My wife and I walked the South Downs Way in the south of England. 100 miles total and supposedly 12000+ ft of gain (depending on source). We walked it west-to-east, starting July 1st in Winchester, and finishing in Eastbourne on July 8th.
Here's a screen shot of the trail map and elevation profile (metric). The loop you see at the eastern end is where they segregate horses and bikes to the upper loop, and walkers to the lower loop along the coastline.
Lots of walking through rural farmland and grassland, with sheep, horses, cows and attendant piles of poop. Each evening we stayed in a Hotel/B&B/Pub, with a luggage transfer pre-arranged. All we had to do was carry a pack with rain gear, water, food, important items (medications) and first-aid. Binoculars to do the bird watching. Typical day was about 12.5 miles on average (as little as 10, as much as 16), starting about 9am and finishing before 3pm, giving us time to explore each of the villages we stayed in and drink their beer. You'll do quite a bit more walking than the 100 miles on trail because of all the off-trail walking through the villages, and getting back and forth to the trail heads. It's not a spectacular hike but if you like getting away from people and enjoying wide sweeping vistas of English countryside, then it is a good walk.
Weather: It only rained on us once during the entire time we were on the trail and that was, believe it or not, our last mile and a half! Go figure! For the most part it was partly to mostly cloudy, with one day of full sun (ugh!). Got into the 80's that day. One day, even though it was cloudy, the air was so clear that I swear I could see Normandy across the English Channel.
Day 0 was flying to London and catching a bus directly to Winchester from the airport, exploring the bustling town and staying the night in a nice hotel. Day 1 thru Day 8 was get up, eat, walk, drink beer, sleep and repeat. We then spent a couple of days in London, drinking their beer, before flying back to LA.
Night 1 (after walking 12.5 miles to Exton on Day 1), we stayed at a pub called The Bucks Head. We gained somewhat a celebrity status to the locals by locking ourselves out of our room, thus forcing the chef to climb, in plane view of all patrons, through our open 2nd story window to unlock the room. They'll not forget us Americans anytime soon. Even the guy that had driven his horse drawn buggy to the pub had a good laugh.
Day 8 is the most scenic day, consisting of a roller coaster walk along the chalk cliffs known as the Seven Sisters, with spectacular views of the cliffs and the English Channel.
Pictures, and a few more comments perhaps, will appear in subsequent posts.
Instead of me regurgitating information, here are some links. I'll quote a few key bits of info for posterity in case the links go stale. Of particular interest to @Nate U, will be the bits about the geology of the Downs - lots of chalk and flintstones. I mean LOTS!
Links:
https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/t ... downs-way/
https://southdownsway.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Downs_Way
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Sisters,_Sussex
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Downs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_o ... ional_Park
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downland
Quotes:
About the Trail
- Start: Winchester, Hampshire
- End: Eastbourne, East Sussex
- Length: 100 miles (160 km)
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The South Downs Way is a long distance footpath and bridleway running along the South Downs in southern England. It is one of 16 National Trails in England and Wales. The trail runs for 160 km (100 mi) from Winchester in Hampshire to Eastbourne in East Sussex, with about 4,150 m (13,620 ft) of ascent and descent.
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The South Downs are a range of chalk hills in the south-eastern coastal counties of England that extends for about 260 sq mi (670 km^2) across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the east. The Downs are bounded on the northern side by a steep escarpment, from whose crest there are extensive views northwards across the Weald. The South Downs National Park forms a much larger area than the chalk range of the South Downs, and includes large parts of the Weald.
The South Downs are characterised by rolling chalk downland with close-cropped turf and dry valleys, and are recognised as one of the most important chalk landscapes in England. The range is one of the four main areas of chalk downland in southern England.
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Downland, chalkland, chalk downs or just downs are areas of open chalk hills, such as the North Downs. This term is used to describe the characteristic landscape in southern England where chalk is exposed at the surface. The name "downs" is derived from the Old English word dun, meaning "hill". [HikeUp says, down is up and up is down, but I still like beer]
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