8-day South Downs Way itinerary

1. Day 1

   Winchester to Exton

   5–6 h 12.4 mi (20.0 km) ↑ 330 m (1,100 ft) ↓ 300 m (1,000 ft)

   Cheesefoot Head is the first wide view, out toward the Solent, and you may hear the ranges at Chilcomb. Beacon Hill is where walkers drop steeply on stiles into the Meon. Exton is the night because this first walk leaves the ridge there. Meonstoke is the next village, and the slow plan sleeps there. Faster plans go on to East Meon. When Exton is full, the bed may be in Warnford. Book the village. After Chilcomb the shops are behind you.

   Example stay Crossways B&B (opens in a new tab)

2. Day 2

   Exton to Buriton

   6–7 h 13.0 mi (20.9 km) ↑ 480 m (1,550 ft) ↓ 390 m (1,300 ft)

   Old Winchester Hill, with its Iron Age fort, comes before the cafe at the Sustainability Centre. On this plan the cafe is not the night. The five-day sleeps there. You stay on the ridge above East Meon and climb Butser Hill, the highest point on the Way, then drop 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. Skip this night and Butser sits inside a much longer day.

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

3. Day 3

   Buriton to Cocking

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

   From Buriton 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. A much slower split sleeps in that village. This one does not. The Devil's Jumps are the burial mounds before you drop off Cocking Hill. Cocking has few beds. Book it with Exton and Buriton. When it is full, the night may be a taxi to Midhurst. Eat at South Harting. The end of the day is a small village.

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

4. Day 4

   Cocking to Amberley

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

   This is the wooded day, and the steady one before Amberley Mount. A long climb leads into Charlton Forest and over Bignor Hill, where a Roman road still shows in the turf. Bignor Roman Villa is a short 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. A faster plan walks through and on to Steyning. Stop here. Tomorrow starts with a steep climb.

   Example stay Amberley Castle (opens in a new tab)

5. Day 5

   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, and you walk through. The next pull is Chanctonbury Ring, a circle of beeches on an old fort. Steyning is below those hills, and that is the night, not the other villages in the same valley. Tomorrow is the long day, over Devil's Dyke and Ditchling Beacon, so stop. Eat in Steyning. Do not wander on to the River Adur.

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

6. Day 6 Longest

   Steyning to Lewes

   8–9 h 17.7 mi (28.4 km) ↑ 590 m (1,950 ft) ↓ 690 m (2,250 ft)

   This is the long day, and it is the one a slower plan splits. You rejoin the ridge, cross Devil's Dyke, pass the Jack and Jill windmills, and climb to Ditchling Beacon, the highest point on the Sussex Downs. One plan stops under the dyke. Another stops at Pyecombe, on the path. This one does neither. Lewes is the old town below, about 3 miles (5 km) off the path, so the walk down is part of the day. Carry food and water. Book Lewes.

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

7. Day 7

   Lewes to Alfriston

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

   Alfriston is a night so the cliffs stay on their own day. You climb back to the ridge, cross the Greenwich Meridian, and drop to the Ouse. Look for seals in the river before Itford Hill. From there to Alfriston there is barely a tree, and Firle Beacon is a launch for paragliders. Do not push on to Eastbourne. The Seven Sisters are tomorrow. Alfriston has food. Use it before the cliffs.

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

8. Day 8

   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 their own day, which is what these eight days keep. Walkers take the footpath by the Cuckmere and over 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. A faster finish folds the cliffs into a longer day. This plan does not.

   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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