dossier

The South Downs Way

General Information

Duration of tour: 8 days (7nights) or 10 days (9 nights)

Season:  mid April to October

Joining point:  Alfriston (for Eastbourne)

End oftour:  Buriton (Petersfield)in Hampshire, on the 8 daytour OR Winchester in Hampshire on the 10 day tour.

Gettingto the Start

Outward journey from London tostarting point: By train from London Victoria toBerwick (Sussex) . Hourly service, changing at Lewes, normally taking 1hr 30mins.  At  Berwick you can catch a short bus hop or taxi to Alfriston. 

Inward journey to London at end of tour:  From Petersfield (8 day tour) trains at least twice hourly toLondon taking 1 hour 20 min.  From  Winchester there are direct trains to LondonWaterloo. There are as many as 4 services an hour taking just over an hour.Services are direct.

Your Accommodation

Please note that below we described our usualaccommodations.  If they are notavailable for the dates that you book we will endeavor to use alternativeaccommodation of a similar standard.

Night 1 & 2: In Alfriston:  A (modernized!)13^th Century Inn which combines the charm of ancient tradition withcomfortable accommodation.  The placewas well known to smugglers, who brought their stash up the CuckmereRiver.  It was also a drinking venue fortroops awaiting embarkation to fight in the Napoleonic wars.  There is also a Sanctuary Post, where peopleon the run could claim protection if they managed to touch the wood.

Night 3: In Rodmell: Our small guesthouse isrun by Mrs Frasier who will make you more than welcome tonight.

Night 4: At Clayton we stay at a country pubwith pleasant rooms and outlook near to the local windmills. Good food and beerare available.

Night 5:  Steyning  has an excellent hotel in the High Street wherewe stay, and it is a favorite of the tour. Once a Georgian Merchant’s house,built in 1772, it has been sympathetically converted into a charming tenbedroom Bed & Breakfast Hotel, offering the personal attention and comfortassociated with a small, privately owned establishment.In the lounge there is a fully licensed bar with an adjoining Victorianconservatory overlooking the attractive country garden.

Night 6 : In Amberley  our cottage is in a marvelous rural setting. Rooms have excellentelevated views of the “Wildbrooks.” They are not en suite but have “luxury”private bathrooms. There is also an extra washroom and drying room if you arereally mucky from the walk. 

Night 7 :  In Cockingwe stay at a splendid little listedbuilding dating back to 1815.  Theycannot make their rooms en suite because they would have to knock downprotected walls.  Walkers are especiallywelcome and drying facilities are available on request.  Each room is decorated to the higheststandard, retaining the original charm of the place, which also forms thepopular village tearooms.

10 Day Tour Extension Accommodation:

Night 8:  At EastMeon we are a little off the route, but we have found a nice guesthousebelow the Downs. It is set in a three-acre garden, on a quiet countrylane about half a mile above the picturesque Doomsday village. The house issurrounded by open farmland and most of the rooms havesuperb views of the Downs.

 Night 9: InWinchester:  We stay at a charming Victorian brick-and-flint houseideally situated in a quiet street in an old part of the town near theCathedral, Winchester College and a few minutes' walk from the center. Allbedrooms are light and comfortable with garden views, and have colortelevisions and tea/coffee facilities; these are non en suite,however.

Please note that a couple of the accommodations on this tourare not en suite, and although we try to book them, the availability of ensuite rooms is not guaranteed in some of the other night stops.

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Outline Itinerary

Day 1: Alfriston: Travel to Alfriston, explore theMediaeval town and amble by the Cuckmere River.  This is one of the mostbeautiful villages in the Downs. The large church in the village is oftencalled "the Cathedral of the Downs". The village is also home to thefirst property of the National trust, the Clergy House. It is said that thesite of the Star Inn is where Alfred burnt his cakes. Alfred gave the area toone of his warlords, Aelfric, as a fief in rewards for battle valor.

Day 2:   Eastbourne- Alfriston: (12 miles from Eastbourne Station/19.3 km) A Fantastic walk in reasonableweather conditions. Short morning train ride via Berwick, (or taxi ride) toEastbourne (at own expense), quick look along the Victorian Promenade (icecream?) and then start the walk up to Beachy head cliffs overlooking the famousLighthouse. Rollercoaster along the “Seven Sisters” group of chalk down cliffs, until the scenery changes atCuckmere Haven, a real beauty spot where the  Cuckmere river meanderslazily down to the sea. Walk up the valley and across hillside footpaths toLittlington with its  attractive pub andtea shops before the last section across water meadows  back to Alfriston.

Day 3: Alfriston  -Rodmell (9.5 miles/ 15.2km ) The Way rises up onto the high Downsreaching a high point on this section at Firle Beacon. Walk across farmland,until you reach the River Ouse gap near Rodmell. Fans of the Bloomsbury groupof Bohemian artists will be keen to make an off route  diversion to Alciston, Berwick and West Firle with various pubsand teashops. Rodmell Village  has a  pub and the “Monk’s House, where VirginiaWoolf used to live.

Day 4:  Rodmell -  Clayton: ( 14 miles/ 22.5 km) After theOuse the trail climbs above the historic town of Lewes.  This section takes you up onto the highestparts of the Downs, round the back of the Brighton and Worthing conurbation,following mainly grassy tracks. You go over the highest point on the route atDitchling Beacon 248 m . You may find an ice cream van up here in summer.Eventually, passing lark filled skies, the white “Jack and Jill“ Claytonwindmills greet you on your descent down to Clayton.

Day 5:  Clayton -  Steyning: (10 miles/ 16 km)  Theroute ascends and  descends via the“Devil’s  Dyke” – said to be the World’slargest  chalk dry valley. There is apub restaurant here, great views and circular walks that you can do if you wantto spend more time on the  heights. Wethen walk on  through the parish ofUpper Beeding  to  drop down to the Ardur River Valley. Therefollows another lovely stretch of The Downs with great views down to thevillages below and ancient historical features abound such as Tumuli burialmounds and cross dykes. We descend off the Down to Steyning, a busy littlecountry town with some nice shops.

Day6:  Steyning – Amberley: (11 miles/17.7km) Commence with a steepclimb  up to the fascinatingChanctonbury Ring – a Bronze Age hill fort settlement with one or two ghoststories attached to it. The Way then drops steeply to cross the A24 road andthen climbs once again for the leg above the town of Storrington, wherebeautiful Downland  trails or a minorroad  from Chantry Post, can be used tomake a pub diversion  to this town.  The trail etches its way over the fields andthrough pockets of forest to reach and descend to the attractive Triptych of villages: Amberley, Houghton andBury on the lazily meandering River Arun. This is a beautiful rural setting,looking up at Downs rather than down from Ups.

Day 7:Amberley  - Cocking  (12 miles/ 19.3 km)  The Waynext follows flinty trails up Bury Hill, from where there is a footpath off TheDowns to the Roman Villa remains at Bignor, and continues over Bignor Hill andits viewpoint (225m). There are many interesting historical features todayincluding a couple of minutes on the Roman Road called Stane Street thatconnected Chichester with London. You could practice your navigation trying tofind the Neolithic Camp just off of the route. Chichester Cathedral isalso visible seaward. Descending into the Dry valley of the A285, there is thena steep climb up to a point from where it is about 0.25 miles South (offroute); to the highest point on the South Downs at Crown Tegleaze at 253m.  The route undulates across the scarpslope the Downs, soon entering dark and sometimes muddy woodland beforedropping down to the A286 on Cocking Hill, from where it is a mile into Cockingvillage itself.

Day 8:  Cocking Departafter breakfast you will be driven over to Petersfield Railway Station for yourdeparture on mainline rail services from the downs.

10 Day Tour Extension:

The original SouthDowns Way ran as far as Buriton until the extension to Winchester was added inthe late 1980s.  Purists may decide thatthe additional rolling landscape to Winchester, does not constitute ‘The Downs’proper, but those with more time might like to complete the 100 miles toWinchester.

Day 8:  Cocking toEast Meon (18 miles/29 km)  A convoluted section often on woodlandtrails. Interesting features, including the Devil’s Jumps tumuli; a group oflarge ancient burial hillocks. There is also Beacon Hill, an Iron Age Hill fortthat you can pass over on the trail, which still has vestiges of the oldramparts and views towards Chichester Harbour. Next you will be winding aroundabove the attractive villages of Harting with its impressive looking copperedchurch spire and then Buriton.  You candecide whether to walk down to village. This is an attractive SpringlineVillage with a series of ponds. The walk continues above  Buriton, climbing and then descending through the Queen Elizabeth Country Park.(There is a café). You then climb steeply up Butser Hill with Bronze Age fieldpatterns etched upon it. The route then undulates over The Downs into some vastarable and wooded countryside, before dropping off route towards ouraccommodation near East Meon.

Day 9: East Meon to Winchester (16 miles/ 26km) Onceback on the route we have a steep climb up to “Old Winchester Hill,” a NationalNature Reserve and Iron Age Fortress from where the isle of Wight can be seenon a clear day. Descend  beside abeautiful clear chalk stream in which you may see Brown Trout gliding about. Ataround lunchtime, The necklace of Meon Valley villages: Exton, Corhampton andMeonstoke are all within a mile of each other and are beautiful places to  river watch and to quaff beer by as the MeonRiver flows idly by.  The final half dayis spent rolling over fields until at last Winchester comes into view!

Day 10: Depart from Winchester.  A gem of a town, the ancient capital ofEngland and the kingdom of Wessex before that. The cathedral has the longestnave in Britain and there is a beautiful walk (flat at last! ) down through the water meadows to St. Cross.Where  a “Dole” of bread  and Ale can still be obtained from themonastic buildings there. You should have plenty of time to look round  before you have to take one of the many trains out of town, or if you are reallyenjoying Winchester why not take an extra night?

Included

Bed and breakfast accommodation with en suite facilities whereavailable.  Luggage transfers from Innto Inn during the tour, and transfer from Alfriston to Eastbourne on day 2 andtransfer from Buriton to Petersfield on day 8 (of the 8 day tour).  Full route book with maps and notes onfinding your accommodation locations. Transport and transfers to and from train stations at the start and endof the tour are not included, nor are bus/train/taxi fares during thetour.   

Extend your stay

Extra nights: Extra nights are possible at any point in the tour.    Contact our office for details.

Please note: