Hampshire Walking Activities

New Forest Outdoor Activities Hampshire

The New Forest is the centre of recreation in Hampshire and the South East. Amongst the forests and heathland there is a network of footpaths and cycle routes that lend themselves to leisurely exploration of the New Forest National Park. The New Forest Tour bus offers you a way of getting round the New Forest without having to take your car. It's a hop-on hop-off service and you can book space for your bike.

With the New Forest being home to New Forest ponies it's logical that horse riding is another popular way to visit the New Forest. Check the New Forest weblink right for listing of riding stables within the National Park. The Beaulieu River is suitable for watersports and you can hire kayaks and Canadian canoes in Beaulieu or book onto the courses offered. Check the New Forest Activities link right for other activities you can practice in the New Forest such as archery, bush craft and high ropes courses.

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The Solent Way Long Distance Coastal Walk

You can pick up The Solent Way which starts at Milford-on-Sea. The path takes you along the entire Hampshire coast from Milford-on-Sea to Emsworth Harbour in the far east of Hampshire. It runs for 60 miles along the Solent coast taking in some of the country's most important naval history sites as well as pretty, historic harbours like that at Lymington.

The route is waymarked with a seabird on a green background. Check out The Solent Way website, link right which breaks the route down into shorter sections and giving you an idea of what you can see along the way.

Check out the Hampshire County Council link right for a downloadable leaflet of the trail.

Avon Valley Path

The Avon Valley Path actually starts at Salisbury in Wiltshire and travels 34 miles south through Hampshire and then on to Christchurch in Dorset. The path passes through the New Forest along its western border.

The route is sub-divided into five sections which taken individually make a good day out walking. The Avon is a chalk river with abundant wildlife along its banks including water and hay meadows, ditches and streams which are excellent for birdwatching.

You can download The Avon River Path from the link right.

The Test Valley Way

The Test Valley follows the line of the River Test which runs through the western countryside of Hampshire. The clear waters of the chalk stream of the River Test is particularly well renowned for its trout fishing. The River Test flows for twenty miles in Hampshire through the villages of Stocksbridge and Romsey. It was on the River Test that fly fishing was founded when Frederick Halford worked up the dry fly fishing techniques that underpin flying fishing today. Brown trout, rainbow trout, grayling, sea trout and salmon can all be fished on the River Test. The trout season runs from mid April to early October with Grayling in season from mid June to mid March; meaning that the river is open for fly fishing for 11 months of the year.

The open countryside around the river stretches into the North Wessex Downs Area of Natural Beauty. Here you can explore chalk downs, semi-natural woodlands and chalk streams.

You can pick up the Test Way walk around Andover as it passes through some of Hampshire's traditional villages such as Stocksbridge, Romsey or Totton. It stretches 44 miles along the course of the River Test from Inkpen in Berkshire to Eling. Along the way you'll pass water meadows, tidal marshes with riverside picnic areas and pubs to break the journey. Click on the link right for more information and a downloadable leaflet.

Isle of Wight Area of Outstanding Beauty

Almost half of the Isle of Wight is covered by the Isle of Wight Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty designation. It includes large parcels of land in the west east and north of the island as well as the two heritage coasts, The Tennyson Heritage Coast along the south of the island and the Hamstead Heritage Coast along the north. The special landscape features of the AONB include sea cliffs and chines, beaches, ancient woodlands, chalk downland and heaths, hamlets, rural villages, harbour towns, castles, even fossilised trees and dinosaur footprints.

The best way to explore the Isle of Wight's natural beauty is by foot or cycle. The Isle of Wight Coast Path runs for 67 miles around the entire island. You can tackle the whole route with overnight stays along the way or break it up into manageable day walks - check out the coast walks link right.

The same website lists a range of cycle routes from easy road routes to off road cycleway and mountain bike routes.

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The Isle of Wight Walking Festival

A good introduction to the island is to take part in the Isle of Wight Walking Festival held annually in May. The event includes 300 walks of various abilities all across the island.

A listing of the walks is included in their website, link right.

Visit Walking in Hampshire for more than 360 FREE Hampshire walks to download, details of all the books, maps and walking groups in the county.

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Basingstoke Canal

Stretching from Basingstoke through Aldershot and into Surrey is the Basingstoke Canal. It's popular for walking and cycling and has been restored to be fully navigable. The canal has long been a good site for wildlife with a rich variety of aquatic plants - more than any other waterway in Britain - including water crowfoot, frogbit, arrowhead and pondweeds . Twenty five species of dragonfly have been recorded here!

You can cycle or walk short stretches of the canal or even attempt longer stretches and stop over at bed and breakfast accommodation along the way. The railway runs nearby so it's possible to walk or cycle the whole towpath using public transport.

If you want to navigate the canal yourself you will need a licence which is available by printing off the information on the Basingstoke Canal website or by contacting the Canal Visitor Centre direct.

There's a Canal Visitor Centre at Mytchett in Surrey from where you can take boat trips on an authentic narrow boat. The Centre is open Easter-September Tues Sun 10.30am 4.45pm. Oct-March Tues-Fri 10.30am-4pm. The Centre is open seven days a week during school holidays. Canal Visitor Centre, Mytchett Place Road, Mytchett, Surrey GU16 6DD.

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St Swithun's Way

St Swithun's Way is another long distance trail from Winchester through the north Hampshire countryside to Farnham in Surrey.

It follows the pilgrimage route from Winchester to Canterbury in Kent. Pilgrims would travel to Winchester when it was the religious centre of the Saxon Kingdom of Wessx. St Swithun's shrine and Alfred the Great's tomb housed in Winchester Cathedral brought pilgrims from all over the country. However, when Thomas Beckett, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was killed in Canterbury Cathedral by Henry II's knights in 1170, his tomb became the focus of pilgrimages from all over Europe. Pilgrims frequently landed on the southern shores of England and made the pilgrimage to Canterbury by taking in Winchester on the way.

Today St Swithun's Way leaves from Winchester Cathedral through the Itchen Valley famous for its watercress production, west through Jane Austen country around Alton and Chawton where she lived and where you can visit her house, then the route follows the River Wey through to the attractive market town of Farnham in Surrey where you pick up the North Downs Way which continues on to Canterbury.

A Pilgrim's Way walker's pack is available from Hampshire County Council Information Centres, or contact tel: 0800 028 0888 (local) or 01962 870500 to find out your nearest stockist.

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The Hayling Billy Trail Hayling Island

The Hayling Billy Trail is an off-road walking and cycle trail that follows the Old Hayling Railway line from Havant to Hayling. It stretches the length of Hayling Island and is a five mile round trip giving you some fantastic views of Langstone Harbour. The trail is also managed to provide wildlife habitat in the hedgerows and verges and is open to horseriders as well.

The trail ends at Sinah Common in the south of the island not far from the beaches and the prom along South Hayling. Alternatively you can pick up the cycle tail to Southsea via the Hayling ferry to Portsmouth that leaves from the Ferry Boat Inn.

Check the Hayling Billy Trail link right for a downloadable leaflet and map.

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East Hampshire Countryside

To the south of Alton the Hampshire countryside stretches for miles. The area is known as the Wealden Greensands and is typified by the vast woodlands on high chalk escarpments or hangers as they're known locally, and the heathlands that stretch across the border into Surrey. The majority of the countryside here lies within the East Hampshire Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The chalk downlands in this area are also part of the South Downs that stretch into Surrey.

Walking and cycling is the best way to explore the East Hampshire countryside. There's a handy leaflet detailing a 22 mile cycle route through the East Hampshire AONB available from the Hampshire Council website, link right. It starts in Petersfield and takes you round the majority of the East Hampshire countryside including Butser Hill, one of the highest points in Hampshire, from which you can get some fantastic views of the surrounding woodlands and countryside and even to the coast at Portsmouth. Butser Hill is also a National Nature Reserve important for its large area of chalk grassland, heath and woodland. Over thirty species of butterfly have been identified from here including the Duke of Burgundy fritillary and the chalkhill blue. Not far near Charlton is Butser Ancient Farm which was set up in the 1970s as an archaeological research project into Iron Age farming techniques. The farm is open to visitors Easter-September Mon-Fri 10am-5pm.

Another cycle route from Alton is the Alton Off-Road Cycle Trail that starts from Chawton Park Wood south east of the town centre and takes you on a circular trail taking in Jane Austen's House Chawton, Gilbert White's House in Selborne and Hanger's Way long distance path. Check the links right for downloadable leaflets.

There are plenty of walking routes as the area is criss-crossed with public footpaths. Long distance routes crossing this part of Hampshire include the South Downs Way that starts in Eastbourne in Sussex and ends in Winchester. The trail runs for 160 miles along old drovers roads over the chalk downs and is open to walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

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