Hastings has rail connections to cities across the UK, often via London. Stay at The Old Rectory from £150, B&B, the Doghouse Inn from £80, or Looking Glass Lodge from £670 for two nights.

Like many seaside towns in the UK, Hastings is, unfortunately, a town of two halves. While I enjoyed exploring the old town, the newer part of town was dirty, neglected and slightly unpleasant.

It’s rare that a single event transforms a nation’s entire identity, but that’s what happened with the Battle of Hastings in 1066. At the end of this bloody, one-day battle, Anglo-Saxon ...