South East Coast

OVERVIEW

This stretch of coastline runs from the River Thames round to Ramsgate, down to Dover and then along the southern coast of England to end at Shoreham - with this section of the coast path running round the South Eastern corner of England.

The most notable spot along this coastline is the White Cliffs of Dover - and whilst I haven't walked much of this stretch to date there is plenty that I'm looking forward to over time.

From Shoreham to Brighton Marina is a long stretch of beach - but from Brighton Marina on round to Newhaven chalk cliffs take over. From Newhaven there is a further stretch of beach, but soon the white cliffs return all the way to Eastbourne.

At Eastbourne beaches take back over and continue up to Hastings, after which rolling vegetated cliffs take over until just past Fairlight Cove - after which everything becomes very flat. And this flat section persists past Dungeness essentially to Folkestone.

From Folkestone, white cliffs return up past Dover to Kingsdown, before beaches return just before reaching Deal. From here a combination of beaches and softer cliff lines largely persist until Whitstable.

From here marshland largely takes over until the end of this section of coast at Gravesend.

PRACTICALITIES

In general this is an easy stretch of coastline to explore with lots of popular towns to be found along the coast. That said some of the sections in more marshy country do run through areas of minimal activity - and these are the most problematic sections along this section of coast.

This means that it is very easy to walk the sections of coast that are probably most interesting, whilst it is probably hardest to walk the less interesting sections of coastline.

I am yet to walk much of this coast, but the easiest section to walk look to be between Whitstable and Folkestone and between Shoreham and Hastings.

STAGES

Woolwich to Gravesend

No plans to walk...

Gravesend to Rochester

No plans to walk...

Rochester to Sittingbourne

No plans to walk...

Sittingbourne to Whitstable

No plans to walk...

Whitstable to Margate

Planned to walk in the future...

Margate to Deal

Planned to walk in the future...

Deal to Dover

Planned to walk in the future...

Dover to Folkestone (★★★★☆)

This is a shorter section, heading out from Dover over the top of Western Heights, where the path heads round a Napoleon-era fort, and on past a Knights Templar church - before climbing up Shakespeare Cliffs.

From here the path heads along the bumpy coastline round to Folkestone, taking in Samphire Hoe Country Park, rolling hills and the Battle of Britain Memorial Park on the way (home to replica Hurricane and Spitfire planes).

This particular walk doesn't complete the coastal route into Folkestone - but it is only a short walk from where the coastal section of this walk ended, down into the harbour at Folkestone.

The walking on this route totaled 9.1 miles. The total ascent was a bit under one and a half thousand feet.

Folkestone to Rye

No plans to walk...

Rye to Hastings

No plans to walk...

Hastings to Eastbourne

Planned to walk in the future...

Eastbourne to Brighton

Planned to walk in the future...

Brighton to Shoreham

Planned to walk in 2026...