Undercliff Walk

Real quiet time for thinking, or just being ! Sometimes life can get on top of us and we need the olé’ batteries replenished. This is where to do it as most other Qypers have said.

Eigentlich ist schon alles gesagt zum Undercliff Walk in Brighton. Nur wir waren bei Sturm unterwegs und hatten die großartigen Einschläge der Wellen. Ein echt nasses Vergnügen.

I find this is a fabulous place to go along on my Mobility Scooter — it makes for a relaxing journey. I love the visit the café on the beach at Ovingdean where Jane and her staff provide delicious light refreshments which you can sit at a rable and enjoy whilst taking in the sea air. The relaxed atmosphere means you often get involved in a chat with complete strangers or meet uo with old friends taking time out from the business of everday life.

This has to be one of the best ways to spend an afternoon in Brighton. Or out of Brighton should I say, since you’ll feel a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of the Marina just minutes into the journey. The landscape changes quickly and dramatically from cafes and apartments to white cliffs, rockpool and shingle in this 5 km seawall path.
Along the way through Ovingdean, Rottingdean and Saltdean, you’ll find a couple of cafes and even sandy beaches if you time it right. It’s a wonderful little treasure which stays relatively quiet due to its location but one of the best ways to enjoy the coastline.

I simply adore this place. the view is amazing at anytime but especially around 8pm! If you need a place to relax alone or with friends one this place is highly recommended. Bring your ipod, a book, pen and paper or a loved one and let your mind wonder. The beach is usually always completely spotless due to locals respecting their natural surrondings and the atmosphere is serene and peaceful with everyone enjoying the beach and its beauty!

One of Brighton’s less well known treasures is the undercliff walk that starts by the Marina and goes 5 km past Ovingdean and Rottingdean to Saltdean. It’s excellent for an afternoon stroll or a cycle ride, and you can access the main coast road from any of the above-​mentioned places, if you want to catch one of the frequent buses back to town.
The walk is actually a sea-​wall, built originally in the 1930s to prevent to erosion of the chalk cliffs. It has been rebuilt and enhanced many time since then, most recently after a series of cliff falls a few years ago.
Walking along it — especially on a bright, sunny day — is almost a surreal experience. After a few minutes, you leave behind the sprawl of the modern Brighton Marina with its shops and flats with their legoland architecture, and experience the contrast of the dazzling white chalk cliffs, 25m high, on the one side, with the changing shore on the other: now rockpools, now shingle, now great rocks. The white of the cliffs and the concrete on a sunny day really can be overpowering — sunglasses are essential.
As well as the stunning geology — all manner of fossils have been found in the cliffs — it is the nesting site for several types of birds, and the rock pools have the usual array of shore life. There are regular access points (steps) to the sea every 100m or so.
There are small beaches at each of Ovingdean, Rottingdean and Saltdean, with a small café (and toilets) at Ovingdean. The pubs and shops of Rottingdean are a few minutes’ walk from the path. There are no life guard facilities at any of the beaches, so swimming or paddling is at your own risk (plenty of people do it). The attraction is that the beaches are much quieter than those in central Brighton.
Access via ramps (for wheelchairs, prams etc) is available at the Marina (next to Asda car park), Rottingdean and Saltdean, but not Ovingdean, where there is a long flight of steps. The slopes at Rottingdean are quite steep. Users are also advised to take care during storms, when the sea crashes over the sea wall!