Great Wessex Way
A 165-mile long-distance walk paying tribute to Wessex, the “Kingdom of the West Saxons”. Beginning in Salisbury and ending in Lyme Regis, the walk visits many of the historic region’s most celebrated and revered places. With map, statistics, and GPX route file.
Statistics and Files
Grid Ref: SU 142 295
Distance: 165 miles (266 km)
Time: 70–82 hours
Duration: 10–14 days
Ordnance Survey Explorer Maps (1:25,000):
OL15 Purbeck and South Dorset
116 Lyme Regis and Bridport
117 Cerne Abbas and Bere Regis
118 Shaftesbury and Cranborne Chase
130 Salisbury, Stonehenge, Wilton and Market Lavington
Summary
The Great Wessex Way is a long-distance walking route exploring the traditional, fabled, and beautiful area historically titled the “Kingdom of the West Saxons”. Places visited along the Great Wessex Way include the city of Salisbury and its cathedral, Bockerley Dyke, Pentridge Hill, the Roman Road of Ackling Dyke, Cranborne, Farnham village, Tollard Royal, Win Green, Shaftesbury and Gold Hill, Fontmell and Melbury Downs, Ashmore, Hambledon and Hod Hills, Milton Abbas, Bere Regis, Wareham, Corfe Castle, Swanage, Worth Matravers, Swyre Head, Kimmeridge Bay, Tyneham, Lulworth, Lulworth Cove, Portland, the Hardy Monument, Little Bredy, Abbotsbury, West Bay, Bridport, Golden Cap, and Lyme Regis. The way links and shares stretches of walking with numerous other routes, including The Hardy Way, The Wessex Heights Walk, The Wessex Ridgeway, The Jubilee Trail, The Stour Valley Way, The Wareham Forest Way, The Purbeck Way, The South West Coast Path, The South Dorset Ridgeway, The Monarch’s Way, and The Macmillan Way.