King Charles Coast Path - Hastings to Eastbourne (★★★☆☆)

Today I am continuing a walk along the south coast of England, having walked between Rye and Hastings on the previous day - and today the plan is to walk from Hastings on to Eastbourne.

This will take us across the fairly flat stretch of coastline that runs between these two seaside towns - and through Bexhill-on-Sea and Pevensey Bay along the way.

The day starts by heading out from Hastings along the seafront - and today we are going to have to get used to walking along seafronts, and along (or past) a lot of very stony beaches.

Hastings seafront

The stretch of seafront at Hastings is a particularly long one - and in theory the town has a lot of beach front - but whilst in Northumberland we could walk for hour on end along lovely sandy beaches - here we have shingle all the way between us and the sea. And so our best bet is to stay up on the main path, rather than walking by the sea itself.

This does decrease the enjoyment somewhat, but it is a lovely sunny day - and so we can only complain about that so much.

That said, we do eventually start to lose sight of the sea itself, as our path cuts up past some buildings - and here it does feel like the path is overdoing it's attempts to stay away from any storm surges (which are warned about along the path).

Looking back towards Hastings

As we start to close in on Bexhill-on-Sea we do finally move back towards the sea itself - and here we are greeted with a very similar stretch to that we faced whilst passing Hastings.

Again we have the stony beaches, again we are on a higher up path - but as we get into Bexhill we are greeted by a seaside town with a fairly unique architectural vibe (that is almost 1920s) - and a town with a disproportionate number of old people.

Bexhill itself was largely destroyed during the Norman conquest, as part of the raids carried out from Hastings - but the land was later given to William's pals, and they built out some of the older buildings in the area.

But Bexhill as it is today owes itself more to one man who came along much later - and that man was Reginald Sackville - who sough to transform what was a small village, into a seaside resort.

As part of this he opened the Sackville Hotel in 1890 - and in the following years a lot of money was invested into creating a luxurious resort, with a lot of unique architecture.

In some ways this makes it a sort of Florence of the south coast - but in other ways it too inferior to Florence, to make that an apt comparison.

But the role of the Sackville's did clearly did create a unique seaside town - and the unique buildings are the main interest as we pass through the town.

One of the gazebos at the Colonnade

At the far end of Bexhill

At the far end of Bexhill we do finally drop down onto the beach - avoiding a section where the path no longer even runs along the main seafront - and here I do my best to try and walk the narrow gap between the rocks and the sea.

This sets the tone for the rest of the walk round towards Pevensey Bay - and here we find another resort, which is more famous for being the landing spot of (that previously mentioned) Norman invasion.

Higher up on the beach at Pevensey Bay

Upon reaching Pevensey Bay we are forced up the beach by the sea walls that run down the beach - and here we are walking on the shingle mounded at the top of the beach.

It is clear as we walking along it that this shingle is actively added to, to avoid coastal erosion - and whilst this is great for the people living in the homes here - it does ruin the beach somewhat.

Here in 2026 alone, 12,000 cubic meters of shingle (enough to fill 100 double decker buses) will be added to the beach throughout the year - and here there isn't much point trying to walk along any part of the beach but the very top.

Again I find myself dreaming of the beaches of Northumberland as I walk along these stony - and slightly awkward - beaches. But again I must try not to complain, for it is a lovely day - and we still get lovely sea views.

But after passing Pevensey Bay, we do at least get some respite as we cut inland, and go around Soverign Harbour.

The flats

The boats

Here we find not only a load of very fancy flats (you can hear the noise from the flats as you walk past) - but also a lot of fancy looking boats.

And once we have made our way around the harbour - we reach Langley Point, and the start of the run into Eastbourne.

A sailing boat on the run into Eastbourne

The pier

By this point it feels like I have glossed over a lot of the walk today, but that is more due to the lack of change in the landscape than for any neglect on my part. This has somewhat limited the opportunity for commentary - but we shall make up for that tomorrow (which will hopefully prove to be a very special day of walking).

At Eastbourne we find a large town - and once again this is a resort town that owes its expansion to one man - in this case William Cavendish, the Duke of Devonshire. And a lot of the town stems from that period of construction during the Victorian era.

Once we reach town, we cut up to the Premier Inn that sits very centrally in town - just to find that I should in fact be visited the Premier Inn on the outskirts of town (the one in town is called Eastbourne Town, and the one out of town is called Eastbourne).

But with the town having excellent buses, this proves to be no problem at all - and after getting some food, I'm soon in my hotel - and ready for the final day of walking tomorrow.

Total Distance: 15.5 miles (15.1 miles along the coast path)

Total Ascent: 308 feet (293 feet along the coast path)

Enjoyment Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ ★ ★ / 5

If it weren't for the stones this would be a lovely day of beach walking - but with the stones it can be a bit frustrating at times. Still it is nice to be by the sea

Click for the next day of walking along the coast from Eastbourne to Newhaven.

Click for a connecting walk along the South Downs Way from Eastbourne to Southease.

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 199 OS Landranger map (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in general well way-marked