🥾 Walking route
Additional parking to Fan Bay and South Foreland Lighthouse Circular Trail, White Cliffs
Kent
- 📏 2.5 km · 1.6 mi
- ⛰ +34 m
- ⏱ 30 min
- 🐕 On lead
Walk stats
- Distance2.5 km · 1.6 mi
- Elevation+34 m
- Duration30 min
- DifficultyEasy
- Route typeCircular
- TerrainGrassy clifftop paths, mostly level with gentle rises
- Best seasonLate spring to early autumn for clear Channel views
- DogsDog-friendly on leads near cliffs and livestock
About this walk
This short circular trail on the White Cliffs of Dover packs a lot of coastal drama into just over a mile and a half. Starting from the additional parking area, the path leads out across the clifftop turf towards Fan Bay, where sweeping views open up over the English Channel and, on clear days, across to the French coast.
From Fan Bay the route continues along the cliff edge to South Foreland, the headland crowned by the well-known South Foreland Lighthouse. The Lower Lighthouse and the Visitor Centre linked to the Fan Bay Deep Shelter lie nearby, making it easy to extend the walk if you have more time. The going is gentle, with only around 34 metres of ascent, and the loop returns you neatly to the car park in about half an hour.
Despite its brevity, the walk showcases the very best of this stretch of Kent coastline: chalk grassland, seabirds wheeling below the cliff tops, and those unmistakable white cliffs falling away to the sea.
Route map
Route line drawn from OpenStreetMap footpath data. Numbered markers are waypoints on the route; amber star markers are points of interest a short detour away.
Waypoints along the route
4 waypoints along the way
- 1
Fan Bay
- 2
South Foreland
- 3
Additional parking to Fan Bay and South Foreland Lighthouse Circular Trail, White Cliffs
- 4
White Cliffs of Dover
Worth a short detour
Points of interest just off the route, look for the amber markers on the map.
South Foreland Lower Lighthouse
~330 m off the route
Visitor Centre to Fan Bay Deep Shelter and South Foreland Lighthouse Circiular Trail, White Cliffs
~426 m off the route
Route & waypoint data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).