Hi Nicholas. I'd say that the state of surface of the South Downs Way path depends on the amount of recent rain rather than flints or shale (which are common to many UK trails). Being chalk it can be very slippery when wet, but the reverse of that is that it also can be very reflective of sunlight - so sunglasses (shades) are particularly recommended during summer. But these are minor issues compared to the benefits of walking one of England's ancient trails through southern chalk downland, culminating in Beachy Head, part of the Seven Sisters, in my view one of the finest cliff walks in the country.

Hi all, myself and three others are (fingers crossed) flying all the way from the US to do the South Downs way in early June. This is a pretty special trip for us, happens every couple of years at most and my wife and I are (finally) getting a vacation from our lovely-but-demanding son for the first time. We are 35-40 and reasonably fit and can handle the moderate elevation, but I've read several blogs/reviews that say that the surface can be brutal, being mainly chalk, flint, shale etc. We are doing 8 hours per day but are starting to worry about the surface making things a lot less fun. Has anyone walked this or similar trails, and if so, any advice? We could pivot to a different trail if necessary, anywhere in southern England (we've done and enjoyed SW Coast, Costwold and Cornish Coast).