Oh I do like to be beside the seaside (Eastbourne in General)

Member Name: eatingpinkzebras

Product:	Eastbourne in General
Date:	01/08/09 (97 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good shops, restaurants, lots of chips

Disadvantages: Pebbly beach, pier needs a revamp

I have visited Eastbourne quite a few times recently and finally feel qualified to write a review on it.

Eastbourne is a seaside town in the South East of England. It has a bit of a reputation as being a place where older retired people go to spend their last few years, but I think it is much more than that.

The seafront of Eastbourne is very nice. There are many beautiful flower displays along the front which are very well kept and add some colour and prettiness to the town. The buildings along the seafront are also well maintained and their imposing Victorian exteriors add a sense of class to the vista. There is a lovely bandstand where there are often performances on in the weekend evenings, though you do have to pay for these.

There are lots of areas where you can get easy access to the beach either via steps or ramps. Unfortunately the beach is pebbles rather than sand which is a shame and means that paddling and sitting on the beach are considerably less pleasurable than at other seaside resorts.

Eastbourne also has a pier which is quite long and has an observatory on the end of it, though every time I have been this has been shut, perhaps because I have mostly been in off-season. The pier also has a club and amusements hall, a fish and chip shop and a few small independent shops. One sells glassworks, another sells silk flowers, and there is a sweet shop and a clothing store, although the latter two also seem to be shut whenever I go. The pier could do with a bit of a revamp in my opinion.

Shopping in Eastbourne is better than you might expect. There are two shopping centres and most of the major chains can be found in the town. There are also a lot of discount or pound shops if you like that sort of thing. The town centre is nicely compact and easy to navigate, and just a few steps away from the beachfront.

Eateries are easy to find in Eastbourne. There are a few chains, a number of independent places, and of course lots of fish and chip shops. The best of these in my opinion is Harry Ramsden's which is on the seafront and has some outdoor seating as well as indoor tables, so you can watch the sea whilst you eat. It is expensive but they do free chip refills which I think is a great idea!

If you have kids there are a few options with which to entertain them. There is a swimming baths, plus Fort Fun or Treasure Island which have soft play areas, etc. Princes Park is also nearby which has miniature golf and a lake where you can hire pedaloes. There is also of course a cinema.

Adults may like visiting the large harbour where you can walk round and look at all the boats, then have a drink or a meal in one of the restaurants or bars along the edge which overlook the water.

There are lots of places which are easy to get to from Eastbourne including the lovely little town of Lewes or the more well known city of Brighton. Various castles are also within driving distance, plus you can visit Beachy Head which is a lovely beauty spot on a cliff with a restaurant at the top.

Eastbourne is not somewhere I would choose to go for a holiday but you could do worse and it's certainly not a bad place to visit occasionally.

Summary: Nice place to visit