South Downs National Park Route: 8 days

Winchester can be reached from Southampton or Gatwick airports. If you start your journey from London, you can take the train at London Waterloo station, or a bus from London Victoria Coach Station.

Winchester is one of England's historic capital cities, located on the edge of South Downs National Park, so you can enjoy both the city and the surrounding countryside.

Its best-known tourist attraction is Winchester Cathedral, visited by about 300,000 people a year.

Overnight in Winchester

Your tour of the English fields will take you east of Winchester, to the village of Chilcomb, known for its thatched houses. The path will continue through Exton, where you can get to know Exton Park and the Anglican Church of St. Peter and Paul.

You'll pass the Old Winchester Hill Nature Reserve and finally reach East Meon, where you can't help but visit its parish with Bronze Age burial mounds and an Iron Age fort.

Overnight in East Meon

Walk through the geological conservation area of Butser Hill, located at the top of the South Downs limestone hills. Continue through the Queen Elizabeth Country Park with an area of 2,000 acres of woods, Beacon Hill and Warren Bottom, to the village of Cocking.

Overnight in Cocking

Today's tour will take you through the Heyshott Down Nature Reserve, a very important habitat for the conservation of mosses and plants belonging to the group of liverworts.

You will also walk along Graffham Down, with 31 hectares of green pastures and forests that are home to large populations of dormice and butterflies.

You will continue through the Arun Valley with beautiful views of the coast until you reach Washington.

Overnight in Washington

You will begin with an ascent towards Chanctonbury Ring, which has ancestral significance, and can be recognized by the ring of beech trees that were planted on its top by Charles Goring. You will follow a descent on the beautiful slope of Steyning Bowl, from it you will have views over the rural village of Steyning.

The route will continue through Fulking Hills, Devil's Dyke and the village of West Hill, until you reach Pyecombe, a village that continues the history of grazing in the lowlands and with a historic pub, The Plough Inn, a well-known place of passage for horse carriages in the Victorian era.

Overnight in Pyecombe

We recommend starting this day's walk early, starting on a quiet path overlooking the Jack and Jill windmills, passing through the village of Southease, located west of the River Ouse and with a church built in honour of St. Peter.

Once on Bostall Hill, you will begin the descent towards the finishing point for today, Alfriston, located on the banks of the River Cuckmere.

Overnight in Alfriston

Today you will walk through Cuckmere Valley, where the villages of Litlington and Westdean are located; and you can see how the river meets the sea.

The path continues overlooking the cliffs of the towering Seven Sisters, within a heritage-listed coastal area, and the chalk headlands at Beachy Head.

The last stretch of your walk will be through Meads Village, where you can enjoy the Victorian architecture of its streets and the colourful houses built in the centre of the village.

Thirty more minutes of walking will take you to Eastbourne, a town with a variety of activities to do and places to get to know, such as theme parks, art galleries and zoos.

Overnight in Eastbourne

The nearest airport for your return is London Gatwick, where you will find connections to both inside and outside the UK. You can travel to central London by train or bus.

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