St Swithun’s Way

Location: Winchester to Farnham

Length: 33.5 miles (54 km)

Walking Time:  Can be done in 1-3 days

Difficulty: Easy

Total Ascent: 2301 feet

Ease of Access: This walk is easily accessible from London and other points in the southeast, with regular train service to both end points

Practical Information

St. Swithun’s Way is a long distance footpath in southeast England from Winchester Cathedral (Hampshire) in the west to Farnham (Surrey) in the east. It can be walked in either direction. This is yet another one of those shorter trails (like the Downs Link and the Wey-South Path) that link up the North Downs Way to the South Downs Way. In this instance, the trail links the western points of both those trails.

As you walk the route, you’ll see that St. Swithun’s Way also coincides with the Allan King Way, the Itchen Way, the Pilgrims Way, the Watercress Way, and the Writers Way. You may want to consider checking out those trails in case they’re of interest to you. One of them might be a better fit for you than St. Swithun’s Way, depending on what you’re looking for.

What to Expect

You can expect lots of water in the west (meaning plenty of streams, the River Itchen, and watercress beds), fields, woodland, and lots of country lanes (yes, actually walking on the lanes) throughout. In fact, the only thing that disappointed me about the trail was the extensive walking on asphalt. For this reason, I don’t plan to walk this trail again. However, I’m sharing it here because not everyone will be bothered by walking on quiet country lanes.

Planning an Itinerary

One day

The easiest way to plan your walk! Start in Winchester and walk the full length of the trail (33.5 miles or 54 km) to Farnham.

Two days

If you want to split the walk up into two segments, this is easy enough. There’s a village called Four Marks at roughly the halfway point where you could stay the night.

Day 1 – 17 miles (27.4km)

Day 2 – 16.3 miles (26.3km)

Three days

This is how I walked the trail: split up into three segments. I walked from Winchester to New Alresford on Day 1, then from New Alresford to Alton on Day 2, finishing up from Alton to Farnham on Day 3. It was an easy, leisurely walk.

Day 1 – 15 miles (15 km) + the walk to New Alresford, which is about a half mile (1 km) off the trail.

Day 2 – 11.8 miles (19 km) + the walk from New Alresford, which is about a half mile (1 km) off the trail.

Day 3 – 12 miles (19.4 km)

Extending Your Walk

If 34 miles (55 km) is not enough walking for you, there’s always the option to extend your walk along some or all of the North Downs Way or the South Downs Way. Check out those two routes on the National Trails website for more details, or read my book on the South Downs Way to get an idea of what that’s like.

Getting There

This walk is easily accessible from London and other points in the southeast, with regular train service to both Winchester and Farnham. If you’ll be using public transport, do remember to check the National Rail website before booking your walk to ensure you won’t have any issues with rail replacement on those dates.

Where to Stay

I stayed at an Airbnb in both New Alresford and Alton. There are also Airbnbs to stay at in Four Marks if you decide to stop there. However, I really prefer not to stay at Airbnbs when I’m on a walking trip. I turned up covered in mud on my second day, and it was really stressful to try to keep clean in the hosts’ pristine home. Over the years, I’ve gotten skilled at not making a mess at the places I stay on a long-distance walk, but it’s just an added stress that I prefer not to have. If I were to do this walk again, I’d book an inn or a hotel.

New Alresford

Here, I stayed at an Airbnb. You can also find accommodation on Booking.com (link goes directly to New Alresford listings).

Four Marks

There are a few Airbnbs in this village, but nothing on Booking.com.

Alton

Here, I stayed at an Airbnb. You can also find accommodation on Booking.com (link goes directly to Alton listings).

Resources, Guide books and maps

You’ll need four OS maps to cover this route, or just use the OS Maps app. You can grab the GPX file here.

• OL32 Winchester, New Alresford & East Meon
• OL33 Haslemere and Petersfield
• 144 Basingstoke, Alton and Whitchurch
• 145 Guildford and Farnham

Lessons Learned

While the scenery was gorgeous, I really don’t like walking on asphalt on country lanes. I prefer trails. For further details, read on for an account of my days on the trail.

Day 1: Winchester to New Alresford

I got up early to get going on a condensed version of my morning routine: get up, feed the cats, tidy downstairs, and do my morning exercises. I then finished getting my pack together for my journey, unplugging my iPad and keyboard from their chargers and tucking them into the most protected part of my pack. I had a quick protein shake, and then headed out to pick up my lunch for the trail.

When I returned, I put the final bits into my pack and went upstairs to wake up Agustin. We had started the tradition of him driving me to my walks, and rather than taking the train to Winchester, we opted to continue the new tradition and travel by car.

The morning was dark and drizzly. The sky was covered by a thick cloud cover, and rain was predicted for the entire weekend. I wasn’t thrilled about walking in the rain, but I was happier to do that than to not get out for a walk at all. I was slightly behind on my miles for the Walk 1000 Miles challenge, and I hadn’t gone on a long walk this year, opting for the two short Wey-South Path walks and this one.

Agustin dropped me off just outside Winchester station, and I realized that I needed to get my waterproofs on before getting out of the car, so I awkwardly pulled them on in the front seat. It was not a morning where waterproofs would be optional. Once I was ready, I said my goodbyes, hoisted my pack from the back seat of the car and onto my shoulder, and took off, using Google Maps on my phone to navigate my journey toward the cathedral, where St. Swithun’s Way began.

It was impossible to not be reminded of the start to my 2015 South Downs Way adventure, which also began at Winchester station, and continued to the cathedral. Bits of the walk through town looked familiar, and as I approached the cathedral, I could feel the familiar excitement of starting out on a new trail.

It was still raining as I stood outside Winchester Cathedral, pausing for a few moments before I looked for the start of St. Swithun’s Way. I smiled to myself as I remembered a recent one star Amazon review of my South Downs Way book, where the reviewer was indignant that I hadn’t taken the time to actually visit the cathedral. They would be disappointed with today’s decision as well. I wasn’t here for religious tourism; I was here to walk in nature.

With that thought, I turned left and retraced my steps back through town, turning down a side street to follow the Way out of town. Despite the fact that I usually walked with full OS Maps, I was experimenting with traveling lighter: I had the OS Maps app on my iPhone, and I had uploaded the .gpx file of St. Swithun’s Way to the app so I could track my route there. According to my internet research, the trail was supposedly well waymarked in Hampshire, and less so in Surrey.

I immediately realized that this was not true. There was no sign at Winchester Cathedral marking the start of the Way, and it wasn’t until I had followed the OS Maps app all the way through town, reaching the first dirt trail, that I saw a fingerpost sign indicating that I was on St. Swithun’s Way, and that I had already walked one mile (1.6km) from the cathedral. It was clear that I would be more dependent on the app than I had expected.

One of the reasons I had chosen St. Swithun’s Way was that it was a short, waymarked trail that was fairly close to home. I’m a bit lazy with navigation, and I prefer to follow a waymarked trail than to have to stop every few minutes to check a map. It allows me to immerse myself in the experience of what I call mobile meditation that I get into whenever I’m on a long distance walk. And now I was learning that it wasn’t very well waymarked, and I hadn’t brought paper maps.

It was there that I paused to speak to the spirits of the land, asking them permission to enter their territory, and promising to respect the land as I passed through. I asked for their protection on the trail, and I paused before thanking them and continuing on. I was trying to become more conscious of connecting with the energies of the land and the elemental beings, and I was pleased that I had remembered at the threshold between the town and the more natural part of the Way.

The trail ran along the right hand side of a small stream, with surprisingly clear water running over bright green water plants. It was steadily drizzling now. I passed a woman out for a walk, who dumped a small bag of bread into the water, though there were no ducks in sight. I made a (probably bad) joke about the weather being so bad that not even the ducks were out as we passed each other.

The path was well maintained, and I imagined that in better weather there would be more people out. I passed a young woman who smiled at me from a distance. I made yet another (possibly bad) joke about it being a great day for a walk, and she laughed, saying that she had chosen the wrong jacket for the day, and that I was obviously dressed appropriately for the weather. The path curved around to the right, and it started to feel like I was out in nature, having left the town behind me.

As it was feeling more remote, I started to sing. Have I not mentioned in my previous books that I sometimes sing on the trail? Well, I do. As I rounded the bend, I saw an older man out for a walk, and abruptly stopped singing. We greeted each other without stopping, and both continued on. He was the last walker I would see on the trail for the entire day.

St. Swithun’s Way wound around, alongside the little stream of pristine water for some time, until it approached a noisy road, turning left and running parallel to it for a few minutes before it turned right, went through two dark tunnels, and headed through the car park of an office complex, then a little neighborhood, and then came out alongside a small church. I thought about going in, but I had just started walking and didn’t really feel like taking a break. I continued onward down a footpath that ran between cottages, eventually passing through another unlit tunnel before coming out into nature on the other side. I was back alongside the stream, which flowed along to my right.

The trail was feeling a bit more remote again. There was the occasional waymark on a post, but they weren’t frequent enough for me to abandon the OS Maps app, which I opened every few minutes to reassure myself that I was indeed on the right path. It was mildly unnerving, but I was resolved to stay on track and not get lost. I made a mental note to always walk with paper maps in the future.

Perhaps the most annoying part of it was that St. Swithun’s Way coincided with a number of other waymarked trails, and all of them seemed much better marked than the one I was walking. Throughout the day, I saw plenty of signs for the Allan King Way, the Watercress Way, and an incredible amount of signage for the Itchen Way.

I crossed a road, and continued along the left side of the stream before coming out onto another road, with a church to my right. I went in for a quick look. It had been modernized inside and wasn’t very interesting, so I went back out and walked through the churchyard, heading back out the gates I had entered and continuing on the Way, which ran down the road for a short bit before turning to the right down a gravelly byway that looked like a driveway to a home, with two cars parked at the end, on the right. As I approached them, I saw that there was no house at all, just the two parked cars, and I went through a gate before heading into another dark tunnel. Two cyclists passed me, heading the opposite direction.

On the other side of the tunnel, the Way came out into an open field, following alongside a fence to my right, with the river beyond. I saw a man with a fishing pole off in the distance, alongside the river. I crossed yet another lane and continued onward, still consulting the OS Maps app every time I reached a crossroads to ensure I was on the right path.

Eventually I came to a place where I checked my app. The route showed that I needed to continue forward, but a surprise waymark on a small post to my right clearly indicated that I needed to turn left, so I did, continuing alongside the field before turning right and coming out on a little lane, with the church to my left. I was starting to get hungry, so I entered the churchyard and walked straight to the bench just outside the church door, where I hoisted my pack off my back and settled in for my lunch.

It was no longer raining, so I had a leisurely meal, finishing it up with the last bit of Kendal Mint Cake that I had in my pack. I got everything together, closed up my pack, and tried the door of the church. Locked. I walked around the church through the graveyard until I found another bright red door on the other side of the building. Also locked. I headed back out the same gate I had entered and turned left, then right to continue down the Way. I walked straight through fields, eventually veering off to the right and crossing a road before continuing on, once again close to the river, which flowed to my right.

I soon came out onto a road, where I turned right, walking along the road until I reached a golf course, where I walked through the car park and continued on, eventually turning left alongside fields. I walked steadily uphill, with no one else in sight, before coming out on yet another lane, where I turned right and walked along the road for some time. I checked and rechecked my OS Maps app, which was experiencing some difficulties now that I was out of range of good mobile coverage My phone indicated GPRS signal, which apparently meant that my app indicated the purple line of the trail, and also where I was on the trail (which was useful so I could reconfirm that I was indeed on track), but there was no surrounding map, so I had no idea where I was or how close I was to my final destination, where I would be staying that night at New Alresford.

I turned left on another lane, then right to go down a rustic lane. I was now to the right hand side of the river. A sign proclaimed that a ford could be found ahead in the road, and that the byway was not suitable for motor vehicles. When I reached the ford I could see why: there was essentially a large pond in the middle of the road where the little stream flowed across it. Thankfully, there was a raised footpath for walkers, and I easily traversed the ford, heading now into watercress territory. There were huge beds of lush watercress to both sides of the byway.

I soon came out onto the B3047 road, where I saw a pub ahead of me proclaiming that it was located in Alresford. I realized that I had no idea where to exit the trail and enter New Alresford, and I still didn’t have a decent signal on my phone. The OS Maps app was marking that I was on the right path, but it wasn’t giving me any additional information, so I checked Google Maps, which indicated that I was very near New Alresford, so I turned left and headed up the road.

I passed a woman taking her baby out for a stroll, and I showed her the address of the place I was staying. She gave me very clear directions, and in less than five minutes, I had arrived at my Airbnb, a small house on the green in New Alresford.

Day 2: New Alresford to Alton

I woke up just before the alarm when one of my Airbnb hosts entered the bathroom, which was right next to my room. I checked my clock, adjusted the alarm for a half hour later, and waited to see if I could sleep a bit more. After ten minutes or so I decided that apparently I had had enough sleep, and I got up to do my morning exercises. I had slept well and felt totally rested, though my legs were a bit stiff from the previous day’s walk.

I took my time getting ready, waiting for 8am to go downstairs for breakfast, as I had arranged. The host was already in the kitchen, getting everything ready. I sat down to have breakfast, serving myself from the cereals and yogurt that were on the table. I took my time eating, checking the weather once more on my phone to see what had changed in the forecast since the previous night. It was sunny, with clear skies, but rain was still predicted for later that day.

I left my Airbnb at around 9am, wanting to get a fairly early start, as I had a bit longer walk on this second day on the trail. I retraced my steps from the previous day, walking all the way down the road to The Cricketers pub, where I turned left to continue along St. Swithun’s Way. I walked alongside the edge of the town for several minutes, stopping to pull out my wet clothes that I had washed the previous day so they could dry on my pack.

The road turned left, continuing around the border of the town, but the Way continued ahead, down Whitehill Lane, a fairly quiet country lane that ran alongside a field. The occasional car passed me, and I jumped up onto the grassy green verge to avoid it. Eventually the Way turned right through the small village of Bishop’s Sutton, heading down the pavement before turning left out of the village, and then right down the side of some houses and into a field, running parallel to the road I had previously been walking on, with a stream in between the trail and the road.

There were some beautiful old oak trees to the right of the trail, which was a narrow strip of dirt through dewy grasses which soon soaked the bottom half of my trousers. I knew they would dry quickly, so I didn’t bother pulling out my waterproofs. Soon I came out on a large roundabout, which I circled around, heading straight on down a fairly quiet country lane, once again jumping up on the green verge when cars passed.

I was tired of all the roads I had been walking on that morning, and wanted nothing more than uninterrupted fields and woodland. Soon the trail turned left down a single track lane that was quiet. I stopped alongside the lane at the entrance to a field to take out my sun hat, and a truck drove past. Thankfully, that was the only car I saw on that portion of the trail.

I continued straight on, aware that I needed to turn left through some fields at some point. Stopping to consult my OS Maps app, I realized I had passed the turnoff and retraced my steps, curious as to how I had missed the turn. I approached a field gate, went around it through a break in the hedge, and looked for any evidence of a trail. There was none. I turned around once more and walked toward the next field gate.

A farmer drove down the lane in a huge piece of machinery, stopping just before the field gate to get out and open it. I approached him and asked where the turnoff for St. Swithun’s Way was. He indicated that it was just a bit further on down the road, and sure enough I saw an old stile as I approached. I consulted my app. It wasn’t the actual turnoff for the Way; it was another footpath that eventually met up with the Way.

It would have to do, as I couldn’t find the actual turnoff for the trail, so I walked around the stile, which wasn’t connected to anything, and crossed through the field, passing through a hedge into another field, until I reached Park Lane, where I turned left. I passed through another small, grassy field, then came out onto a road, which I crossed to continue into the village of Ropely, walking down the road and then turning right through the village.

I saw an old church off to my left, and after two hours of walking decided it was time to rest. I entered the church yard, walking around until I found a bench to sit on. The church had apparently suffered a fire, as it was roofless and in the middle of a reconstruction project. A chain link fence surrounded the entire building, dotted with signs warning people to stay away from the construction zone. I settled down on the bench and rested, checking my phone and uploading the photos I had taken to Instagram.
The weather was still beautiful; blue skies filled with fluffy white clouds. I was feeling lucky. After a while I stood up stiffly and pulled my pack back on my shoulders before returning to the Way, which soon departed the village and returned to the countryside, entering a grassy field full of white sheep. I weaved my way through the field of sheep, who moved out of my way as I approached.  From there, the trail entered a field of what appeared to be sugar beets, running down one side of the field before turning right and heading down the other side.

I climbed over a stile to enter another field, and crossed paths with a couple and two young girls, whom I greeted as we passed each other. The trail crossed a road to continue through more fields before turning right to enter Old Down Wood, which was full of blackberry bramble. I stopped from time to time to eat the berries. I was starting to get hungry, but didn’t want to stop in the woods to eat. I had hopes of finding somewhere more comfortable to stop, as there weren’t any fallen logs to sit on, and certainly no benches in sight. The trail was shaded and muddy, which didn’t look very comfortable.

Stopping to reconfirm via the app that I was still on the right trail, as there weren’t any signposts to confirm this (or so I thought), I discovered that I had somehow missed a right turn. I retraced my steps, staring attentively at my app until I reached a short signpost that clearly indicated a right turn to follow the Way. I had no idea how I’d missed it, but I turned and continued down the correct path until I exited the woods and headed out into a field once more.

I crossed a road, then entered another field, zigzagging through it, then crossing another road to continue ahead through Hawthorn Farm. The trail veered a bit to the left, running down a narrow path between a fence to my left and shrubs and nettles to my right. I was getting hungrier, but there was nowhere to sit on the trail, what with all the nettles. I saw there was a garden center ahead, and decided to stop where I was and eat my lunch, so I could have a cup of tea in the garden center afterward. I ate quickly, and continued along the trail.

As I came out from the narrow field and into the greenhouses to the rear of the garden center, it started pouring. I pulled my pack off my back and hastily pulled out my waterproofs before covering my pack with its bright red rain cover. I walked toward the entrance to the garden center, looking to see if it had a cafe, which it did, so I headed inside. It was peak lunch hour, and there was a line of people waiting to place their order.

As I waited, I was conscious of being the only wet, muddy person in the cafe. Everyone else had clearly arrived by car. I eventually made it up to the cashier, ordered a tea, and sat down at a small table in a corner of the cafe. I settled in, and looked out the window: it had stopped raining, and the sun was coming out. I peeled off my waterproof jacket and waited for my tea to arrive. When it arrived, I uploaded my photos as I drank my tea. It started raining again. Then it stopped. By the time I was ready to get back on the trail after a leisurely break, it was raining once more.

I exited the car park of the garden center and turned right to walk down the road, eventually crossing another road and then heading straight on toward some woods, where the Way turned right just at the edge of the forest, and then left, bordering the woods before coming out into farmland. It had stopped raining, and I was getting hot, so I stopped to pull off my waterproofs and put them in the bottom of my pack again.

A few more turns later, and the Way went left down a wide, flat track that almost looked like it had once been an old railway. Or so I thought, until I saw a large Land Rover coming toward me. More likely it was just a very well maintained byway for a local farmer.

I approached an old brick bridge that rain over the trail, and paused to photograph some graffiti that had been painted underneath. I couldn’t imagine who had come all the way out there to paint under the bridge, as I was so far away from a town or village by that point. As I put my phone back in my pocket to continue on, it started raining once again, and I set my pack on the ground to put my waterproofs on once more.

The path continued straight onward, and at one point I heard the hollow sounding toot of a train and looked to the left just as a steam train slowly made its way through the trees off in the distance, leaving a trail of gray steam behind it. I paused to take a picture, and continued on. By now, it was raining harder, and as the trail entered a small wood, I paused to cover my pack with its rain cover, which I had forgotten to do before, when I was under the bridge. As I exited the wood, it started thundering. I saw a flash of lightning off in the distance.

I knew it wasn’t a great idea to be out in that weather, but I didn’t know whether it was worse to be out in the open or near the trees, so I forged onward. Later, I did some research and learned that I should have stayed in the shelter of the little wood, which was a small cluster of trees and would not have likely attracted a lightning bolt. The trail crossed a road and continued toward the little village of Chawton. By the time I approached the village, the lightning storm was thankfully over and I was feeling more confident about walking out in the rain.

The trail continued straight through the village, past the museum of Jane Austen’s home, where I paused and opted to keep going. I would have liked to have gone inside, but I was dripping wet and it didn’t seem like a good time to visit a museum, so I continued onward. I knew I was approaching Alton, and thus the end of the day’s walk. The Way went through a subway under a road and then straight on into the town of Alton. A sign declared that the rail station was 1.5 miles ahead, and I knew that my Airbnb was just behind the rail station, so I kept walking, pausing at a park bench to remove my waterproof jacket as it was no longer raining, and then pausing on a bench further down the High Street to remove the rain cover from my pack. I wanted to take off my waterproof trousers before arriving, but it seemed a bit scandalous to peel them off on the High Street, so I left them on.

Day 3: Alton to Farnham

I was so dissatisfied by the trail at this point, that I didn’t even bother to write up my experience on this day. This is also why it’s taken me three full years to post this article online—I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to recommend this trail. However, I know that not everyone is as bothered by road walking as I am, and some people will probably find this article to be useful. I also realize that not all long-distance trails will be perfect, and it’s worth sharing all of my experiences. Next time, I’ll be sure to fully research any new, lesser-known trails before walking them so I can make sure they’re the type of trail I want to experience. Lesson learned!

Related reading

Read about my two adventures along England’s most popular National Trail in this second edition of my book Alone on the South Downs Way. This book contains all the blisters, sweat, and tears from my first life-changing journey—and all the joy, presence, and magic of the second one.

More than just a walking travelogue or memoirs of a walking holiday, this book contains my reflections on walking the trail, including lessons learned and practical information to help you plan your hiking adventure. It includes a suggested packing list, gear recommendations, and other useful tips, such as when to walk the trail, where to stay, and how much you’ll need to budget.

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