South Downs
South Downs Way
By
Simon Heptinstall
- Distance: 99 miles (159km)
- Duration: Nine days
- Start point: Winchester
- End point: Eastbourne
- Difficulty: Moderate to easy – relatively short and very easy to navigate; few very steep climbs, though a lot of walking up and down small hills
- Suitable for: Any reasonably fit walker, including families; can also be cycled
You’ll walk through landscapes of rolling hills and breezy fields of corn, passing numerous pretty villages with thatched cottages, historic pubs and gardens bursting with blooms. And there’s a fitting final-day climax as you rollercoaster your way up and down the majestic chalk cliffs known as the Seven Sisters before reaching the beaches of Eastbourne for a celebratory ice cream.
Most of the gradients are reassuringly manageable along the pleasant chalk hills of the South Downs Way, and the weather down here is usually pretty favourable.