AA Breakdown Cover
Loyalty benefits
5-star car insurance
Enjoy 5-star-rated insurance and access to offers from AA Rewards, which saved our members more than £4.5m in 2010. What's more, many new customers pay £250 or less to insure their car with the AA.
Get a quoteRetrieve a quote
Savings
Whatever you want from your savings, whether you want to set a little something aside for a rainy day or you're planning for the future, we can help you make the most of your savings.
More information
Ski holidays
Severe weather
Follow two long distance trails and travel by cliff railway on this glorious coastal walk.
Distance 5 miles (8km)
Minimum time 2hrs 30min
Ascent/gradient 328ft (100m)
Level of difficulty Medium
Paths Tracks, minor roads and coastal paths
Landscape High ground overlooking coast, with glens revealing layers of sandstone
Suggested map aqua3 OS Explorer 124 Hastings & Bexhill
Start/finish TQ 847116
Dog friendliness Return walk, along coast path, is ideal for dogs off lead
Parking Fairlight Road free car park and picnic site
Public toilets At car park
Write a review of this walk
1 From the car park, go out to the road and cross over to join the waymarked 1066 Country Walk. Follow the wide track down through the trees and turn right. Avoid a turning on the left to Fairlight Glen and keep going along Barley Lane. Pass between the camping and caravan sites, ignoring a turning on the right to Ore. Follow the tarmac road and pass Barley Lane car park. Avoid a path to Harold Road and keep left at the fork, by the sign for Ecclesbourne Lodge. The sea begins to edge into view now and over to the right is a sprawling jumble of rooftops, with rows of terraced houses scattered over the slopes and hillsides. This is residential Hastings.
2 Pass the entrance to Rocklands Holiday Park and then cross the grassy expanse of East Hill by aiming slightly right. Hastings pier and much of the town can be seen down below you, creating an impressive picture. Keep the pier in your sights and follow the footpath as it runs down over a pitch and putt course, passing alongside a small hut. Make for the East Hill cliff railway, the steepest in Britain, and take a ride down to Hastings Old Town. Return to the cliff railway terminus and travel back up to East Hill. Swing right up some steps, avoiding the 1066 Country Walk, and follow the Saxon Shore Way along the southern slopes of East Hill, with the sea on your right. Pass a beacon on your left and keep to the right of the pitch and putt course. Make for a kissing gate and follow the sign for Ecclesbourne Glen.
3 Descend almost to sea level and then climb out of the glen via a flight of steps. On reaching a seat, turn left and follow the path as it heads briefly inland. Walk towards Fairlight Glen, following the signposts and the numbered bollards and when you reach bollard number ten, branch off left towards Barley Lane.
4 Ascend quite steeply between clumps of trees and bracken, making for bollard nine. Don't turn sharp left here, instead go through the kissing gate by the map of the area and follow the often wet and muddy path up to two gates. Cross the grass in front of some part tile-hung cottages and join a concrete farm track. Follow it up to the road and cross over to the car park.
With its timber, net shops, cliff railway and high-sterned fishing boats pulled up on the beach, Hastings Old Town is far removed in both character and appearance from the main town.
The Old Town lies in a valley with several churches, narrow passageways and medieval houses. Steps lead up to cottages built into the hillside. Hemmed in by steep cliffs, the focal point of the Old Town is the High Street. It's not a large area, but there is always lots to see and plenty going on.
The net shops, which stand near the boats, on the shingle beach known as the Stade, are not really shops at all but huts used for storing fishing nets and tackle. The huts, which are intentionally tall and narrow to reduce ground rent, are unique, being found only in Hastings.
The East Hill cliff railway is public transport at its best. The journey is simple, short and straightforward and the views are magnificent. Emerging into the street below, have a look at this quaint corner of the resort.
It might be a bit off the beaten track but the picnic site at Fairlight Road is worth finding. Plenty of people come here simply to relax and picnic but there are many others who use this location as the starting point for a walk in the surrounding countryside or along the coast.
The Ecclesbourne Lodge tea room serves breakfast, lunch and cream tea. There is a restaurant at Underwater World and there are also several pubs in Hastings Old Town, including the Kings Head and the Crown.
On East Hill above Hastings is a beacon, erected in 1988 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Spanish Armada. The original beacon was at nearby North Seat. The hill also marks the site of an Iron Age settlement, established by Celts in about 40 bc. Defended by earth banks and the cliff face, the site occupied a prominent position overlooking a natural harbour.
Make a point of visiting the Fishermens' Museum in the High Street. It illustrates the history and tradition of fishing on this coast over the centuries. In the Middle Ages, Hastings was an important harbour and today fishing is still a major industry here. The town has the largest beach-launched fishing fleet in Europe. Underwater World in Hastings Old Town is well worth a visit too. Here you can walk through a glass tunnel beneath a spectacular 'reef pool' - home to sharks, rays, crabs and starfish. Visit the acre of subterranean tunnels and caverns at the Smugglers Adventure in Hastings Old Town and experience smuggling as it was over 200 years ago.
Driving school
Up to half price sale – from £99pp
