Activities in Eastbourne

Head to our Eastbourne beaches page to find out more about Grand Parade, Birling Gap, Holywell Retreat and more.

If it’s family fun you’re after, Eastbourne is the spot. The 19th-century 300-metre long Eastbourne Pier is a great place to start, packed with amusement arcades, cafés, a fish and chip shop and several prime fishing spots. Just along the beach and past the Redoubt Fortress you’ll find Treasure Island Adventure Park, a small nautical-themed park complete with a soft play, paddling pool, playground and mini golf.

A five-minute walk up the coast from there is Fort Fun, a great place to bring the kids regardless of the weather. Outdoors, there’s a water park with slides, cannons and splash pools, as well as a huge climbing frame, while indoors there’s a big soft play.

Leaving from the Sovereign Marina, the Sussex Voyages Boat Trips are a great way to explore the stunning white chalk cliffs and mile-after-mile of beaches with a variety of trips on offer. Or if locomotive travel is the one for you, the Eastbourne Miniature Steam Railway is a great family day out thanks to the train line, teeming lake, playground and café.

Another great day out for little ones is Sharnfold Farm and Drusillas Zoo Park. Sharnfold Farm is near our Eastbourne Polegate hotel and is a great place to pick your own berries, explore their large playground and farm trail and also pick up some amazing farm-fresh produce. Drusillas Zoo Park, meanwhile, is aimed at kids aged two to 10 years old and is home to lemurs, meerkats, penguins and more, as well as a Safari Express Train ride, café and adventure play area.

If you’re looking for something targeted towards older children or adults, Campbell Circuit Go-Karting is a long-running go-kart track and museum that’s been burning rubber for 25 years. The 50mph karts have 650m of track in front of them including hairpins, long corners and straights, making it a fast and challenging course that’s just a five-minute drive from our Eastbourne Polegate hotel.

With 16 different arenas spread over 85 acres, Ultimate Paintball Eastbourne is located 15 miles north of Eastbourne and is a great way to blow off some steam and take down your enemies in a flurry of coloured paint.

We’ve saved the most sedate for last. The Royal Eastbourne Golf Club is a prestigious 27-hole course constructed in 1887, located in the heart of Eastbourne and a few hefty irons from the golf course. With a nine-hole or full 18-hole course, clubhouse, two putting greens, a short pitching area and a well-equipped shop, it’s the leading golf club in the area.

The Eastbourne International, held annually at Devonshire Park, is one of the UK's leading tennis tournaments. With past champions like Andy Roddick, and Novak Djokovic, it attracts some of the world's top players for a week-long grass court competition. Situated just south of the town centre, the tennis club is a short walk from our Town Centre hotel, keeping you close to the action.

Open daily and aimed at kids aged 0-12, Pup Station is a short walk from the Arndale Centre and an excellent soft play centre packed with slides, ball pits, netting and a café bearing coffee and homemade cake – winner winner all round!

Over towards the marina, you’ll find Sovereign Centre Leisure Swimming, a spacious swimming complex with wave pools, flumes, diving pool, steam room and sauna. Plus, just nearby is the Cineworld Cinema, a six-screen 2D and 3D complex showing all the latest Hollywood and blockbuster action.  

My Skate World is a 10,000 square feet covered roller skate park with a booming sound system, lighting rig, café and pool and air hockey room, perfect for showing off your best moves. There are hundreds of sets of skates to hire, as well as a range of lessons with 12 instructors and targeted sessions for kids, youths and families.

Finally, try your hand at a tricky seven-10 split at Tenpin Eastbourne up near Hampden Park. With 20 lanes, a popular café and bar, table tennis, arcade games and cosmic bowling at night time, it’s a great way to spend a few hours with friends or family.

The endearingly-named Cuckoo Trail is a 14-mile country route that follows the former ‘Cuckoo Line’ railway track and stretches from Heathfield to Eastbourne Park, passing through Horam, Hailsham and Polegate. With an easy gradient and surfaced, largely traffic-free paths, it’s a great family ride.

At nearly 50 km long, the Eastbourne to Rye National Cycle Route 2 is a little more challenging, but with largely flat coastal paths, it’s not too taxing as it starts at Eastbourne Pier and takes in Cooden Beach, Hastings and finally, Rye.

Part of the huge South Downs park, Friston Forest is home to four mountain bike trails of varying difficulty, ranging from relatively easy family paths to the fast and flowing downhill ride.

A lovely town to walk around, get the most out of the history and sights to see with the Eastbourne Walking Tours, 90-minute guided tours that starts and finishes at the Pier, with tickets including a cream tea on the Pier.

A walking concept that we can very much get behind, Fizz on Foot Tours combines the south coast’s emerging wine industry with country walks from vineyard to vineyard – with tastings on the way. Choose from walking, wine and walking or wine, food and walking tours and discover the winemakers, bars and pubs that are putting the sparkle into the UK’s wine industry.

Finally, for those looking to mix culture with their exercise, the Coastal Culture Trail is an 18-mile trek that runs from Jerwood Gallery to Towner in Eastbourne, taking in a number of cultural hotspots on the way. And Bexhill Bicycle Centre and Let’s Bike in Eastbourne operate bike-hire systems that let you return the bike at another stop on the trail, easing any logistical headaches.