Whilst it's nice to visit the beach, we often enjoy the contrast of walking along the cliffs and being up high. Luckily for us, we are only about 30/40 minutes away from the National Trust maintained coastline that is the Seven Sisters/ Birling Gap and Beachy Head. There is no entry charge to explore the area and parking is just £2 for a half-day or £4 for the full day so great value.
We have been here more times than I can count and we often take the mini-bus so we have a ton of people with us to enjoy the glorious views and fresh air. At the beginning of July, we took a party of 16 people and had a great time skimming stones on the beach, jumping the waves and then walking the cliffs of the Seven Sisters.
One thing I can't fail to say is that you MUST stay away from the edge. Please keep at least 10 metres back from the edge as chalk cliffs are prone to falling away and there has been so much erosion over the last few years. You really can't be too careful!
Let me share a few photos from our fun day -
You can see the National Trust cafe, shop and Visitor Centre in the bottom right corner and the metal steps that extend out from the cliffs and allow you to walk down to the pebbly beach. When the sea is out this is a wonderful place for rock-pooling.
You can get a great cream tea here with amazing views, it is worth the drive up for that alone!
This is the view from the metal steps down onto the beach at Birling Gap
Some of our friends enjoying a dip in the water as the tide was in
Most of us bought lollies and ice cream from the National Trust cafe as they have a good selection with fair prices but as you can see some of the girls fancied a Mr Whippy which was available from the van in the car park.
Also, just behind the girls is the toilet block that is open for all walkers passing by. I have to be honest and say each time we come here they are in a bit of a state, due to a lack of bins and the loo roll having run out. There is an outside tap with drinking water so you can refill your bottles which is good.
First off we headed up onto the Crowlink walk and trek along a couple of the dips of the seven sisters cliffs. I love the old folk stories that these cliffs are names the Seven Sisters as sailors used to think they looked like seven nuns in their habits but sadly over time, the similarity has eroded away.
Here is our group on the peak of Went Hill Brow
And walking back up one of the steep, steep cliffs. They actually look a lot more
tiring to climb than they actually are.
After we headed back past the National Trust centre and up the hill up the other way past the Belle Tout lighthouse and on towards Beachy Head.
Thanks to my lovely friend Erica for some of the photos. x