The Seven Sisters & Birling Gap: 5 ½ miles

Start/finish: Tiger Inn, East Dean Explorer map 123: OS Grid Reference TV556978

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A classic walk in every way, from a pub right out of central casting – 15th-century origins, oak beams, village green, hearty food, log fire – to one of Britain’s most photographed stretches of coastline, the chalk cliffs of the Seven Sisters.

Either take the footpath south over Went Hill towards Birling Gap (clockwise) or west towards Crowlink and Flagstaff Point (anti-clockwise). Both have sweeping views over open downland towards the coast. If it’s windy, the latter option is usually best, as you’ll be walking the coastal section eastwards with the prevailing wind at your back. To make the most of the roller coaster that is the Seven Sisters, walk past Birling Gap beyond Belle Tout Lighthouse and circle back inland past Horseshoe Plantation before heading north again to East Dean.