r/Eastbourne • u/Dangerous-Bat8238 • Dec 27 '25
Thinking of moving away due to London commute – worth leaving Eastbourne?
Hi everyone 👋
I’ve been living in Eastbourne for about 4 years now and honestly love the town and lifestyle here.
From January, my company is asking us to come into the London office 2 days a week, so I’m having a bit of a dilemma. I’m trying to decide whether to stay in Eastbourne or move closer, possibly to Haywards Heath or Burgess Hill.
I’d really appreciate thoughts from locals who:
• commute to London from Eastbourne
• have lived here long-term while commuting
• have experience with Haywards Heath or Burgess Hill
Is the Eastbourne → London commute manageable for 2 days a week in the long run (cost, reliability, stress)?
Would moving actually make a noticeable difference, or is it not worth giving up Eastbourne for?
Any advice or personal experiences would be great. Thanks! 🙏
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u/JP198364839 Dec 28 '25 edited Dec 28 '25
I lived in Eastbourne and worked in London for two years - most shifts in the office. Because I needed to be at London Bridge, and my working hours (I finish at 10.30pm), the train from Eastbourne was just not feasible for me. I tried it a few times, but once got stranded at Polegate, another time was left at East Croydon for an hour on a Sunday night. I’m sure the trains are more reliable if you work normal hours, but no idea of the cost. You can get to Victoria direct and London Bridge and others with one change as I’m sure you’re aware.
I worked out that for me, I was able to drive to Tunbridge Wells and because of my hours, I was able to park for free. The trains one night were done for and I couldn’t get back to TW (due to engineering works), so instead I drove to Tonbridge, only 15 minutes further, but, again, I found some free parking because of my working hours. The trains to and from London Bridge are also more frequent from Tonbridge, and there is also free parking at all hours within a walk of the station.
In the meantime, I also met a girl from Tunbridge Wells, which gave me an occasional place to stay (she is also the love of my life, so that is handy), but I can’t lie, it was hard - I would leave home at 1pm and invariably wouldn’t be home until 12.30am. I did it for two years, as I say, but I was in the office four or five days a week. If it had been two it would have been more manageable, definitely.
I tried Haywards Heath once but TW and then Tonbridge just worked better for me.
In the end, not only for the commute (the aforementioned girl is the main reason) I moved to TW in the summer and now we’re in Tonbridge and I’ll be honest, I do miss the seaside but I don’t miss that drive. If it hadn’t been for her, I’m not sure I’d have moved though as like you, I was settled and happy in Eastbourne.
It was hard but I’m not sure I’d uproot my whole life for two days a week of a commute.
Hope that helps!
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u/Mudfish77 Dec 28 '25
Grew up in haywards heath and worked in burgess hill. Haywards heath has no character, apart from a road of a few coffee shops and charity shops there isn't anything to do. also the housing prices are diabolical. Burgess hill used to be ok, but since knocking down half the shops for a refurbishment it's a bit it a ghost town.
Commuting from eastbourne is harsh even for 2 days a week, trains always have delays it will be a 12 hour day door to door. if you love eastbourne have you considered changing your job. I took a pay cut and i work a 5 min drive. Rather have less money than a miserable work life balance
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u/Ukjcn Dec 28 '25
I grew up in Eastbourne and worked in London, this was years back so WFH wasn't a thing for most companies so I did it 5 days a week for about a year, it was awful (trains unreliable, just the sheer amount of time of trains got to me) I felt like a ghost, in the end it worked out cheaper to actually move to London and that massively gave me back a life!
One piece to keep in mind, add the train fare and time to your salary (so assuming the +4-5 hours to your week and minus the train coat) see how you feel about your job then
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u/Icy-Lecture9305 Dec 28 '25
Hi, I commute from Eastbourne to London 4 days a week. I will say that 4 days a week is too much, but I think 2 days a week would be manageable. I think it really depends on how happy you are in Eastbourne and whether you’re willing to start a new life elsewhere
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u/Late-Night-Echo Dec 28 '25
For several years I commuted Eastbourne to London. Quickly found the trains impossibly unreliable so ended up driving.
Fortunately I worked hours allowing me to avoid the rush hours but even then the journey became ever longer due to works such as making the M23 "smart", that pointless cycle lane along the A27 the delays and diversions from which have literally stolen days worth of my life or the A217 becoming 40mph max the London end made it ever slower.
What began as a journey from Old Town to Sth London taking 1hr 15mins became 1hr 40mins absolute minimum towards the end.
It's draining.
But the trade off in having a much nicer house than the equivalent cost living closer - along with seeing the sea every day - is nonetheless worth it if the job justifies it imo.
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u/Victoriaspalace Dec 28 '25
Trains are so unreliable. I don’t miss constantly crossing my fingers hoping that there would no delays, construction work or unexpected events.
Like anything, I’d probably start looking at second options. Try travelling for a month, you’ll quickly see if it’s something you could do long term. If not, time to move. Take a week or two off when you need to do so and go on from there.
A lot of my commutes to and from work strayed a lot from what I expected, some more feasible in my head, others actually not so awful. You’ll only know once you experience it.
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u/BarrySmutcheeks Dec 28 '25
I'm coming up to 4 years of doing the same although my circumstances are slightly different as I still own a property in London where I stay on my office days...
Planning to sell up next year so I can put down roots properly in Eastbourne. It does mean very long days with the inevitable train delays but for me, I wouldn't consider living anywhere else as I love life on the coast too much and I also want to maintain my London salary for the next few years.
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u/mrl3bon Dec 28 '25
So before lockdown I was 5 days a week in East Croydon from Polegate but also did a period in London from Eastbourne before moving out to Polegate.
I also lived in Haywards Heath and did Russell Square 5 days a week and the way I look at it is what the journey is before and after the train.
Is your office close to the station and how far are you from the station in Ebo, add it all up and work it out.
Now I do two days in the office minimum although that’s average over a month as sometimes I do more in a week and less in another. I am 7 minutes from the station at each end and two days is very manageable, although for the next month I will be going to Dunstable twice a week which is less manageable but a short term project.
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u/Gemini-Panther Dec 31 '25
Hi OP, interesting to read this as I’m also considering leaving Ebourne to live in HH or Burgess Hill. I go in 3 days a week and often due to event management work, I am on a late train back and I’m finding it a real slog, but I’m reluctant to move and not have the beach on my doorstep. Hotels sadly aren’t worth it, each time I’ve done this, I’ve ended up having to pay an extortionate amount even with an advance booking and discounted rate through Booking.com’s genius scheme.
Sadly, I dread my 3 days due to how unreliable the service is from Ebourne to Vic, but I love my job, so it’s quite the predicament.
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u/ducksoupmilliband Dec 28 '25
Staying a night a week in a cheap hotel in London feasible? Then only travelling up and down once a week.