On one of the many Bank Holiday weekends in May, my partner and I had the perfect excuse for a small getaway to the coast. Neither of us had ever visited the small town of Hastings, so it wasn’t a difficult decision.

Day One:

The weather was perfectly sunny, so upon entering Hastings we immediately stopped by at the beautiful Alexandra Gardens. We happened to arrive on the special day of the ‘May Queen’. Girls dressed in flower crowns paraded the paths and folk music played from a stage set up by the stream. We happened across all kinds of dogs with their families. After strolling around in search of the perfect spot, we settled on a bench in the sun and lunched on our picnic. Seagulls eyed our sandwiches whilst we ate.

Hastings was wonderfully walkable. We stopped by an ice cream stall for dessert on the beach, and the wind conveniently blew strands of my hair into my ice cream meanwhile the blazing sun melted it onto my hands. Afterwards, we walked towards Rock-a-Nore for some beautiful cliff views. It was peaceful and though it was getting late, we decided to walk up the East Hill Lift, hoping to catch the sunset.

The walk up the stairs was steep, but lit up the greenery deliciously in the golden hour. To our surprise, we discovered a nature reserve when we reached the top. A vast green field trimmed impeccably and no weeds as far as the eye could see. We plopped down on a bench and took in the view. Houses and boats, the ruins of Hastings Castle, cliffs and tiny people in the distance. We basked in the sun as it set directly ahead of us.

Before dusk fell, we headed back down to grab dinner at Isabella; a quaint little Turkish restaurant hidden in the Old Town. It was a small, dimly-lit place but busy, and people spoke privately under their breaths amidst the Turkish music in the background. After we felt full from the day’s food and events we returned to our AirBnb.

Day Two:

Our second day was simpler. We hurriedly ate breakfast to check out of our AirBnb on time, before heading back out into town. We visited Hastings Castle first thing. It was historical and that’s about it - to be frank we felt it wasn’t worth the trip. But either way, it’s nice to have visited.

We stopped by many little bookstores that day, but unsuccessfully nothing piqued my interest. Recently, I’ve fallen into a bit of a reading rut (any recommendations are welcome, thank you!). The cafes were cute too, but after stuffing ourselves in a rush at breakfast, it felt quite unappealing and my stomach didn’t thank me.

We explored the Old Town briefly - as with most coastal towns the streets are adorably strewn in bunting and unique shops - then headed back to the car to drive home.

Final Thoughts:

Hastings was one of my favourite coastal towns so far, perfect for a day or weekend trip (I will give some credit to the weather, as it really held up for us)! A series of my photos are shown below (all taken on my iPhone). I have a few on my film camera too and as soon as they’re developed I’ll add them to the mix. Hope you enjoy. ☺️

Artists of the trip: The Neighbourhood, Michael Jackson and Silk Sonic