Why a winter break in Britain's sunniest resort is the tonic we all need

The Seven Sisters Cliffs, Eastbourne trips, Blue Monday, Winter sun - VisitEastbourne
The Seven Sisters Cliffs, Eastbourne trips, Blue Monday, Winter sun - VisitEastbourne

Three orange-billed oyster catchers fly in to land on the beach as if to greet me as I brave a morning sea swim below a paling sky. The sun rises into the cloudless blue.

I am an addict. My work, friendships and family life all suffer. My addiction? Winter sunshine. I can’t bear to be indoors. The first brilliant sunlight and I’m in shorts and t-shirt – or in the sea – as if summer is here.

December was the dullest since 1956 with an average of just 27.6 hours of sunshine says the Met office. Now, in January, the eye of Heaven has been burning bright. So I went to the coast.

Eastbourne claims the title of sunniest resort in the UK. This is based on UK Met office statistics which show that the East Sussex town enjoyed the sunniest single month in recorded history – 383.9 hours in July. In, ahem, July 1911 that is, over a century ago. Understandably, other destinations like to boast of more recent data. The Isle of Wight for instance holds the record for annual average sunshine hours, says the Met office.

 Seven Sisters on the East Sussex coast, sunniest place in England - Getty
Seven Sisters on the East Sussex coast, sunniest place in England - Getty

To be fair, much of Britain has enjoyed clear skies (or, in London, pollution) these past few days as high pressure has dominated and looks set to do so for most of this week. This weather brings out the best in us. Strangers smile and greet each other. “Someone else in shorts?! I thought I’d be the only mad one!” says a man as we pass on the coastal path from Eastbourne to Cuckmere Haven, a rollercoaster walk of some nine miles and over 500ft of ascent up and down Beachy Head and the dazzling white cliff faces of the Seven Sisters, that draw tourists from around the world.

There is a newly revamped visitors’ centre at the top of Beachy Head, 40 minutes’ hike from the western end of Eastbourne’s four-mile long promenade (or an easy ride on an e-bike from exciting new Cadence Cycles.)

The Beachy Head Story opened last May. Small but perfectly formed, the centre – which is free to enter – explains the history of this beautiful headland from millions of years ago until the present. The stories that accompany the fossils, ancient tools and the skeleton of a woman who died here two millennia ago, all evoke the magic of the place. As do the projections and sounds of sea creatures, sheep bells and skylarks.

Eastbourne trips, holidays in the UK
Eastbourne trips, holidays in the UK

The text too is full of pathos; a poignant reminder of our brief existence. "The Beaker people, Celts, Romans and Saxons…We piece their lives together through finding the things they dropped, discarded or buried… We know they were here, living… loving… laughing… mourning… feeling all the things we feel today yet separated by generations. That separation shouldn’t make them distant though. Spend time on the Downs; listen, feel the wind on your face and smell the air. Some of those sensations are the same these people experienced. In those moments the past can seem very close indeed.”

I snap back into the modern world with a pint of lime and soda in the Beachy Head Inn next door before continuing westwards. Tourists lean dangerously over the cliffs to photograph the stripy lighthouse while stonechats perch easily on yellow flowering gorse.

After passing the teetering cottages of Birling Gap I stop for a picnic in what the map says is Flagstaff Bottom, one of the low points between two of the ‘sisters’. I lie on long dry grass loosely embroidered with the finest strands of spider silk that shimmer in an almost imperceptible breeze. A flock of black backed gulls pass below the cliff edge. The sea is flat, calm and glitters brightly. The only sound is that of gentle waves breaking on pebbles far below. I would not be here if it weren’t for this sunshine. This is what holidays are all about. No wonder sunlight reduces stress levels and lowers blood pressure. Not to mention making Vitamin D and zapping bacteria.

Eastbourne Beaches - VisitEastbourne
Eastbourne Beaches - VisitEastbourne

When I reach the snaking Cuckmere river, a bird of prey is quartering the golden grassland. “A short-eared owl,” says a twitcher clasping his massive camera lens. “They’re winter visitors from Scandinavia.” Dozens of twitchers are out to catch a glimpse.

The afternoon sun gilds the grass in the valley where chunks of pale winter sky are scattered, reflected in water everywhere, including the puddled path. The clifftops though had been mostly dry; December’s abundant rain filtering through the chalk beneath.

I catch the number 12 bus back to Eastbourne (£3.30), sitting on the top deck for sunset views. On the seafront, another avian attraction is underway: the evening murmuration of starlings above the pier. With the town and headland silhouetted against a lilac sky bleeding to a cadmium orange horizon, hundreds of birds flicker and shape-shift, a space-ship one moment, an exclamation mark the next.

Eastbourne too is changing; morphing from its identity as a pensioners’ enclave. The Victorian resort is becoming popular with a more youthful crowd, as evidenced by its newest seafront hotel. Port Hotel opened in May 2021 and already features in fashion magazines. Its daring matt black facade in a seafront painted mostly white, has “challenged the norm and certainly announced our arrival”, says lawyer turned property developer turned hotelier, Peter Cadwallader, who was amused to learn that a coat of paint could cause controversy.

Eastbourne, holidays in the UK, staycation, sunny places in Britain for holidays
Eastbourne, holidays in the UK, staycation, sunny places in Britain for holidays

Cadwallader has chosen Eastbourne for the first of what he intends to be several similar properties around the UK, “a new British seaside hotel brand.” As well as the resort's sunny reputation, the town is “on the up” he says. “With changing work patterns, where people only go into the office once or twice a week, young families are moving here to live. London is only 90 minutes on the train.” As for attractions, “the Towner is one of the best art galleries in the country and there’s a lively theatre scene,” he says. “There’s some beautiful architecture too but the best thing is the South Downs.”

Port Hotel is all cork and terrazzo and Farrow & Ball paints with names such as Dead Salmon. The minimalist rooms feature baths with sea views and Haeckels’ bladderwrack & fennel hand soap in pump dispensers. The menus highlight how old I am. Not only is the font impossibly small but some of the ingredients are puzzling. Sriracha? Yuzu?

What I do know is that Luka, the personable bar manager, makes a mean margarita that I enjoy with a plate of delicious spicy red lentil dip and homemade nigella seed crisp breads while I stare into a backlit pink onyx circle behind the bar that is like a permanently setting sun.

For more amazing places to stay, read Telegraph Travel's guide to the best hotels in East Sussex

The details: Port Hotel costs from £120 per night for a double room. Breakfast not included (01323 438526; porthotel.co.uk).