Suggestions for hiking routes in the south of England
August 20, 2009 1:34 AM   Subscribe

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 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
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, 2009


(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, 2009


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, 2009


Best answer: 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, 2009


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, 2009


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, 2009


Response by poster: 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, 2009


Response by poster: 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, 2009


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