Beachy Head Lighthouse to Beachy Head View loop from Exceat — South Downs National Park

Fantastic trail always along the south coast. Absolutely great, scenic tour with highlights such as the light tower. The surface changes between mostly soft meadow paths and light gravel paths. Brilliant - absolutely recommended🥾🤩

Elevation meters are nonsense. Maybe around 800 in total...

Return by coach from Eastbourn. It runs every 20 minutes.

If you like crowds, you should do the hike on Pentecost Sunday like I did. Parking lots and bus stops are located directly or near the hiking route. Therefore, many walkers are on the way. I recommend not to do without West Dean (sometimes also spelled Westdean) on the tour. There is a tea room and take-away kiosk at the Seven Sister Country Park Information Center.

Hiked the seven sisters from Eastbourne, chose to rock hop to the gap, set of at high tide to be sure of not getting cut off. going was tough but well worth the hardship. difficulty would be up there. not for the faint hearted.

A word about the South Downs Way. It's a leisurely and scenic walk, but it shouldn't be underestimated. If you want to stay overnight in pubs (recommended), you'll head down to the village every day and back up again the next morning. So, the official 3,000 meters of elevation gain will likely turn into close to 4,000. Support is sporadic, so it's a good idea to always have a ration of food in your backpack. We really enjoyed it; we met few hikers, but plenty of locals who were easy to socialize with. The final 11km over the Seven Sisters to Eastbourne is a well-deserved reward. Really. :) Highly recommended.

Yes i crossed the river. The water was knee height.

Crossing the Seven Sisters has been on my list since 2016, so this tour had to be easy this time. 🤩 Start is in Eastbourne at the train station, then it goes a bit through the pedestrian zone and the shopping mile to the pier. Always along the sea, it goes for a good kilometer over the promenade and then away from the sea briefly steeply through a residential area to the first climb in the countryside. From here you can't get lost, always along the cliffs to below Beachy Head. Here comes another really steep climb, but the view of the lighthouse certainly makes up for it! From now on it goes up and down over the cliffs, which are getting smaller by a good 70 cm every year. Passing the Belle Tout lighthouse (privately owned) you soon reach Birling Gap. There are toilets, a cafe, souvenir shop and access to the sea. Now it's actually up to the Seven Sisters! Technically not demanding, but getting on and off requires a bit of thigh wax. Once you've crossed Went Hill, Bailey's Hill, Flagstaff, Brass Point, Rough Brow, Short Brow and Haven Brow, the sea is waiting. As Charles Trenet sang, "La mer Qu'on voit danser"... And indeed the waves here dance along the snow-white cliffs. Cuckmere Haven is one of the prettiest places I know. The River Cuckmere, which meanders here through the valley of the same name, swans, herons, rare plants in the marshland and the cliffs... Finally, a stop at the Cuckmere Inn is recommended (although the beer selection has been reduced somewhat). Return to Eastbourne by bus which stops 100m down the road. Alternatively, the tour can be extended to 30km via Jevington back to Eastbourne. (That was actually my original plan, which I gave up for a lunchtime at the beach because the weather was way too good. Maybe I'll soften. 😅 )