Seven Sisters or inland? The South Downs Way's last day, measured

At Alfriston the South Downs Way becomes two trails. The bridleway, for horses and bikes, stays inland over Windover Hill, past the Long Man of Wilmington, and comes down through Jevington into Eastbourne. The footpath follows the Cuckmere to the sea and then goes over the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head. Both are the South Downs Way; both finish on the same promenade.

Walkers can take either, and the line on this site is the footpath route. But the inland route is not a lesser walk, and on the wrong day it is the better one. Here is what each costs.

The two routes, on the same survey

Both are measured the same way: along Natural England's official line for the trail (its National Trails dataset, updated January 2025), with the heights taken from the Environment Agency's laser survey every thirty metres, from Alfriston to the end of the Way on Eastbourne's promenade. Same ground, same method, so the numbers compare.

Over the cliffs

10.7 mi

17.2 km, 601 m of climb

Over the downs

8.4 mi

13.6 km, 383 m of climb

The difference

2.3 mi

and 218 m more climb on the coast

The coast route is 3.6 kilometres longer and has 57% more climb: the seven brows of the Sisters, then Beachy Head. The inland route goes higher — it tops out at 200 metres, against 160 at Beachy Head — but gets there in fewer, longer climbs.

Over the cliffs

From Alfriston the footpath follows the Cuckmere down through Litlington to Exceat, on the valley floor, and then climbs straight out onto the cliffs. What follows is the ten kilometres on the postcards: Haven Brow, Short Brow and the rest, each a climb and a drop, with the edge unfenced beside you, then the one break at Birling Gap, then the long pull to Beachy Head and down into Eastbourne. The chapter in the guide describes it properly.

What the map knows about this stretch, with dates:

• Water. There is a tap two hundred metres off the path near Litlington, one at Exceat, and two at Birling Gap, halfway along the cliffs — all on OpenStreetMap and in the guide's list, read 19 September 2026. Nothing on the brows themselves.
• A way off. At Exceat the coast road's buses are frequent: in the week we counted from the published timetables, starting 28 September 2026, the 12X ran 72 times each way on weekdays and the 12 fifty each way on the Sunday. Up on the cliffs it is thinner. The 13X called at Birling Gap and Beachy Head on the Sunday only, 29 times each way, and a route listed as ESS called daily in one direction. Out of summer, check the day before you rely on it. Seaford station is four kilometres from Exceat.
• Beds. The National Trail's own list has places to stay at Alfriston, Litlington, Exceat, Birling Gap and Eastbourne, read 23 September 2026.

Over the downs

The inland route leaves Alfriston eastward, climbs onto Windover Hill above the Long Man of Wilmington, and follows the top of the downs through Jevington and over the last of the ridge into the western edge of Eastbourne. It is a bridleway throughout, so you will share it with bikes, as you have since Winchester.

What we can tell you about it is less, and we would rather say so than guess: our water, transport and bed research covers the footpath route only. The inland route is on Natural England's line and in our terrain; nothing else on this site has been checked along it yet.

Which one

If you are walking the Way once, finish over the Sisters: it is the best walking on the trail. But if you walk it in weekends, the inland route makes a good day of its own — Berwick station to Alfriston, over the downs to Eastbourne, and a train home — and it shows you the downs behind the cliffs, which the coast route never does.

The planner follows the footpath. A plan that finishes inland is not something it can make yet.

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