There’s a lovely area of the River Itchen wedged between Winnall and Abbotts Barton that is part of the South Downs National Park. This is a loop you can either walk from Kings Worthy or the city centre. It loops around a wetland that is formed by the various streams of the River Itchen.
Start and end point: St Mary’s Church, Kings Worthy, alternative starting point at Winchester Art School in the city centre
Length: 7.4 km / 4.5 miles
Time: 1 hour 35 minutes at a swift pace + breaks
Difficulty: Easy – flat, some of the paths can be muddy after rain
Parking: Roadside, off London Road in Kings Worthy or any city centre car park (alternative starting point)
Public transport: buses to Springvale and Winchester central bus station for alternative route
The walk can be combined with walk#6 from Kings Worth to total ca 19 km or 12 miles.
Highlights of walk#2
Walk 2 takes us from Kings Worthy to the Winchester, or the other way round, along different stretches of the River Itchen. The area around Fulling Mill is one of our favourite riverside locations. The path next to the Wykeham Industrial estate in Winnall follows the course of the old Southampton-Newbury-Didcot railway line.
Photos were taken in April 2020.
Loved this walk. Have lived 10 miles from Winchester for over 20 years and never thought to walk here. Took one wrong turn when not concentrating and ended up adding 2km to loop back but now realise there was a locate button on the map which I hadn’t seen. Really enjoyed it 😄
This was a lovely little walk we started at Hilliers Haven and ended back in town. A perfect walk for a sunny day.