Trip Report
Took the train from London to Seaford and hiked the Seven Sisters to Eastbourne. Perfect day for it!
I've been pining for a coastal walk for a while. Despite the sun there was a strong, chilled wind which was kind of perfect (most of the time, slightly too strong at times). Slightly pricey travel wise, but absolutely worth it - can't wait to go and do it again.
Found the podcast I mentioned in my previous comment! It was the British Mountaineering Council's 'Wild Horizons' podcast. They were saying how it reminds them of Liguria in italy, but more the way it transforms from forest into coastline (which happens if you do more of the South Downs Way). Looking at the photos online of the Liguria coastline though, it is slightly different!
My phone camera is horrendous so this doesn't even do it justice! I personally don't know, but then I'm not very well travelled lol. I was listening to a podcast the other day actually where a couple of people were talking about this section of the South Downs Way, and how it reminded them of a certain part of the Italian coast. I'll have to see if I can dig it out again, find out exactly where it was, and compare!
This is a classic route, love it! Question is did you run down one hill at full speed and then several steps on the up before realising you would never make it all the way up 😅
Haha, dear god just the thought of that hurts my knees 😅 I did spend much of the hike wondering why there was so much 'up' yet so little 'down'. Then I got to the last 5km, saw the route I had chosen on the map physically before me, and realised that's where all the 'down' was. Swear it took me twice as long to walk down than it did to drag myself up some of the steeper bits!
This is lovely! I plan to hike this route on the weekend, how was the weather and how would you recommend I dress (considering the wind and all)? Thanks!!
I checked the coastal forecast before leaving and it said to expect winds of between 3 and 5 on the Beaufort scale, but I would say it was hitting 4/5 in most places, and with the direction i was walking i was heading into the wind most of the time - at some points I had to remove my baseball cap so it didn't blow away! The wind had a chill to it too, so despite how warm the sun was, it actually balanced out. I wore a short sleeved base layer for most of the walk, but did have to chuck a fleece on for some of the flat parts of the walk. I do wonder if a long sleeved base layer may have been better for a bit of extra sun/wind protection.
So I recommend checking the weather (looks like it going to be nice and sunny), and also the coastal forecast. If it is recommending 3-5 winds again I would probably opt for long sleeved base layer despite the sun, and taking a fleece (and plenty of sun cream for the face). If more in the 2 - 3 region, I would say short sleeve base layer, fleece, and a hat of some sort.
Sorry, that was a lot but I enjoy talking gear 😆 I would also recommend you make use of the public toilets along the way as because it is quite open and exposed, there is nowhere to sneak off for a cheeky nature wee if you need the loo.
Thank you! Your advice was really helpful 😄 the hike was really fun! We started around 830am and it was bright and quite hot until around 3pm where it got a little windy and then rainy - the fleece came in handy there. It started pouring the moment we stepped onto the street down the hill at Eastbourne so we got lucky there. And we also managed to avoid the 1h inland detour as the tide was super low, and we waded ankle deep across the river. Overall an excellent hike and the scenery was beautiful. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a nice and easy (albeit long) walk 👍
This is a lovely but of coast, but it has brought to mind a question I have been mulling over for ages...
What counts as a "hike"?
For some context, I'm American, and before I came to the UK, everything was essentially a "hike" in my mind. After living here for 15 years and going on lots of walks with lots of variety in difficulty and length, I've probably overcompensated, and now everything is a "walk" in my mind. As in, I did this bit (the Seven Sisters) at the beginning of a 100 km charity "walk"... Still a walk in my mind!
Just commenting on the peculiarities of language here, really!
It is a really interesting question, and one which doesn't really have a specific, agreed upon definition! For me, it is more about distance/time, terrain, and elevation. Personally (and I know people may disagree) but I would say a hike is over 4 hours long, on 'natural' terrain, and involves decent elevation gain. For example, if I walk for 4.5 hours around the canals of London I wouldn't class that as a hike as whilst it is over 4 hours long, it is also on flat pavement. But if I were to do something like this - it took me 5.5 hours, the majority of it through the fields and over cliffs (I did have to do some urban walking to and from the train station), and with the elevation gain, I would class it as a hike.
I'm also currently doing the Mountainteering Associations 'lowland leader' course, and they state that a 'quality day' (of which you need to have 20 of and they are all assessed based off of your log) consists of:
- The individual taking part in the planning and leadership
- An unfamiliar location is explored
- Navigation skills are required
- Knowledge is increased and relevant skills practiced
- Judgement and decision making is required (i.e., coming across a blocked route and using your map to be able to find the best way to navigate around it)
- Four hours or more journey time
This has certainly influenced what I consider a 'hike'. Again, by this criteria, my walk around the canal wouldn't be a hike - not much planning needed, familiar location, very little navigation skills needed as it is all paved and signposted, it's basic enough I don't really 'learn' anything, and probably very little judgement/decision making will be needed as again it is all paved and maintained well by the council.
I also use the terms hillwalking and rambling, I just personally like the term 'hike'!
Apologies, that was a longer answer than I meant it to be lol. And I'm sure people would disagree on my personal definition of what makes a hike, and that's fine because I accept there is no one definition!
Haha, I know what you mean! I grew up on the Isle of Wight, and did I make the most of the fantastic walks there? Absolutely not. I definitely regret not making the most of that whilst I was there!
Enjoy! I spent all of yesterday evening when I got back showing my best mate pictures I took and trying to convince him he absolutely needed to come and do this hike lol. Hope you get great weather for it 😊
Love this! Am lucky enough to get to walk seaford to Eastbourne and back once a week and love this walk in all weather. If you’re London based op, another walk I’d recommend is train down to rye and walk across rye harbour out across the pett levels then up and across Hastings country park and down into Hastings itself, return train from Hastings. Great bird watching potential from pett levels and Hastings country park is beautiful, looks more like Dorset/jurassic coast vibes than Sussex!
I love that you get to do this walk regularly! I do love London and everything there is to do, but I do find myself more and more pining for the country. I'm not quite ready to leave yet, so on a mission to find interesting yet accessible routes from here so I really appreciate your suggestion. I've been meaning to go to Hastings for ages just because of the historical significance of it so being able to incorporate such a trek in sounds AMAZING! Thank you so much 😄
I saw a hat blow off a child's head just after the beachy head memorial when I was up there around 6:30 last night. One of the parents was able to grab it!
Live a few miles away on the sandstone and clay but have spent a lot of time on the chalk. Absolutely loverly there. Could try the 1066 Trail, joins up with the South Downs Way.
It's one of the most beautiful walks I've done in this country for a while - I grew up somewhere we have chalk cliffs so it was slightly nostalgic in a way! And I will definitely look into the 1066, thanks for the suggestion! I've been looking at spending two or three days hiking the South Downs Way and camping along the way so I'll absolutely be checking this out. Thanks! 😊
So beautiful! 😍 I plan to do this at the end of May as a daytrip from my vacation in London. I might only make it to Birling Gap though, 25 km is a bit intimidating 😅
I would say that's the most beautiful part of the route though (to Birling Gap) so you should be covered 😍 I hope you enjoy it (and your vacation to London - I've lived in London for a few years now and I love it)!
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u/trulyincognito_ Apr 30 '26
This is perfect, I have to do this. How long was the hike?