It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything as life has, once again, gotten in the way. I’m finally getting back into a routine and now find myself with enough free time where I’m inspired to write again. Considering how busy I’ve been, I’ve found myself nostalgic for trips past as I wait for our next one, which isn’t for a little while. So, writing about previous ones should hold me over until then. Here it goes:
Travel back in time with me to Spring 2021. We’ve been in various states of pandemic lockdown for months on end. Indoors is still not fully open. This has been the scene for most of the time I’d lived in London so far. I desperately needed a change of scenery. So I had what I thought was a good idea at the time: take a long hike to the Seven Sisters Cliffs on the Sussex coast. After all, photos of it looked absolutely gorgeous, it was supposed to be an easy day trip from London, and restrictions were easing just enough that I wouldn’t feel bad using public transportation to get there. I thought I could handle it and I did, mostly.
The Seven Sisters are a series of chalk cliffs on the coast between Eastbourne and Seaford and there are walking paths connecting the two towns and the surrounding countryside. The walk itself is over 10 miles from train station to train station though there are bus options if you don’t want to walk the whole way. I wish I had done so but hubris demanded I complete the hike on my own no matter how much my calves burned. Also, I timed it wrong and would’ve had to wait half an hour for the next bus and I didn’t want to.
While the walk can be done from either direction I chose to go from Seaford to Eastbourne for two main reasons. First, the journey from London Victoria to Seaford requires a change at Lewes whereas the Eastbourne train is direct and I figured that would be much welcomed after a strenuous hike. Second, I’d heard that the views were more dramatic when approaching the cliffs from Seaford and, after doing the walk, I’m inclined to agree.
With that in mind, I left London on what would turn out to be a gorgeously sunny day despite the clouds threatening to ruin my good time that morning. Luckily, the weather on the coast was absolutely picture perfect with few clouds in sight. I arrived at Seaford station just before noon as I, a broke grad student, booked a super off-peak train meaning I spent about £8 for the ticket. This would still give me enough sunlight to complete my hike, assuming I didn’t stop or give up halfway through.
After a brief walk I finally made it to the shore. It was a spring day so the temperature was pretty perfect and I was in a good mood. That quickly changed as I climbed my first hill. You see, the Seven Sisters Cliffs are so named because they are actually seven giant hills all in a row, plus several smaller ones and an uphill walk to the top of the cliffs. I’m from flat-as-a-pancake Florida so, needless to say, this was a huge struggle for me and my calves. Luckily, as soon as I made it to the top of the cliff, I was greeted by the most sensational view. It made the struggle worth it. With that, I set forward, hoping that the landscape would be enticing enough to ignore the burning in my lower legs.
It did, for awhile, until I came upon Cuckmere Haven a beach where the path returns to sea level and where the Cuckmere River meets the sea. If you time it right and arrive at low tide, you can cross the dry river on foot continue your walk along the shore until you reach the cliff path again. If you time it wrong and it’s high tide you either have to swim across the river (no) or trek way out of your way north to the bridge over it. Obviously and unfortunately, I timed it wrong meaning that I had to follow the river north until I reached a pub, the Cuckmere Inn, and the road bridge adjacent. This might be a nice rest stop at the beginning of the hike but there was a pandemic on so I didn’t try to stop by.
After crossing the bridge, I had to navigate back to the cliff path to continue my journey to the actual Seven Sisters as I had not yet reached them. This wasn’t difficult, per se, there are signposts all over with directional arrows helpfully pointing the way. The problem was that there were several paths that I could’ve chosen as it was a park. I chose the one I thought would be the shortest but alas, I traversed a few extra hills and somehow went through a field or two of cows.
Nonetheless, I did find my way back to the cliff side path and was treated with my first glimpse of the Seven Sisters for my efforts. And wow the view really is worth it.
Once I’d had my fill of staring at the scenery and eating my meal-deal cheddar sandwich I began the arduous task of actually traversing the Sisters. This was physically difficult for me and I went very slowly. Still, I had a nice walk and a nice view so things could’ve been way worse.
A few hours later I had completed the Seven Sisters and came upon Birling Gap and the National Trust site. The museum-y bit was closed for the pandemic but the shop and cafe were still open. Since I had been exercising so much I decided to take a well needed break and treated myself to a slice of shortbread and a drink at the cafe. All the calories I burned might have influenced my opinions but I swear that was the best piece of shortbread I have ever had.
After my afternoon snack, I decided to continue along the coast to Eastbourne where I would catch a train back to London. Although I had finally passed the Seven Sisters, there was still a nice bit of walking along the cliff face to do before I would reach civilisation. So I started walking again. I passed two lighthouses: a squat grey one on the cliff top and a red one out to see at Beachy Head. The Beachy Head lighthouse is a very dramatic sight and is absolutely worth the extra hike to.
Afterwards, the hike gets a bit repetitive and the cliff path soon comes up alongside a road. Along the road are a few pubs and, more importantly, a few bus stops. It would’ve been smart of me to take a bus to Eastbourne as I was exhausted at this point and my feet were killing me because for some dumb reason I decided to hike in Keds. Don’t do that. However, when I reached the bus stop I found that the next bus was in half an hour so I trudged along instead.
At this point I was very over everything and realised that I had run out of time and needed to get on the next train to London so that I could meet my boyfriend for a socially distanced date. I charged ahead, leaving the path and hoping to find a short cut to the station. Instead, I ended up getting a bit lost, clambered through some shrubs, and nearly tumbled down the hill. But despite it all, I did make it on time for the train. A miracle.
All in all, the Seven Sisters hike was an absolutely brilliant day trip from London. Easy to get to and a decently challenging but not overwhelming hike. If I were to do it again, I would probably cut off the bit after Beachy Head and just take the bus as it begins to be much of the same. Or, alternatively, now that there aren’t any restrictions, I would go at a much more leisurely pace and plan to stop in some of the pubs along the way.
