Seven Sisters is the name of a row of white chalk cliffs that rise and fall like a wave along the Sussex coast, between the mouth of the Cuckmere river and Birling Gap. They stand about a hundred metres high, bright against the sea, and the view of them from the clifftop path to the east is one of the most photographed in southern England. The coast here is constantly being worn away, and every winter storm brings down another piece of cliff, so the profile you see is never quite the same.
The best view for riders is from the roads around Seaford and Exceat, where the lane drops to the Cuckmere valley and you see the river wriggling through its meanders toward the shingle beach. The pull-off by the visitor centre is a good place to stop, take a few photographs and walk down to the water, where the sea breeze brings the smell of salt and seaweed. In the evening, the light on the chalk is warm and soft, and the colour of the water changes from grey to green and blue.
The area is also a nature reserve. The chalk grassland is rich in flowers and insects, skylarks sing over the downs and the rare chalkhill blue butterfly is found in summer. Offshore, the water is clear over the chalk, and seals can sometimes be seen close to the beach. Up the coast, the old lighthouse at Belle Tout sits on the cliff edge, and the far taller red-and-white one stands below Beachy Head. Keep well away from the cliff edges, because the chalk is unstable and there is no fence in many places.
The roads from Seaford and Eastbourne can be busy on summer weekends, with holiday traffic and slow-moving camper vans, and parking at Birling Gap and the country park fills early. Seaford, with about twenty-two thousand people, has fuel, cafés and shops, and it is the sensible place to fill up. Take warm clothing, since the wind on the cliffs can be bracing even on a sunny day, and be sure to leave time for a walk along the shingle.