The National Trail along the chalk ridge of the South Downs, from Winchester to Eastbourne, in its nine sections: hill forts and dew ponds, the Arun, Adur and Ouse, and the Seven Sisters cliffs to finish.
Best season: All year. The trail can be walked all year, National Trails says. It is busiest in the school holidays and at weekends from May to September, and some of the buses below the Downs run only in summer. The chalk is slippery after rain, and the ridge is open to wind and sun: carry water, there are taps along the way. Before you go
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Checking the seasons, closures and current conditions for today…
Nine sections, the National Trail's own, but they are uneven: section 2 is 7 km and section 7 is 34. Four section ends are hilltops and river crossings with the beds in the villages below. The plans here take 8 days, splitting the long section at YHA Truleigh Hill or Housedean Farm. Choose a plan, or pick your own start, finish and nights below.
Changing where you stay suggests a new number of days: the fewest that keep each day under 8 h of walking and in daylight, where a place to stay allows.
Days end where the route has a stay, a camp or a village.
Stage 1: From Winchester over the downs to Beacon Hill above Exton: 17.7 km, National Trails says.
Stage 2 begins here; its notes are with Day 2, which walks most of it.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Not a stage end: the village between Beacon Hill and Old Winchester Hill.
Or a room in the village. OpenStreetMap lists at least 1 place to stay within about 1300 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
Stage 2, of which this day walks part: Down into the Meon valley at Exton and up to the hill fort on Old Winchester Hill: 7.2 km.
Stage 3: By the Sustainability Centre and Butser Hill to Buriton: 19.3 km.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
A village about 0.6 km off the trail with an inn.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 4: Through the woods and over Harting Down to Cocking Hill: 16.1 km.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Where the trail crosses the A286, with a bus stop: Cocking village is about 1 km down.
Or a room in the village. OpenStreetMap lists at least 1 place to stay within about 1300 m of Cocking; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
Stage 5: Over Bignor Hill and down to the Arun at Amberley: 19.3 km.
Overnight
Hostel or bunkhouse
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
The station by the Arun at Houghton Bridge, with the South Downs Bunkhouse at Houghton close by; Amberley village is about 1.3 km north.
Or a room in the village. OpenStreetMap lists at least 2 places to stay within about 1300 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
Stage 6: Over the A24 by the bridge at Washington, by Chanctonbury Ring, down to the Adur: 20.9 km.
Overnight
Hostel or bunkhouse · YHA
Pick a date to check the season.
Not checked: YHA's own page could not be read on 13 October 2026; the National Trails listing was last updated on 2 March 2026. yha.org.uk, read 13 October 2026
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Where the trail crosses the Adur by Botolphs: Upper Beeding is about 1 km off, Steyning, with inns and B&Bs, about 1.6 km (1 mile, National Trails says), and YHA Truleigh Hill is on the trail about 3 km on.
Or a room in the village. OpenStreetMap lists at least 1 place to stay within about 1300 m of Upper Beeding; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
Stage 7, of which this day walks part: The longest section, over Devil's Dyke, Ditchling Beacon and the downs above Lewes to the Ouse at Southease: 33.8 km, 36.3 km on our line. YHA Truleigh Hill, 3 km in, and Housedean Farm's campsite by the A27 split it.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
Not a stage end: a campsite that splits the 36 km section.
Stage 7 continues from Day 6, where its notes are.
Stage 8: Over Firle Beacon to Alfriston: 11.3 km.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
A village in the Cuckmere valley with inns, B&Bs and a campsite.
Or a room in the village. OpenStreetMap lists at least 5 places to stay within about 1300 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
Stage 9: Down the Cuckmere valley to the sea, then over the Seven Sisters cliffs by Birling Gap and Beachy Head to Eastbourne: 16.9 km.
Longest day: day 6, 6 h 59.
Days end at a stage end with a refuge or a village, or in a village the route passes through. Walking times are measured on each stage's mapped line by our route analysis (terrain heights and our hiking-time model, moving time only): no time is published for these stages.Outside Switzerland our walking times often run short of the times route operators publish; treat them as optimistic. Running times use 7.5 km/h plus one hour per 700 m of climb: a steady reference, not a prediction. Daylight is sunrise to sunset where the day starts; the time left is for breaks, meals and delays.Refuge dates come from the operator's own pages; when they are not published, we say so. For villages we count the places to stay OpenStreetMap lists; we have not checked which are open. A plan is not a booking: reserve every night before you commit to these day lengths.
Where each stage ends, the 2026 and 2027 seasons the operator publishes, and how to book. Read from the operators' pages on 13 October 2026; each stage page shows the sources and the grade profile.
| Stage | Night at | 2026 | 2027 | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Winchester to Beacon Hill | Exton | Not checked | Not checked | |
| 2. Beacon Hill to Old Winchester Hill | Exton | Not checked | Not checked | |
| 3. Old Winchester Hill to Buriton | The Village Inn at Buriton | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 4. Buriton to Cocking Hill | Cocking | Not checked | Not checked | |
| 5. Cocking Hill to Amberley | South Downs Bunkhouse | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 6. Amberley to River Adur | Upper Beeding | Not checked | Not checked | |
| 7. River Adur to Southease | YHA South Downs notice | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 8. Southease to Alfriston | Ye Olde Smugglers Inne | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 9. Alfriston to Eastbourne | Beachy Rise Guest House | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
Loading the forecast for low point (sea level) and high point (246 m)…
Typical weather on this trail: at the lowest point (sea level) and the highest point (246 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed |
| Stages rated good on typical weather | 0/9 | 0/9 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 1/9 |
| High point, day / night | 7°/2° | 7°/1° | 10°/3° | 13°/4° | 16°/7° | 19°/10° | 21°/12° | 21°/12° | 18°/10° | 14°/7° | 10°/4° | 8°/2° |
| Low point, day / night | 8°/2° | 9°/2° | 11°/3° | 14°/5° | 17°/8° | 20°/11° | 22°/13° | 22°/12° | 19°/10° | 15°/8° | 12°/5° | 9°/3° |
| Rain, mm | 102 | 72 | 66 | 61 | 57 | 64 | 63 | 72 | 73 | 114 | 117 | 109 |
| Snow at high point | Frost | Frost | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Daylight | 8 h 24 | 10 h | 11 h 47 | 13 h 46 | 15 h 29 | 16 h 30 | 16 h 08 | 14 h 38 | 12 h 44 | 10 h 49 | 9 h | 7 h 58 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Places to stay are limited in some areas, National Trails says, so book ahead; most of them are in the villages at the foot of the hills. There is no right to wild camp. Some buses below the Downs run only in summer: Cuckmere Buses' 47 Ramblerbus, from Berwick station by Alfriston and the Seven Sisters Country Park, runs only on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays during British Summer Time, 28 March to 25 October 2026: after 25 October it does not run.
The trail now crosses the A24 at Washington by the bridleway bridge and goes through the village; the old crossing of the road at its level is not recommended. Our line takes the bridge.
National Trails: route descriptionNational Trails lists the trail's closures and diversions on its map. Two works notices, at Salt Hill near East Meon (September) and in Alfriston (to 25 September, weather permitting), were still listed on 13 October with no word on whether they had ended: follow the signs on the ground.
National Trails: South Downs Way trail informationThe ridge has few villages, so use the drinking-water taps along the trail. Section 7, the Adur to the Ouse, is about 34 to 36 km: split it at YHA Truleigh Hill or at Housedean Farm's campsite.
National Trails: South Downs WayClosures and notices last checked 13 October 2026: National Trails: South Downs Way notices (map, part 1) · National Trails: South Downs Way notices (map, part 2). Check them again before you set out.
Getting there
Choose a stage or journey above to narrow the travel searches.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Winchester has a station (South Western Railway), with trains all year; the trail starts at the City Mill at the bottom of the High Street.
National Trails: South Downs Way trail informationThe trail crosses the rivers by stations: Amberley on the Arun and Southease on the Ouse (Southern); Petersfield (South Western Railway) and Hassocks and Lewes (Southern) are a bus or a walk away.
National Trails: getting to the South Downs WayThe trail ends at the foot of the Downs by the Foot of Beachy Head bus stop; Eastbourne station (Southern) is about 2.2 km away.
National Trails: South Downs WayTake your trip with you
Prepare each section while you still have a connection: on parts of the ridge the signal can be weak.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
About 163 km in 9 sections on our map. The guide's day planner offers an 8-day plan on the overnight stops, and you can choose your own nights.
All year. The trail can be walked all year, National Trails says.
Winchester has a station (South Western Railway), with trains all year; the trail starts at the City Mill at the bottom of the High Street. The "Connect your journey" section has the travel details, with 2 more travel notes.
Places to stay are limited in some areas, National Trails says, so book ahead; most of them are in the villages at the foot of the hills.
Yes: the whole route and every section, free, for a GPS watch or a phone. The guide also saves your plan for offline use in the app.
Closures we know of are shown on the days and sections they affect, in the day planner and on the stage pages. We watch 2 official notice pages (National Trails: South Downs Way notices (map, part 1); National Trails: South Downs Way notices (map, part 2)); the date we last read them is shown with the notices on this page. Check them again before you set off.
Route & sources
National Trails gives 100 miles (160 km) from Winchester to Eastbourne in nine sections, west to east; they add up to 101 miles (162.5 km) by the Seven Sisters. National Trails publishes no section times, only distances, and most people take 8 or 9 days. The line here is the route on OpenStreetMap (relation 77976, the walking route, from the planet of 11 October 2026): 163.2 km by the Seven Sisters and over the bridge at Washington, cut at the nine section ends. The bridleway finish by Jevington is an official alternative. Our climb is measured on terrain heights, so short steep banks are smoothed out.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
National Trails: the South Downs WayMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation