Suggestions for hiking routes in the south of England

August 20, 2009 1:34 AM

I want to go away for a good day's walking and 1 or 2 night's camping in the south of England next Monday / Tuesday and would like suggestions for any good routes people know.

Ideally the route should be circular and have a camp-site and pub at the start / finish and should be within 2 hours drive of London. However any other suggestions also gratefully received.

Many thanks in advance

Miles

posted by mairuzu to sports, hobbies, & recreation (8 comments total)

Walk some of the Ridgeway?

Start at Wantage, walk west. Camp at the little campsite at Britchcombe Farm. Next day, keep going, taking in the white horse at Uffington & Waylands Smithy. Camp at Barbary Castle (right on the Ridgeway itself: fantastic windsept site). Finish up by walking to Avebury, taking in the amazing stone circle there & any of the rest of the pre-historic sites in the area that takes your fancy — Silbury Hill and the long barrows are recomended! Catch a bus back from Avebury to Wantage (Check that said bus still exists: it did when I walked this route some years ago.)
posted by pharm at 2:45 AM on August 20

(NB: all the above from memory so I may have missed bits out: make your own itinerary!)
posted by pharm at 2:47 AM on August 20

Also, it's linear not circular but I'm pretty sure you can fill in the gap with public transport.
posted by pharm at 2:48 AM on August 20

My personal fave is the south coast at Dorset, especially the Jurassic coast around Lulworth. There is a campsite at Lulworth. You can get some decent info on walks and distances here.
posted by MuffinMan at 2:57 AM on August 20

Try The Southdown Way. Another link
Not circular but has everything else, wonderful views, pretty villages with pubs and accommodation.
posted by lungtaworld at 3:39 AM on August 20

My ideas
1: Get to Bath (train is easier than driving), walk up the Cotswold Way to Dursley (train back to Bath)
2: From Bath you can walk south on the Macmillan Way to Frome or Bruton and get the train back up again.
There is the bonus of having a trip to Bath, which is a nice place, then there are plenty of proper campsites & pubs along either route (or just throw your tent up in a quiet corner of a field - I see people doing it all the time!). But I don't have good links for those paths. You can follow them easily using OS maps, but if anyone knows a good website for long-distance footpaths in the UK then please please post it!
posted by mjg123 at 1:43 PM on August 20

Great ideas so far - please keep them coming.

mjg123 - maybe this is what you're after (as posted by pharm above)
posted by mairuzu at 1:03 AM on August 21

I ended up camping near Weymouth and walking a route from Weymouth to Portland. Most of the route was unexceptional apart from being able to check out Chesil Beach which is a true natural wonder.
posted by mairuzu at 1:02 PM on September 6