Introduction:

The 106 miles of the South Downs Way runs from Eastbourne to Winchester. It follows an exhilarating bridleway route along the rolling chalk downs of Sussex and Hampshire. The route follows prehistoric droveways that have been in use for some 5,000 years, and numerous Bronze Age round barrows decorate the trail. Comparative newcomers are the Iron Age Hill forts between Devil's Dyke and Old Winchester Hill. The eastern portion of the path follows a ridge of open chalk downland dotted with clumps of trees through agricultural areas given to sheep grazing. Several species of wild orchids can be found on the Downs, which also abound in butterflies. The views across the Weald and the Channel are wonderful. Closer to the coast the high chalk cliffs of Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters dominate the scene, and the path crosses the lovely Meon Valley en route to its conclusion. (Extract adapted from Britain Express)

The best web sites for General Information and Planning:

Ramblers Association A comprehensive site providing details on the route. Includes an accommodation guide, booking service providers, maps required.
South East National Trails This Official site for the walk is comprehensive with lots of useful information on the route. Has just about everything needed for planning the walk.
South Downs Way Walk A unique service is provided here. Each year a walk is organised. Walkers are picked up by coach each morning and are taken to the start of the day's walk. At the end of each day the coaches take everyone back to their joining point. As a 'supported' rather than a 'guided' walk everybody is free to walk at their own pace.

The best web sites for Guided Walking:

H F Holidays Full guided walking service for the South Downs Way.

The web sites that organise your accommodation and baggage transfer:

Xplore Britain Full range of self guided walking services.
Sherpa Walking Holidays Full range of self guided walking services.
Footprints of Sussex Locally based walking holidays, accommodation and baggage transfer service who specialise on the South Downs Way.

The best web sites for you to plan your accommodation:

S H Systems Excellent range of accommodation. Just type in the location to bring up a list of accommodation in the area. You can sort them by price, postcode or rating.
South East National Trails The site has an extensive list of accommodation providers.
Footprints of Sussex Locally based walking holidays, accommodation and baggage transfer service who specialise on the South Downs Way.
Ramblers Association Includes a comprehensive web listing of accommodation.

(Note - finding suitable walkers accommodation on the web is a minefield. It is best to search for accommodation by searching for it in a specific place. If you don't then you will spend ages wasting your time trawling large databases and getting nowhere fast. I have done so many times. In my experience S H Systems has proved to be most useful)

The best personal journals of the walk:

Peter Chatfield Peter completes a lovely journal of the walk.
Christopher Weddell Christopher's blog report is a welcome addition to the collection.
Clinton Andrews A good journal with lots of photographs.

The sites for safety advice and emergency services:

Trigpoint Hillwalking - has been providing training, and ongoing support, in land navigation (comprehensive map reading) on the Southdown's, since 2002, for anyone from the beginner wanting to find out what it's all about to the seasoned walker wanting to brush up on their land navigation skills, allowing the student to progress from introduction to advanced status.
Ramblers Association Practical walking advice including a guide to map reading, navigation and a detailed list of the essential gear required on a long distance walk.
Ramblers Association Essential safety guide with clear web site navigation.
Mountain Rescue UK You may need them so take their advice.

This site conforms to W3C XHTML 1.0, HTML 4.0 and CSS standards.

Copyright © 2003 - 2008 Walking Englishman. All rights reserved.

This page is built using validated W3C XHTML 1.0 & CSS codes.