10-day South Downs Way itinerary

1. Day 1

   Winchester to Meonstoke

   5–6 h 12.6 mi (20.3 km) ↑ 330 m (1,100 ft) ↓ 300 m (1,000 ft)

   Cheesefoot Head looks toward the Solent, and you may hear the ranges at Chilcomb. Beacon Hill is the steep drop into the Meon. Exton is the flint village the nine-day uses as a night. This plan walks through it and stops at Meonstoke, the next village, so that tomorrow can be a short morning. Book Meonstoke. Do not push on to East Meon tonight. That campsite, and Old Winchester Hill, are their own day.

   Example stay The Bucks Head (opens in a new tab)

2. Day 2

   Meonstoke to East Meon

   2–3 h 5.0 mi (8.1 km) ↑ 200 m (650 ft) ↓ 120 m (400 ft)

   The short morning this slow walk adds. You leave Meonstoke, climb to Old Winchester Hill, and look back toward Beacon Hill. The hill fort is the point of the day. The night is a campsite at East Meon, below the ridge. Leave Butser Hill for tomorrow. Walking on to Buriton would fold the highest point into this morning and undo the reason for the extra night.

   Example stay Duncombe Farm (opens in a new tab)

3. Day 3

   East Meon to Buriton

   3–4 h 7.8 mi (12.6 km) ↑ 280 m (900 ft) ↓ 260 m (850 ft)

   Butser Hill is this day's point, the highest on the Way, reached from East Meon rather than from the valley at Exton. A long grassy descent drops you through the Queen Elizabeth Country Park. Buriton is below the chalk pits. Book it. When the village is full, the fallback is Petersfield, off the path. On the fast week this hill sits inside the much longer walk to Cocking. Here it has the day.

   Example stay The Nest Hotel & Restaurant (opens in a new tab)

4. Day 4

   Buriton to Cocking

   4–5 h 10.6 mi (17.1 km) ↑ 370 m (1,200 ft) ↓ 420 m (1,400 ft)

   The ridge runs on, the Weald to the north and the Channel to the south. Harting Down is a dry chalk valley, and South Harting is lunch, not the night. The Devil's Jumps are the burial mounds before you drop to Cocking. Cocking has few beds. Book it with Buriton. When it is full, the night may be a taxi to Midhurst. This is not the long day. That is the open crest into Alfriston, later in the week.

   Example stay Manor Farm Campsite and B&B (opens in a new tab)

5. Day 5

   Cocking to Amberley

   5–6 h 12.3 mi (19.8 km) ↑ 380 m (1,250 ft) ↓ 440 m (1,450 ft)

   The wooded day, and one of the longer ones on this unhurried plan. Charlton Forest leads over Bignor Hill, where a Roman road shows in the turf. The villa is a detour, not the line. You drop to the River Arun. Amberley is the halfway point, with a train to London, and it is the night. Stop. Tomorrow is Amberley Mount and Chanctonbury Ring, and there is no need to add them tonight.

   Example stay Amberley Castle (opens in a new tab)

6. Day 6

   Amberley to Steyning

   4–5 h 8.9 mi (14.3 km) ↑ 340 m (1,100 ft) ↓ 200 m (650 ft)

   The day opens with the steep climb to Amberley Mount, then chalk grassland. Washington has a pub and a shop. Walk through. Chanctonbury Ring is the circle of beeches on the old fort. Steyning is the night below the hills, not the other villages in the same valley. Tomorrow stops under Devil's Dyke, at Poynings, so eat here and do not take on Ditchling Beacon.

   Example stay Hill View Bed & Breakfast (opens in a new tab)

7. Day 7

   Steyning to Poynings

   4–5 h 8.7 mi (14.1 km) ↑ 300 m (1,000 ft) ↓ 360 m (1,200 ft)

   You rejoin the ridge, cross the Adur, and reach Devil's Dyke, the largest dry chalk valley in the county. Poynings is the village underneath it, and the night is a campsite at the old farm on the path. Pyecombe, further along the ridge, is where the nine-day sleeps. This plan stops under the dyke. Ditchling Beacon is tomorrow, after you have climbed back up.

   Example stay Saddlescombe Farm Campsite (opens in a new tab)

8. Day 8

   Poynings to Lewes

   4–5 h 8.9 mi (14.3 km) ↑ 290 m (950 ft) ↓ 330 m (1,100 ft)

   You climb out of Poynings to Devil's Dyke, then the ridge runs by the Jack and Jill windmills to Ditchling Beacon, the high point of the Sussex Downs. A bus there runs down to Brighton. Lewes is the old town below, about 3 miles (5 km) off the path, so leave time for the drop. Book it. The longest day on this slow walk is tomorrow, over Firle Beacon, and the cliffs are the day after that.

   Example stay Premier Inn Lewes (opens in a new tab)

9. Day 9 Longest

   Lewes to Alfriston

   6–7 h 14.3 mi (23.1 km) ↑ 510 m (1,650 ft) ↓ 510 m (1,650 ft)

   This is the longest day, and it is inland. You climb back to the ridge, cross the Greenwich Meridian, and drop to the Ouse. Look for seals before Itford Hill. From there to Alfriston there is barely a tree, and Firle Beacon is a launch for paragliders. The Seven Sisters are tomorrow. Do not add them. Eat in Alfriston. Ten days has kept the other days shorter so this crest can have your legs.

   Example stay The Alfriston Hotel (opens in a new tab)

10. Day 10

    Alfriston to Eastbourne

    5–6 h 11.4 mi (18.3 km) ↑ 580 m (1,900 ft) ↓ 620 m (2,050 ft)

    The cliffs are still their own day at the end of the slow walk. Walkers take the Cuckmere footpath and the Seven Sisters, not the bridleway through Jevington. Between Cuckmere Haven and Beachy Head the edge is unprotected and undercut. Stay off it. Birling Gap has a cafe. Beachy Head, Britain's highest chalk cliff, is the last climb, then the promenade at Eastbourne. Yesterday's crest was the long one. This is the edge.

    Finish South Downs Way Finish

Cross-check: National Trails . Most people take 8 or 9 days to walk the 100 miles (160 km). Distances on the cards are measured on the imported line. The climb printed for cyclists is not the walk.

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