Subhashree.Ayyappan
Jul 2026
4
Step-free and lovely - just plan your Changing Places stop at The Beacon
We visited on a hot day in July 2026 with our son, a 19-year-old wheelchair user with cerebral palsy.
The pier itself is genuinely accessible — step-free out along the deck, wide and flat, with lots of seating and level access into the cafés and amusements. Relaxed, easy wheeling and lovely sea views.
Getting there was smooth: Eastbourne station is fully step-free (Category A, with staff and a boarding ramp), then a gentle roll downhill to the seafront (a bit of a push back up). We came by train — book Passenger Assist ahead. Honest tip: on a very hot day the trains ran slow (heat speed restrictions), so allow extra time.
The main thing to plan is changing/hoisting: there's no Changing Places on the pier itself. The nearest is at The Beacon shopping centre in town — ground floor, next to TUI. It isn't well signed, so we asked a staff member, who kindly lent us a RADAR key and showed us the way. Full-size bench and hoist, clean and roomy. (There's also one on the seafront by the Bandstand, but that needs a council membership key, so The Beacon was far easier.)
One important heads-up if your child uses a larger specialist wheelchair: we'd hoped to take the seafront land train, but the driver explained the ramp only takes a standard-sized wheelchair — our son's CAPS 2 chair couldn't board. Worth knowing before you plan around it.
Overall a genuinely accessible, gentle seaside day — just build a Changing Places stop at The Beacon into your plan, and don't count on the land train for a larger chair. We'll be back.
We visited on a hot day in July 2026 with our son, a 19-year-old wheelchair user with cerebral palsy.
The pier itself is genuinely accessible — step-free out along the deck, wide and flat, with lots of seating and level access into the cafés and amusements. Relaxed, easy wheeling and lovely sea views.
Getting there was smooth: Eastbourne station is fully step-free (Category A, with staff and a boarding ramp), then a gentle roll downhill to the seafront (a bit of a push back up). We came by train — book Passenger Assist ahead. Honest tip: on a very hot day the trains ran slow (heat speed restrictions), so allow extra time.
The main thing to plan is changing/hoisting: there's no Changing Places on the pier itself. The nearest is at The Beacon shopping centre in town — ground floor, next to TUI. It isn't well signed, so we asked a staff member, who kindly lent us a RADAR key and showed us the way. Full-size bench and hoist, clean and roomy. (There's also one on the seafront by the Bandstand, but that needs a council membership key, so The Beacon was far easier.)
One important heads-up if your child uses a larger specialist wheelchair: we'd hoped to take the seafront land train, but the driver explained the ramp only takes a standard-sized wheelchair — our son's CAPS 2 chair couldn't board. Worth knowing before you plan around it.
Overall a genuinely accessible, gentle seaside day — just build a Changing Places stop at The Beacon into your plan, and don't count on the land train for a larger chair. We'll be back.
