Battle grew up around the abbey built on the site of the 1066 Battle of Hastings, and is a short drive from Hastings, Bexhill and Bodiam Castle.
Image: English HeritageThe place where the Battle of Hastings was fought in 1066, with the abbey William the Conqueror built on the spot where Harold is said to have fallen. Walk the battlefield with an audio tour, climb the gatehouse for views and finish at the playground by the café.
Image: De La Warr PavilionA Grade I listed 1930s modernist pavilion on Bexhill seafront that works as a free contemporary art gallery, live music and comedy venue, and cafe with sea views. Exhibitions change through the year.
Image: Hastings Museum and Art GalleryA free museum at John's Place holding fine art, local history and world cultures collections, alongside changing exhibitions. Its best-known room is the richly carved Durbar Hall.
Photo: Alexis Markwick, CC0A traditional volunteer-run town museum in Egerton Park, just behind the seafront clock tower. Collections run from dinosaur footprints and local archaeology to fashion, the De La Warr Pavilion and Bexhill's motor racing heritage.
Photo: Poliphilo, CC0A Victorian park just back from Bexhill seafront, laid out around lakes in the late 1800s and holder of a Green Flag award. Families come for the play zone, the lake and the refreshment kiosk, and Bexhill Museum is right next to it.
Image: Smugglers AdventureAn atmospheric tour through more than an acre of St Clement's Caves under Hastings' West Hill, telling the story of the area's smuggling gangs. Life-sized scenes, interactive exhibits and sound effects bring 18th-century life underground to life.
Image: Visit 1066 Country (Hastings Borough Council)A short, steep cliff railway climbing from Hastings Old Town to the clifftop at East Hill. At the top, Hastings Country Park opens out with sweeping coastal views, and at the bottom you are beside the beach-launched fishing fleet.
Photo: Kreepin Deth, CC BY-SA 3.0The ruins of a Norman castle on the West Hill cliff above Hastings, with wide views over the Old Town, the sea and along the coast. Ride up on the Victorian West Hill Cliff Railway from George Street or walk up from the station.
Image: National TrustA moated 14th-century castle in the Rother valley that looks exactly like a child's drawing of a castle. Inside the walls it is an open ruin, so you can climb the towers and explore the courtyard, then walk the grounds and parkland around the moat.
Image: Hastings AquariumAn aquarium on the seafront at Rock-a-Nore with an underwater tunnel, an ocean tank with catsharks and a jungle area. Talks and feeds run through the day, and there is a cafe on site.
Image: Hastings ContemporaryA contemporary art gallery on the seafront at the Stade, next to Rock-a-Nore, showing changing exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. Its coquina restaurant and cafe has panoramic views.
Image: National TrustRudyard Kipling's 17th-century Jacobean home, with his study and rooms kept much as he left them. Outside there is a quiet garden, a working watermill he wrote about and 300 acres of High Weald countryside to walk.
Image: Herstmonceux Castle EstateA 15th-century moated brick castle set in formal gardens and woodland, now the UK campus of a Canadian university. The grounds and gardens are open year round, and you can see inside the castle on a guided tour.
Image: Observatory Science Centre & MuseumA hands-on science centre set among the green telescope domes of the former Royal Observatory at Herstmonceux. Children can try more than 100 interactive exhibits indoors and out, then see the historic telescopes that once mapped the night sky.
Image: Great DixterA medieval timber-framed house near Northiam surrounded by a bold, experimental garden with a long season. The nursery, started by Christopher Lloyd in 1954, sells plants raised from the garden.
Image: English HeritageBattle Abbey hosts a Great Pumpkin Party through half-term, with storytelling, spooky games, a themed trail and a seasonal selfie spot across the site where the Battle of Hastings was fought. Children who come in costume can enter the daily fancy dress competition.
Image: Battel Bonfire BoyesBattel Bonfire Boyes run one of the oldest bonfire celebrations in Sussex, starting with a maroon at dawn and ending with a torch-lit procession, bonfire and fireworks. The daytime arrival of the Oldest Guy in the World on Abbey Green is a gentler way to see it.
Image: Bannatyne Hotel HastingsThe Baby Fayre Hastings is a one-day event on 18 October 2026 at the Bannatyne Hotel Hastings, TN38 8EA. It brings together small local businesses for new and expectant parents and families with young children. Times are on the event page, and booking is required through Eventbrite.
Image: Robertsbridge Bonfire SocietyRobertsbridge Bonfire Society's night closes the Sussex bonfire calendar in the High Weald, on Saturday 21 November 2026. The society publishes its procession and fireworks timings on its website.
Image: The Masonic Hall St LeonardsA Christmas gift market held in aid of Friends of the Conquest Hospital, at The Masonic Hall in St Leonards-on-Sea on 13 December 2026. Stalls sell home made gifts and Santa visits the event, making it suitable for families and anyone looking for seasonal presents. Times are listed on the event page.
Image: DLWP, The De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, East SussexA theatre show from the Science Museum, made with the UK Space Agency, that takes the audience on a tour of the solar system. Expect a fly-by of the Sun, storms on Jupiter and the rings of Saturn.
Image: Hastings Museum and Art GalleryAn audio tour designed for disabled visitors, available at Hastings Museum and Art Gallery throughout 2026. Times are listed on the event page. The tour suits disabled visitors and anyone else wanting to explore the museum with audio guidance.
Image: Hastings Museum and Art GalleryA taster session for home-educated children aged 8 to 16 at Hastings Museum & Art Gallery on 2 February 2027, from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM. Children meet the tutor, learn about the full 10-week photography course and its equipment, and try a practical studio portrait activity. The full course runs from March to June 2027 and ends with an exhibition at the museum on 15 June 2027.
Image: Oscar's on the SquareA winter solstice celebration in St Leonards-on-Sea on 19 December 2026, with a workshop to make paper lanterns in memory of loved ones. The event ends with a procession and a fire ceremony on the beach. It suits families and friends, and booking is required through the event page.
Image: English HeritageThe place where the Battle of Hastings was fought in 1066, with the abbey William the Conqueror built on the spot where Harold is said to have fallen. Walk the battlefield with an audio tour, climb the gatehouse for views and finish at the playground by the café.
Image: De La Warr PavilionA Grade I listed 1930s modernist pavilion on Bexhill seafront that works as a free contemporary art gallery, live music and comedy venue, and cafe with sea views. Exhibitions change through the year.
Image: Hastings Museum and Art GalleryA free museum at John's Place holding fine art, local history and world cultures collections, alongside changing exhibitions. Its best-known room is the richly carved Durbar Hall.
Photo: Alexis Markwick, CC0A traditional volunteer-run town museum in Egerton Park, just behind the seafront clock tower. Collections run from dinosaur footprints and local archaeology to fashion, the De La Warr Pavilion and Bexhill's motor racing heritage.
Image: Smugglers AdventureAn atmospheric tour through more than an acre of St Clement's Caves under Hastings' West Hill, telling the story of the area's smuggling gangs. Life-sized scenes, interactive exhibits and sound effects bring 18th-century life underground to life.
Image: Hastings AquariumAn aquarium on the seafront at Rock-a-Nore with an underwater tunnel, an ocean tank with catsharks and a jungle area. Talks and feeds run through the day, and there is a cafe on site.
Image: De La Warr PavilionA Grade I listed 1930s modernist pavilion on Bexhill seafront that works as a free contemporary art gallery, live music and comedy venue, and cafe with sea views. Exhibitions change through the year.
Image: Hastings Museum and Art GalleryA free museum at John's Place holding fine art, local history and world cultures collections, alongside changing exhibitions. Its best-known room is the richly carved Durbar Hall.
Photo: Poliphilo, CC0A Victorian park just back from Bexhill seafront, laid out around lakes in the late 1800s and holder of a Green Flag award. Families come for the play zone, the lake and the refreshment kiosk, and Bexhill Museum is right next to it.
Image: Pashley Manor GardensPashley Manor Gardens covers 11 acres on the Sussex and Kent border near Ticehurst, laid out around a Grade I listed house. Expect deep herbaceous borders, a walled garden, a kitchen garden, a rose walk and seasonal displays of tulips, roses and dahlias, with sculpture and art shown through the summer. The café terrace looks over the garden.
