Visiting Battle of Hastings

Here is a link to a pricey private tour, but it could be a good value for money. I have no personal knowledge of this tour or the company.

https://yeoldeenglandtours.co.uk/our-tours-2/day-tours-from-london/1066-the-battle-of-hastings/

Note this tour is offered by Viator. Viator is a consolidated or third party seller of tours. Viator is not operating the tour.

We have taken several Viator tours and never had a bad one. It is better to book directly with a local tour, but sometimes it is not easy to find the local tours. I looked very hard on the internet for tours in Japan, but could never find the tours that we booked with Viator.
Also, I have found the we usually don't pay much if any more by booking with Viator.

Also, some foreign tours have made us pay in cash in the local currency and don't allow booking over the internet. Another advantage that Viator has.

English Heritage usually lists public transportation options to their sites on their website. You ought to be able to get pretty close by public transportation. Google “English Heritage Battle Abbey” and look under “Plan your visit”

We spent a few hours there. My boys wanted to analyze every angle so it probably took us longer than usual.

I'd say a half-day in the town of Battle should be enough, although it depends on what you want to see. We have visited twice, both times by car. I'm sorry to say that both times we skipped Battle Abbey, as it was expensive and we were "museumed out" by then ... and we had heard that the actual battle may have taken place outside the grounds of the abbey anyway. It does have a great gift shop.

Our boys had a ball exploring the paths, creeks, and hillsides behind Battle Abbey, and we did our own reenactment of the battle using snowballs. There is a great cookery shop (Steamer Trading) on the high street. We ate lunch at the nearby pub called "The 1066," which I see from Google Maps is now a Costa Coffee (sad!). We also drove through the town of Hastings (looking for buildings or streets we'd recognize from Foyle's War, as we are big fans) and ended the day at Pevensey Bay, throwing rocks into the sea at invisible invaders.

Use the train. There are two trains an hour from Charing Cross to Battle and the journey takes 90 minutes. It is half mile walk from the station to Battle Abbey .

Leave London after 10am as it will be a lot cheaper. Book your ticket your tickets in advance for the best fares.
https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/

You will be given a code to enter into the ticket machine at Charing Cross station to collect your tickets. You will need to insert the same credit card you used to buy the ticket to prove you are the person who bought them. Any problems, go to the ticket office who will sort this out and issue your tickets.

Not really going to be helpful, but one of my all time favourite travel moments was walking into the 1066 and finding, at the bar, several Roman legionaries, a couple of English civil war pikemen, some Napolionic era cavalry and a group of Nazis.

English Heritage were having a big "warfare through the ages" display - but obviously the players got thirsty.

The company has a link to Viator on its website for booking, but you can also book directly with the company.

TimW, how fun! One of our favorite travel memories is similar – walking through St James's Park on a Sunday in January, we happened on the annual reenactment of the execution of Charles I – a long procession complete with drummers and many Civil War pikemen dragging 14-foot pikes. We had fun imagining how they got their pikes on the Tube : ) and the kids enjoyed seeing reenactors in elaborate 17th-century garb but holding a cup of Starbucks coffee : )