Walks & Nature
Walks, nature, and the outdoors around Eastbourne: Beachy Head, the South Downs, Seven Sisters, beaches, and parks.
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Wildlife of Eastbourne’s Chalk Grasslands: Orchids & Butterflies
The rolling downs above Eastbourne hide one of Europe’s richest wildlife habitats — a flower-studded chalk grassland alive with orchids and butterflies. Discover the Adonis Blues, the Pride of Sussex, and the grazing sheep that keep it all alive.
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The Geology of Beachy Head: Chalk, Flint and Fossils
The white wall of Beachy Head is a graveyard of the sea — a mountain of microscopic creatures built on an ancient ocean floor and lifted into the sky. Discover the geology of Beachy Head: how the chalk formed, what its flint and fossils reveal, and why the cliff keeps falling.
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The Cuckoo Trail: A Walking & Cycling Guide
A guide to the Cuckoo Trail, one of the South East’s finest traffic-free paths — a flat, well-surfaced walking and cycling route running around 14 miles from Heathfield to Hampden Park on the edge of Eastbourne, along a disused railway line through Hailsham, Polegate and countryside. Its history as the old “Cuckoo Line”, the wildlife…
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Arlington Reservoir: A Guide to the Nature Reserve Walk
A guide to Arlington Reservoir near Polegate, a short drive inland from Eastbourne — one of the area’s most relaxing nature walks. This Local Nature Reserve, created in 1971 by damming the River Cuckmere, has an easy two-mile circular Osprey Trail around the lake, a bird hide, and superb birdwatching with over 170 species, from…
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Abbot’s Wood: A Guide to the Ancient Woodland
A guide to Abbot’s Wood, the ancient woodland at Arlington near Polegate, a short drive inland from Eastbourne. Once owned by the monks of Battle Abbey, this peaceful Forestry England forest has two easy waymarked trails, a tranquil medieval lake (a former monastic fish pond), superb wildlife — dormice, rare butterflies and nightingales — and…
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Eastbourne to Birling Gap Walk: A Clifftop Route Guide
A guide to the Eastbourne to Birling Gap walk — one of England’s most spectacular clifftop hikes. This roughly 5.5-mile route climbs from the seafront over Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, past the RAF memorial and the Beachy Head and Belle Tout lighthouses, down to the pebble beach at Birling Gap.…
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Eastbourne Seafront Walk: A Guide to the Promenade
A guide to the Eastbourne seafront walk — the town’s elegant, flat and famously shop-free promenade. Running around three miles from Sovereign Harbour in the east to Holywell in the west, it passes the Victorian pier, the Carpet Gardens, the bandstand, the Wish Tower and the Grand Hotel before reaching the Italian Gardens and the…
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Best Sunset Spots in Eastbourne
A guide to the best sunset spots in and around Eastbourne — from Beachy Head, Belle Tout and Birling Gap to inland Butts Brow — plus why the east-facing seafront is best for sunrise, dark-sky stargazing on the cliffs, and tips for timing, safety and making the most of golden hour on the Sussex coast.
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The Pevensey Levels: Wildlife & Wetland Walks
A guide to the Pevensey Levels, the vast wetland wilderness between Eastbourne, Hailsham and Bexhill. Big skies and grazing marsh, internationally important wildlife from the rare fen raft spider to marsh harriers and kingfishers, the area’s history as a tidal bay, and how to explore it responsibly.
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Butts Brow & Willingdon Hill: Eastbourne’s Downland Viewpoint
A guide to Butts Brow and Willingdon Hill, Eastbourne’s much-loved South Downs viewpoint above Willingdon. Sweeping views to Hastings, easy walks from the top including the Jevington circular, chalk-grassland wildlife, the ancient Combe Hill enclosure, and parking and access tips.