If you aren’t familiar with the word ‘down’, in the context of the South Downs, then it can almost feel a bit negative in tone. Like a bit of a downer. But hiking the South Downs Way is actually one of the most positive experiences you can have, in a landscape of rural chalk hills that are, historically, known as downs. The word comes from the Old English word dun, meaning hill. And there are a lot of hills on the South Downs Way, so don’t be fooled. It’s not all downhill at all. It is, in fact, a 160km trail that crosses the South Downs National Park and it’s a natural playground of unbroken, undulating utopia, where you follow a route through many ages of English history. We answer all your questions in our South Downs Way guide below, and you can also head straight to the tour page for more details.
What is the South Downs Way route?
The South Downs Way National Trail, to give it its full name, starts in the cathedral city of Winchester in Hampshire, crosses South Downs National Park and finishes in the East Sussex coastal town of Eastbourne. Given that it is so close to the most populated region of England, and an hour by train from London to the trail’s starting point, it’s surprising just how pastorally perfect it feels when you get there. The South Downs Way route then takes you through a series of ancient villages, woodland and up onto its open chalk ridges. One of the highlights for many is the last South Downs coastal path section, following chalk cliffs called the Seven Sisters. Although there are actually now eight, due to erosion. From here the route soon descends into the old Victorian seaside resort town of Eastbourne, where you can have a well-deserved cooling swim, and our holiday includes a night here at the end so you can take it all in.
Highlights of walking the South Downs Way
The South Downs Way is open to walkers, cyclists and horse riders. It cuts through chalk escarpment, which has made it historically accessible and, therefore, always been favoured for traditional means of transport. When you walk through its towns, villages and valleys, you quickly get a sense that this has been a trading and herding route for millennia, using the chalky elevations to escape the mushy lowlands. Here are just a few highlights of walking the South Downs Way.
Winchester
The starting point for the South Downs Way Trail, Winchester is the ancient capital of England, and has a great cathedral to show for it, the longest medieval cathedral in the world, in fact. It has had many additions over the centuries of course and, as well as being the resting place of ancient kings, it’s also where Jane Austen was buried. And a place of pilgrimage for Janeites. The city also has an impressive maze of medieval lanes, an old debtors’ prison which is now the Westgate Museum, and some tranquil walks along the Itchen River.
Queen Elizabeth Country Park
It can be confusing walking on the South Downs Way, because although all of the walking trail lies within the national park, there are other protected and managed landscapes within it. Such as Queen Elizabeth Country Park, which you walk through on day three of our walking holiday. The park was formed to connect Butser Hill, the highest point on the South Downs, and Queen Elizabeth Forest. We recommend dropping in to its visitor centre to find out more about how this land was transformed from grazing terrain to a collection of beech, western red cedar and western hemlock. As the country park opened in 1976, and the national park in 2011, the country park was included within the parameters of the national park at that time.
Devil’s Dyke
You meet the devil on day six of our walking holiday and it’s like the big dipper of this natural theme park really. At 100m deep and over 1km long, it’s said to be the world’s largest chalk dry valley. Legend has it that the devil was unhappy about a conversion to Christianity in the region, and created this dyke so that the sea would flood folk’s villages and homes. In reality, it’s a heavenly spot that gets flooded with light and love, as it’s a favourite with local walkers too. Which is why, not surprisingly, there’s also a pub nearby.
Beachy Head and Seven Sisters
This is considered by many to be one of the best South Downs walks and it’s perfectly timed for your last day on the trail, as you walk from Alfriston to Eastbourne. Starting inland, after following the Cuckmere River, famous for its perfect meanders, you then head up onto the cliffs and cling to the South Downs coastal walk, taking you up and down over the Seven Sisters. These are a series of iconic chalk cliffs that lead to Beachy Head, a promontory with a famous lighthouse. Much of the coastal path along here is owned and managed by the National Trust, although it is still part of the national park, and there’s a great coffee stop at Birling Gap. This section of the trail can get busy with daytrippers (many influenced by a viral pop video that featured it), so do start early if you want to avoid crowds in peak season. And importantly, do not go close to the edge, as it’s notoriously crumbling all the time, especially after rain, with erosion having created these great headlands in the first place.
Eastbourne
A somewhat antiquated seaside resort, Eastbourne has an elegant pier, promenade and paddling spots of course. Eastbourne has been considered a sleepy seaside spot for many years, but its growing younger population is striving to put it on the artsy map, with places like the Towner Eastbourne gallery and the independent shopping area known as Little Chelsea, around Grove Road. It’s also famous for hosting the International Eastbourne Open tennis tournament which is, traditionally, the warmup event before Wimbledon in June. So if you time your trip accordingly, it could be a game, set and match of an adventure.
Our chosen accommodation on the South Downs Way Trail
On our self-guided walking holiday, you stay in a total of nine different places with, as always, transfers of your luggage between each. Accommodation includes a mix of small, locally-owned hotels, B&Bs and traditional guesthouses or pubs with restaurants and rooms. They have been carefully selected based on a variety of criteria including their proximity to the South Downs Way, warm hospitality, fine local food or commitment to responsible tourism. All rooms have en-suite or private bathrooms.
Best time to walk the South Downs Way
Our South Downs walking holidays have a mid-March to October window, with April bringing bluebells out in the trail’s woodlands, and May many other wildflowers. One of the finest sights is poppies that pepper the wheat fields, which is around June and July. It’s also just an hour and a half south of London, so it’s a good one to combine with a city break. It’s worth noting that the South Downs Way can get very hot in the height of summer, with temperatures going over the 30C mark over several years now and, as there is little shade in some parts, it’s good to start out early. Or just book for one of the cooler months, September and October being perfect, with the latter bringing smatterings of pumpkins in some of the fields. As mentioned above, the highlight for many, the Seven Sisters, also gets very busy with daytrippers in July and August, so it’s really good to start out early on those walking days, so you can experience this spectacle in silence.
The South Downers do good food and folk festivals too, so you could add one of the following onto your itinerary, by building in an extra day to attend: Winchester’s Cheese and Chilli Festival in June; the Sausage and Cider Fest is a lively event in August there too; Brighton’s Foodies Festival in May is off the main trail, but you could easily add it on at the end as it’s not far from Eastbourne; or the Steyning Food and Drink Festival in August may be a little more sedate, but definitely worth a date.
Walking the South Downs Way with a dog
The South Downs Way is dog-friendly, of course but, at the moment, we don’t list it as one of our dog-friendly holidays, as we need to ensure that all of our accommodations along the way cater for walkers who have their dogs with them. We hope that we can do so in the future, just as we have on our Lake District holiday or Hadrian’s Wall walking holiday. You can read more about our dog-friendly walking holidays in this blog.
Walking the South Downs Way as a solo traveller
Long gone are the days when solo travel was seen as saddo travel. Independence is in and it’s here to stay. Many of us live chaotic lives where we are either constantly plugged in or peopled out, and escaping on our own is like a spa for the mind, body and soul. The South Downs Way is perfect for this, as it’s easily accessible by train, not too remote and with a great collection of accommodation that welcomes solo travellers. Please remember that a supplement will be charged as the cost of rooms and also luggage or private transfers (when applicable) is not shared.
Getting to the South Downs Way by train
If you are able to travel to the UK without flying, our South Downs Way walking holidays are easily reachable by rail. From London’s Heathrow, travel time to Winchester is just over one hour by train, and from London Gatwick it’s about 1h 45mins. From London Waterloo there are direct trains to Winchester taking approx 55mins. On your way back at the end of the journey, you can travel from Eastbourne to central London in around 1h 35mins. Please check Trainline (or Rail Europe if you’re travelling internationally by train) for more details.
We hope that you’ve enjoyed our South Downs Way guide and, if you need any more information, please don’t hesitate to contact our adventure specialists. You may also enjoy the following blogs on England’s natural adventures: Our five best hikes in England; Everything you need to know about walking the Coast to Coast Path and Everything you need to know about the South West Coast Path.
