Walking in Hampshire

Welcome to the North Hampshire Downs Ramblers Group Website. This website represents the local group of the Ramblers' Association covering Basingstoke and the surrounding area. We hope that you will find much to interest you in these pages and look forward to meeting you on one of our walks.

The beautiful and diverse Hampshire countryside offers many opportunities for interesting walks with its idyllic hidden villages, glorious open countryside and wooded hills. The distance we cover is usually between 4 and 7 miles (taking around 2 - 3 hours) and, occasionally, longer walks of around 10 miles, taking half a day. Most walks include a pub stop at the end, and for longer walks, a half-way refreshment stop, giving a chance to socialise and take a well-earned rest! hampshire walks

The programme includes a walk at most weekends (either Saturday or Sunday) and a mid-week walk, usually on Tuesdays. In the summer months there are short evening walks - just the thing to unwind after a hard day at work. We walk primarily in North Hampshire, but we also venture further afield into Berkshire, West Sussex, and beyond. From time to time the group organises a longer walk with a B&B stopover, look out for the next one in our walking programme for 2009. Usually the start of the walks is within a 30 minute drive of Basingstoke. For non-drivers transport can usually be arranged.

The Ramblers' Association works with local authorities and landowners to keep footpaths open; however, there are numerous problems, some of which may be seen on our current local Footpath News problems page.

We also arrange social functions during the course of the year - visits to the pub, a barbeque, and a dinner in the New Year.

If you are new to walking and want to give us a try, or already walk, you would be given a very welcome by the Group. We hope to see you soon!

If you are interested in joining the RA we suggest you come along for a couple of walks with the group first to get a taster. Membership details are available from the RA national website: www.ramblers.org.uk