Self Guided Walking Holidays
on The South Downs Way
A spectacular 100 mile walk stretching across the chalky rolling hillsides of Southern England, from the historic cathedral city of Winchester the South Downs Way wends its way through picture postcard villages onwards to the seaside town of Eastbourne, Sussex. A picturesque and relaxing trek for walkers of all levels of experience.
Official Path Distance
100.0 miles (160.9 km)
A spectacular 100 mile walk stretching across the chalky rolling hillsides of Southern England, from the historic cathedral city of Winchester the South Downs Way wends its way through picture postcard villages onwards to the seaside town of Eastbourne, Sussex. A picturesque and relaxing trek for walkers of all levels of experience.
The South Downs Way gives you a taste of the extensive history and the geology of the South of England. Winchester, Hampshire on the edge of the South Downs National Park is your starting point.
Once the county seat of the Wessex Kings, Winchester is home to many medieval sites, and may be worth an extra night to give you a chance to explore this historic city before setting off on your adventure. Once out on the path you have the chance to experience the wide skies and beautiful landscape, with a mixture of rolling hills, woodland and open patchwork fields knowing that this is a land well-trodden from the Bronze Age to the present day. Evidence of habitation abound, with barrows, Iron Age forts, the Roman trackways, Saxon and Norman churches and castles, windmills intermingle with ancient beacon points as you make your way through the pretty Downs villages of Cocking, Amberley and Alfriston on your way to the seaside town of Eastbourne..