Looking to explore more of England? In this post I'll share our itinerary for a day trip to Sussex (East Sussex and West Sussex), visiting Rye, Battle and Hastings. This day trip from London to Sussex is a great idea to spend a weekend in a beautiful town, Rye and on the beach at Hastings, and learn a bit of history at Battle, where the famous Battle of Hastings took place! For us, it was a road trip in Sussex; however, you can also visit these places by train!
Pondering about where to stay during your trip to East Sussex? You can opt for some of the best Hotels in East Sussex at eastsussex-uk.com.
If you're new to this blog, hi, I'm Liza. I love exploring the UK one weekend at a time. On Tripsget, I write about combining a full-time job in London with travel and focus a lot on weekend trips to Europe. As Europe is still pretty much closed, my partner and I have decided to explore more of the UK, in particular some places we've wanted to go to for a long time but haven't had the chance. If you're interested in my other articles about travelling in the UK, head here!
And if your itinerary includes spending some leisure time at Hastings, finding a suitable place to stay shouldn't be a concern. You can browse through the Hastings Hotels at tophotels.com.
One of my personal favorites is The Grosvenor Guest House in Hastings. Its cozy atmosphere and welcoming hosts make it a perfect selection for any traveler!
Here's what you'll see in this article:
How to get to Sussex (Rye and Hastings) from London by train and car
If you're wondering how to get to Rye and Hastings from London, it couldn't be easier! A train will take you to Rye in 1 hour 15 minutes, with a short interchange at Ashford. From Rye, you can take a train to Hastings, and it only takes 18 minutes! There is also a direct train from Hastings to London. Visiting Battle can be a bit of a problem, but you can get on a train to Battle from Hastings if you wish. You can check train train fares and availability here.
As I mentioned just at the start of the article, this day trip to Sussex from London was actually a short road trip for us. As we bought a car a few months ago, we decided to drive there. If you want to hire a car, I would recommend using Rentalcars.com. It's where we always rent before buying our own car.
Sussex day trip from London: Rye, Battle and Hastings
Visit Rye - the most beautiful town in Sussex
Our first destination in Sussex was Rye, a beautiful medieval town. It took us about 2 hours to get there from London, and it was a pleasant drive. If you live near a station, it might be quicker to get there by train!
Rye is a busy and touristy place. We expected it to be tiny, almost like a village, but it's not. There's lots to do in Rye, and some people even stay overnight. As we only had about 3 hours in Rye, we walked around the town centre, explored Rye's oldest pubs, the Mermaid Inn and the Old Bell Inn (two of the pubs that were connected to smugglers & had secret underground passages they used); and took lots of photos on Mermaid Street - the prettiest street in Rye! We also explored Rye's only surviving medieval gateway and had an early lunch in one of Rye's most famous tearooms - Cobbles Tearoom.
As we unfortunately only had a few hours to spend in Rye, we had to go. After lunch, we decided to wander around for about 45 minutes, discovering a beautiful historic gateway, some fantastic interior shops and a few more restaurants, then made our way to Battle. I loved Rye, and in my opinion it's the most beautiful town in Sussex!
Camber Sands
There's another beautiful spot just outside Rye - it's called Camber Sands, and it's one of the most beautiful beaches in the south of England. If you get to Rye early enough and notice that you still have time, make sure you visit Camber Sands too!
Battle
Our next stop was Battle - a famous town about 20 minutes' drive from Rye. Battle is home to the famous Battle Abbey. Its full name is 1066 Battle of Hastings, Abbey and Battlefield and I guess from the name you can guess what famous event took place there. Long story short, Norman King William (the Conqueror) defeated King Harold and took control of England. During the Conquest, he committed a great massacre and was ordered to build this abbey by the Pope as part of his atonement.
Battle Abbey is an English Heritage Site, and you need to buy tickets to visit! You can buy them on site or online here.
Hastings
Finally, the last stop on our day trip to East & West Sussex was Hastings. Hastings is a coastal town relatively close to the more famous Brighton. Hastings had a bad reputation a few years ago; however, it has changed a little in recent years. Hastings' main attraction is its recently rebuilt pier, which is now home to many colourful little stalls and a large open-air bar with a DJ slot! I'd say even the bar alone is worth a trip to Hastings on a sunny day.
Like pretty much any coastal town in England, Hasting has a wide variety of fish and chip shops. Make sure you pick the one with the longest queue (the locals know which chippy is the best) and get a portion of your favourite fish & chips. However, you need to keep an eye on your food, as rogue seagulls can steal your lunch (or dinner) at any time!
I recommend walking up to Hastings Castle - you can see a lovely panorama of the whole town! Also, if you're looking for exciting things to do in Hastings, the Hastings Contemporary Museum is a great place to go!
Summary of our Sussex day trip: the itinerary
To sum up, I really enjoyed our day trip to Sussex and really wanted to share with you our itinerary for visiting Rye, Battle and Hastings! If you're only seeing one place, I'd recommend Rye; however, you can certainly have a similar itinerary if you have a car.
I also recommend watching a sunset in Hastings if you've been lucky enough to visit the town on a sunny day! The sunsets in Hastings are stunning and I would recommend staying there to see it if you get the chance!
