Eastbourne is probably the most sedate of England's South Coast seaside resorts. It's famous for its beaches -- which include a few of the only sandy beaches on the south coast -- and for its gleaming white, Victorian and Edwardian architecture.
If you walk the South Downs Way as far as the Eastbourne loop, you'll see the Seven Sisters -- a series of white chalk cliffs -- and Beachy Head itself, a dramatic and rugged chalk cliff and occasionally notorious suicide spot. The atmospheric Falling Sands Beach at the foot of Beachy Head is backed by towering white cliffs.
Eastbourne also has a restored Victorian Pier and a picturesque, blue domed bandstand with a regular summer schedule of free concerts. The bandstand is dedicated to an Eastbourne musician who played on the deck of the sinking Titanic.
If you stay here, try...
The supremely imperious
Grand Hotel. A restored, five-star, 19th century hotel, sometimes known as 'The White Palace', it dominates the Eastbourne shore and is
the way to take the air in this great dowager of a resort. A classic, rambling white elephant of a hotel recently updated with what the Brits call
all mod cons.
