The line is OpenStreetMap's mapping of the route (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), via Waymarked Trails, with heights from a 30 m terrain model. Check the current official route before a long trip: diversions and permitted paths change. See the source.
The route
Cycling UK's 220-mile off-road loop through Wessex starts and ends at Alfred the Great's statue in Winchester and is ridden clockwise: west to Old Sarum and Stonehenge, across Salisbury Plain to Avebury, east along the Ridgeway past Uffington to the Thames at Streatley, then south by Reading and the heaths around Farnham to finish on the South Downs Way. It is a gravel or mountain-bike route on byways, bridleways and chalk tracks, some of which turn heavy after rain.
Stages
A suggested split into 5 days of about 71 km (44 mi). Each day ends at the town or village on the way nearest to an equal share of the distance, or at a hotel or hostel where there is none. These are not the official stages: check where you can stay before you book.
- Day 1 Winchester to Orcheston 67 km · 67 km from the start
- Day 2 Orcheston to Foxhill 66 km · 133 km from the start
- Day 3 Foxhill to Three Mile Cross 69 km · 202 km from the start
- Day 4 Three Mile Cross to Hindhead 70 km · 272 km from the start
- Day 5 Hindhead to Winchester 81 km · 353 km from the start
Summits on the way
- Urchfont Hill 218 m · 84 km from the start
- Hackpen Hill 272 m · 113 km from the start
- Liddington Hill 277 m · 130 km from the start
- Liddington Hill 277 m · 130 km from the start
- Liddington Castle 275 m · 130 km from the start
- Whitehorse Hill 261 m · 142 km from the start
- Warren Hill 187 m · 169 km from the start
- Gibbet Hill 272 m · 270 km from the start
- Beacon Hill 201 m · 331 km from the start
- Cheesefoot Head 177 m · 342 km from the start
The listed hills and the highest of 38 tops within 300 m of the line. The app shows them all. Lists from the Database of British and Irish Hills; other summits from OpenStreetMap.
Start and finish
Start: near Winchester, Hampshire. 51.06105, -1.30831
Finish: where it starts. The route is a circuit.
Places to stay
Rooms in the towns and villages along the way:
- Winchester, Hampshire · The start Booking.com → Expedia →
- Orcheston, Wiltshire · After day 1 Booking.com → Expedia →
- Foxhill, Swindon · After day 2 Booking.com → Expedia →
- Three Mile Cross, Borough of Wokingham · After day 3 Booking.com → Expedia →
- Hindhead, Surrey · After day 4 Booking.com → Expedia →
- Winchester, Hampshire · The finish Booking.com → Expedia →
Affiliate links: if you book, Global Adventurer earns a small commission at no cost to you.
Roads and paths change, and surfaces vary with the weather. The line comes from the source named under the map and the heights from a terrain model, so treat the figures as a guide. Check for diversions before you go, ride to what you find, and give way to walkers and horses.
