On Foot

Walking the dog. Walking off lunch. Walking the 100 miles of the South Downs Way. Whatever your reasons for stepping foot on the South Downs, there’s a route that’s right for you. In fact there are more routes here than in any other National Park in the UK – 3,300km of footpaths, bridleways and byways in total.

Old railway lines have been converted to trails such at the Centurion Way or Meon Valley Trail. Food routes connect country pubs and afternoon tea rooms. And the Serpent Trail winds for 65 miles through the gorse and heather-rich Wealden Greensand.

Enjoy a weekend walking between Polegate and Lewes, spending the night in the village of Alfriston, and you’ll encounter the full range of riches that make the Downs unique – Saxon burial mounds; the Long Man of Wilmington carved into the hillside; the unspoilt and undeveloped Cuckmere estuary; one of the oldest cricket grounds in the world; the smallest church in England; and the home of Bloomsbury writer Virginia Woolf.

For something a little different, you could try one of our Heathlands Reunited walks taking you through rare and wonderful lowland heath habitat.