6 Best Day Trips from Brighton
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Brighton has no airport of its own, but it’s brilliantly placed for getting out into Sussex, and you don’t need a car for any of the six trips below. Lewes is the easy default: a direct 17-20 minute train, a castle, and antique shops, doable as a half day without much planning. Seven Sisters is the biggest commitment, worth a full day if you want to actually walk the cliffs rather than just photograph them from a bus stop. If you’d rather skip the bus-timetable planning entirely, a Seven Sisters tour from Brighton handles the logistics for you.
The six trips, at a glance
| Trip | Journey | Time needed |
|---|---|---|
| Lewes | Direct train, 17-20 min | Half day |
| Devil’s Dyke | Bus 77, ~30 min | Half day |
| Seven Sisters/Birling Gap | Bus 12/12A/12X, 75-100 min | Half to full day |
| Eastbourne + Beachy Head | Direct train, 37 min | Half to full day |
| Ditchling + Ditchling Beacon | Bus 79 or weekend village bus | Half day |
| Arundel | Change at Ford, ~1hr | Full day |
Lewes: the easy first day trip
Direct trains from Brighton run frequently and take just 17-20 minutes, which makes Lewes the natural pick if you only have a half day to spare. Climb up to Lewes Castle for the panoramic reward, wander the historic high street and antique shops, and visit Anne of Cleves House if you have an hour to spare on local history. One genuine gotcha: Lewes hosts the world’s biggest Bonfire Night celebration on 5 November, up to 60,000 attendees, and trains stop calling at Lewes from around 5pm that evening until the next morning. Non-residents are actively discouraged from attending by local authorities, so don’t plan a casual visit that day.
Devil’s Dyke: South Downs views, but check the bus first
The Breeze 77 bus from central Brighton, near the Palace Pier, climbs through Prestonville and Westdene to open downland in about 30 minutes. The catch, and it’s worth planning around: the 77 runs weekends and bank holidays year-round, plus weekdays in summer only, it is not a daily service the rest of the year. Get the timing wrong and you’re stuck without a bus back. Once up there, the views over the Weald and the Channel are the payoff, it’s also a popular hang-gliding launch site, and the Devil’s Dyke pub sits right at the terminus for lunch.
Does the Devil’s Dyke bus run every day?
No. The 77 runs weekends and bank holidays year-round, and on weekdays only through summer. Check buses.co.uk for the current timetable before you set out, especially if you’re visiting outside June to September on a weekday, since there may be no bus at all that day.
Seven Sisters and Birling Gap: the biggest day trip on this list
Coaster buses 12, 12A and 12X run from central Brighton, journey time 75-100 minutes, with up to 14 buses an hour combined and each route running every 30 minutes on Sundays. Get off at Birling Gap for the National Trust car park, café, and cliff steps down to the beach, a workable half-day out-and-back if that’s all you want. Walking any real stretch of the cliff path toward Beachy Head turns this into a full day, exposed clifftop with no shade, so bring water and check the forecast. The former Belle Tout Lighthouse, now a B&B, sits on the clifftop between Birling Gap and Beachy Head.
Eastbourne and Beachy Head
A direct train takes just 37 minutes, 8 trains a day, making this a genuinely easy full-day option. From Eastbourne, reach Beachy Head by the 13X bus (hourly, about 20 minutes), by taxi (roughly £10), or on foot if you’re up for a 3-mile, roughly hour-long walk each way.
Ditchling and Ditchling Beacon
A quieter half-day pick. Direct weekend buses run to the village from Brighton, and bus 79 covers the Beacon itself, which at 248 metres is the highest point in East Sussex and sits directly on the South Downs Way. In the village, Wings Place is a Tudor house gifted to Anne of Cleves in her 1541 divorce settlement, and the Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft is worth an hour if you’re into local craft history.
Arundel: castle and cathedral, but budget the full day
There’s no direct train, so you’ll change at Ford, roughly 1hr01 total, around 4 trains a day, fares from about £15 advance-booked. Arundel Castle, founded 1067, and Arundel Cathedral, dedicated 1873 and walkable from the station, are both worth the journey, but the transit time means this only really works as a full day out.
What’s the best order to do Brighton day trips in?
If you’re stringing several together across a longer stay, go Lewes first, then Devil’s Dyke, then Seven Sisters. Lewes is the easiest and lowest-planning add-on, Devil’s Dyke needs its weekend bus schedule factored into the date, and Seven Sisters is the biggest time commitment, best saved for day four or later on a five-day-plus trip.
If you’re basing a longer stay around day trips and want a car for South Downs exploring beyond the bus routes, compare rental options rather than driving in Brighton itself, the city’s Controlled Parking Zones make in-town driving more hassle than it’s worth. For the full day-by-day breakdown of how these trips fit into a longer visit, see our 4-day and 5-day itineraries, and check live times at nationalrail.co.uk before you head out.
One practical habit worth building: check the return bus or train time before you leave Brighton, not after you arrive. Devil’s Dyke and Ditchling Beacon both run on schedules that thin out fast outside summer weekends, and missing the last one back adds hours to your day.