West Hill Lift keeps going every day. If you arrive on a Tuesday in November and want a funicular, it has to be the West Hill.

The Stade, the net shops and the fish

The Stade is the shingle beach where the fleet lands, and Hastings Borough Council calls it Europe's largest beach-launched fishing fleet. That explains everything around it: boats winched up the stones because there has never been a harbour, and tall black tarred net shops built upwards rather than outwards because ground rent on the beach was charged by area.

Along Rock-a-Nore Road the fish market buildings hold a working fishmonger at number 3 and a restaurant above the market, both rated five at their last inspections in 2025 and 2024; the seafood restaurant at number 1 was rated five in January 2026 and is the long-standing choice for a proper lunch. The small counter at number 7 sells jellied eels, which our page on pie, mash and jellied eels explains, and our guide to fish and chips in London covers the fried version.

Two free museums sit on the same short road. The Shipwreck Museum opens every day from 10:30 to 17:00, charges nothing and is wheelchair accessible. And the borough's own Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, at John's Place off Bohemia Road nearer the town centre, is free too, open Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 to 17:00 and Sunday 11:00 to 16:30.

Hastings Contemporary, and what it costs

The town's serious gallery sits on the beach beside the net shops, in a black-tiled building that argues with them. Hastings Contemporary opens Wednesday to Sunday and on bank holidays, 11:00 to 17:00, with last entry at 16:30; on Mondays and Tuesdays it takes school groups only. An adult ticket is £12.50 with the optional donation or £11.00 without, concessions are £6.25 or £5.50, and visitors under 18 go free in groups of up to four.

The ticket is valid all day, so you can go in, walk the beach and come back. The building is step-free with a lift to both floors, two wheelchairs can be borrowed if you say so when you book, and its café is open to anyone without an exhibition ticket.

Putting the day together

The order that works is Battle first, Hastings second. Take a morning train, get off at Battle, walk up the hill, do the abbey and the battlefield, walk back down and take the next train the remaining thirteen minutes to Hastings. That leaves the afternoon for the Old Town, a cliff railway and something to eat by the boats, and you come home from Hastings rather than from a small station with an hourly service. Do it the other way round and you risk arriving at Battle in the early afternoon, with the abbey closing at 16:00 for half the year.

Hastings station is rated step-free category A by National Rail, with step-free access to all platforms and lifts, although the lifts between platforms 1 and 2 and the footbridge were listed as out of order when we checked at the end of September 2026. Southeastern also introduces its autumn timetable on 12 October 2026, when some trains are retimed slightly earlier, so check your return before you settle into a second coffee. For the London end, see our guides to London's main railway stations and step-free transport in London.

Before or after: the Bayeux Tapestry is in London

There is an unusual reason to do this trip in the next few months. The Bayeux Tapestry, the eleventh-century embroidery that tells the story of the invasion and the battle, is on show at the British Museum until 11 July 2027. Seeing the Norman version of events in Bloomsbury and then standing on the slope at Battle is the best pairing of a London exhibition and a day trip currently available.

For more of this coast, Eastbourne and Beachy Head lie west with the Seven Sisters between; Dover Castle is the other great fortress within reach, the cheapest day trips show where this one sits on price, and the full list is under day trips from London.

Frequently asked questions

Was the battle of Hastings fought in Hastings?

No. It was fought on 14 October 1066 near the village now called Battle, about six miles inland, where William the Conqueror later founded an abbey on the site. Hastings was the port where the Norman fleet landed and where the army camped. The two places are 13 minutes apart by train.

How long does the train take from London to Hastings?

One hour 32 minutes on the faster Southeastern services from Charing Cross, or 1 hour 44 minutes on the others, with two trains an hour and no change. Trains also run from Waterloo East, London Bridge and Victoria. Battle, one stop before Hastings, is 1 hour 18 minutes direct.

How much does Battle Abbey cost?

Booked online without English Heritage's optional donation, an adult pays £13.85 on an off-peak day, £15.38 on a standard day or £17.00 at peak, and a family of two adults and up to three children pays £38.59 (September 2026). At the gate the standard adult price is £18.10. English Heritage members go free.

Can I use my Oyster or contactless card to Hastings?

No. Hastings and Battle are far outside the area where pay as you go works at the barriers, so buy a ticket. A Super Off-Peak Day Return to Hastings was £38.80 in September 2026, and it is not valid on the Southeastern high-speed route from St Pancras.

Sources

• National Rail Enquiries - London Charing Cross to Hastings, times and fares (checked September 2026)
• National Rail Enquiries - Battle station, step-free access and facilities (checked September 2026)
• National Rail Enquiries - Hastings station, step-free access and facilities (checked September 2026)
• National Rail Enquiries - Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak tickets and discounts (checked September 2026)
• English Heritage - 1066 Battle of Hastings, Abbey and Battlefield: prices and opening times (checked September 2026)
• Hastings Borough Council - East Hill and West Hill cliff railways (checked September 2026)
• Hastings Museum and Art Gallery (Hastings Borough Council) - opening times and admission (checked September 2026)
• Food Standards Agency - food hygiene ratings search (checked September 2026; used to confirm the businesses named here and to exclude any rated below 3)