Eastbourne suits a bike better than most seaside towns. The riding here is mostly gentle: a fourteen-mile former railway line, a short stretch of seafront where cycling is actually permitted, and a network of flat, quiet lanes out on the Pevensey Levels. This page is the route-by-route plan — where you may ride, where you may not, how to hire a bike and what each ride involves. Practical rules and prices come from the councils’ and operators’ own pages, and they change, so treat the links here as the place to re-check before you set off.
The Cuckoo Trail is a fourteen-mile surfaced path, mostly traffic-free, that runs from Heathfield down to Shinewater Park in Eastbourne along the trackbed of the old Cuckoo Line railway. It is part of National Cycle Network Route 21. East Sussex County Council, which runs it jointly with Wealden District Council, describes gentle gradients and a sealed surface along the whole route — which is what makes it rideable on almost anything, from a child’s first geared bike to a touring set-up. The line itself opened in 1880 and closed in 1968 under the Beeching cuts, and the route still passes through Horam, Hailsham and Polegate on its way to the sea.
Because it follows a railway, the trail never gets steep; the old engineers’ gradients are the modern rider’s friend. It is a there-and-back ride for most people, so pick a section, or use the stations and car parks below to join partway. Along the way there are sculptures carved in wood and steel, and brick arch bridges between Hellingly and Horam, so it never feels like a featureless rail corridor. In May the verges carry orange-tip butterflies, wild garlic and orchids, and green woodpeckers are the resident bird.
The Eastbourne end of the trail is at Shinewater Park, and the trail runs north from there toward Heathfield. The two stations on the line are Polegate and Hampden Park, which is the clean way to ride one direction and come back by train — or the reverse. Car parking is listed by the county council at Heathfield, Horam, Hellingly, Hailsham, Polegate and Hampden Park, with horsebox parking at Hellingly.
If you only have a morning, start at Hampden Park station and ride north to Horam or Hailsham and back. If you want the whole route in one direction, park at Heathfield and ride south toward the coast. The trail’s surface and access are described on the East Sussex County Council Cuckoo Trail page, which is where any temporary closure would be posted, so check it before you commit a day.
The whole route is sealed, with no access restrictions: walkers, people with disabilities, cyclists and dogs (kept under control) are all welcome, and cyclists are asked to slow down or stop for other users. That sharing is the one thing to internalise before you ride — it is a family path, not a time trial.
Two things surprise first-time riders. The Heathfield tunnel is closed to the public, so the trail does not run through it. And horse riding is permitted only on two stretches: between Ghyll Road in Heathfield and the A271 at Horsebridge, and between Ersham Road in Hailsham and Hampden Park. Everywhere else the surface is yours and everyone else’s to share.
This is the rule that catches people out, because Eastbourne’s promenade looks like it should all be rideable and mostly is not. Cycling is permitted only on the eastern stretch from Sovereign Gardens to Fishermans Green; no other part of the seafront allows it. That short section forms part of National Cycle Network Route 2, Sustrans’s Brighton-to-Camber route, and the council publishes a code of conduct for it: keep to the cycle path, give way to pedestrians, slow down, stop for the Dotto train, and dismount if the area is crowded. Pedestrians are asked not to obstruct the path in return.
The council page spelling this out was last updated in November 2022, so it is the current published rule set — but it is the page to check, not this article, if you are unsure. The rest of the Victorian front, covered in our seafront piece, is for walking.
For a completely different ride, head inland a few miles to the Pevensey Levels. Rickney Lane is a flat, single-track tarmac lane that carries National Cycle Network Route 2 across the Levels, and it is quiet for a reason worth knowing. For years the lane took heavy HGV traffic from a waste firm at Chilley Farm, which made it dangerous for riders; after a cyclist was hit by an HGV in 2015, the lane was declared unsuitable for HGVs and Wealden District Council refused retrospective planning permission in 2017. The result is a mostly flat, low-traffic lane that suits any bike.
The usual start is Pevensey & Westham railway station: ride east through Pevensey village past Pevensey Castle, round the A27 roundabout on cycle paths toward Wartling Road, then left onto Rickney Lane, signposted for Chilley Farm. Continue past the farm over a redbrick bridge, then turn right onto New Bridge Road toward Herstmonceux Castle, or loop back the way you came. A popular stop is Chilley Farm Shop & Café on Rickney Lane — coffee, snacks and local produce with outdoor seating. The Levels themselves are a Site of Special Scientific Interest and National Nature Reserve, and the birdlife is the reward: lapwings, redshanks and warblers in summer, short-eared owls and hen harriers in winter. It is rural riding — carry water and snacks.
The council’s transport page names two hire providers: App-Bike, a short-term app-based scheme with hubs along the seafront, and Cuckmere Cycle Co. Only App-Bike’s pricing was verifiable when this article was written, so it is the one quoted here.
App-Bike works through a free phone app: download it, view the hubs and live bike availability, unlock a bike by scanning the QR code or selecting it in the app, choose a rate or membership, and lock it with the frame lock and cable whenever you stop. At the end, return the bike to any hub and end the rental in the app. In Eastbourne a standard bike costs £3.00 per hour or £18.00 per 24-hour period, with a temporary holding deposit that may be held against your card and released once the rental is ended. Prices vary by area because some schemes are subsidised, and some locations ask for membership — proof of address or ID — before renting; the app shows which. Cuckmere Cycle Co is the council’s other named provider, and its current prices are best checked on the operator’s own site.
Put the pieces together and a short, achievable loop falls out. Start on the permitted seafront stretch between Sovereign Gardens and Fishermans Green for a flat warm-up with the sea on one side, then cut up to Shinewater Park and ride a section of the Cuckoo Trail north and back — an hour or two on the trail is plenty for younger legs. It is not a signed circuit, but nothing about it is hard: the seafront section is level, the trail is sealed and gently graded, and there are stations and car parks at both ends if legs or enthusiasm run out early. Judge the distance on the day rather than against a figure — the point of the loop is that every metre of it is flat, legal and shared with other families.
For a full day, pair the two rides rather than choosing between them. Do the Cuckoo Trail in the morning — Shinewater Park north to Polegate, or as far as Hailsham if the legs allow — then make for the Levels. The Levels ride described above starts at Pevensey & Westham station, and both that station and Polegate are served by trains to Eastbourne, which is what makes the one-way version easy: ride out, catch the train back, and let the railway do the return leg. The trail gives you the gentle former-railway gradients and the Levels give you flat, open lanes and birds, and between them you have seen the two halves of Eastbourne’s cycling character without a climb worth naming.
The stations that matter are Polegate, Hampden Park and Pevensey & Westham — the joining points for the Cuckoo Trail and the Levels ride. Bike carriage rules vary by operator, by time of day and by how busy the service is, so check the train operator’s bike policy before you plan a one-way ride. The county council names the stations on its Cuckoo Trail page, but the operator’s own conditions are the thing to read.
The Levels are best on a dry, still day — wind and exposed flatland go together, and the birdwatching is better in the quiet. If you are planning around the calendar, note that the Beachy Head Marathon runs on 24 October 2026, with the half marathon the following day, and the roads and paths around Beachy Head will be busy that weekend — check eastbourne.gov.uk or the race’s own site for road information, and expect the Downs rather than the seafront to carry the traffic. For anything else seasonal, the council and organiser pages are the place to look rather than this article.