The Voice of Independent Accommodation Providers

Visit Hastings East Sussex and the surrounding villages and stay in B&B, hotel or holiday accommodation accommodation provided by BedPosts members.

Hastings is a modern tourist resort which retains, at its eastern end, much of the character of its past as a fishing port and original member of the Cinque Ports. A warren of narrow streets, timbered houses and red-tiled cottages leads down to the harbour area. A lift mounts the cliff face to the ruins of Hastings castle which was built in the 13^th century.

To the west is the centre of Hastings, mid-Victorian at heart, but with a number of unpretentious Regency terraces, good modern shops and an attractive cricket ground set right in the town centre. Further west still is St Leonards, laid out in the early 19^th century by James Burton (his son, Decimus Burton, designed the Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner in London) and still mainly a residential area with small hotels and boarding houses. A continuous parade stretches for more than 3 miles along the sea-front, with every possible holiday amenity. For long stretches the parade has two tiers, with a covered underwalk beside the beach and underground car parks behind it.

St Clement's Caves, 3 acres in extent and used for centuries by smugglers, are entered near the castle. Hastings Museum and Art Gallery houses a good collection of Sussex ironwork. On display in the Town Hall throughout the year is the Hastings Embroidery, a modern “Bayeux Tapestry” depicting 81 scenes from British history from the Battle of Hastings in 1066 to the present day. The Fishermen's Museum in the Old Town includes the last of the Hastings luggers built for sail. There are splendid cliff walks east of Hastings, with excellent cliff views from East Hill, Ecclesbourne Glen, Fairlight Glen and the Fire Hillsiso called because of the yellow blaze of gorse which covers them in the spring.