Avon Valley Path

Background Information

The Avon Valley Path is a 34-mile trail, following the valley of the River Avon southwards from Salisbury in Wiltshire to Christchuch in Hampshire. The Avon is a beautiful chalk river, which frequently splits into a series of small streams in which you might be lucky to spot a brown trout.

There are four main settlements on the route; the cathedral city of Salisbury, the attractive former market town of Fordingbridge; the busy town of Ringwood, and the pleasant town of Christchurch, a stone's throw away from the sea.

Like many river walks, the Avon Valley Path pays only a passing acquaintance to the river of its name. It mostly follows the floodplain, but the occasional glimpses of the river are accentuated by their scarcity.

The route can be walked in two or three easy days; the path mainly sticks to the valley floor, with only occasional ascents in the northern sections. It should be noted that due to flooding, many parts of the route are impassable in the Spring, usually from January to May.

Map of the trail

Maps courtesy of Google Maps. Route for indicative purposes only, and may have been plotted after the walk. Please send me have comments you may have on what you think of this new format.

List of legs

Leg	Distance (miles)	Ascent (feet)	Descent (feet)	Difficulty
Christchurch to Ringwood	10.5	131	79	easy
Ringwood to Fordingbridge	9	341	305	easy
Fordingbridge to Downton	7.3	663	607	easy
Downton to Salisbury	8.5	469	472	medium

	35.3	1604	1463

Further information (books)

Sadly, I do not know of any books covering this trail.

Further information (websites)

The following websites detail the trail:

Hampshire County Council's official website for the Avon Valley Path. - www.hants.gov.uk
Hampshire County Council's handy leaflet about the trail. - documents.hants.gov.uk
a short Wikipedia page with some more information. - en.wikipedia.org

Transport

All aside from the southernmost leg of this walk is served by the twice-hourly X3 bus services run between Ringwood and Salisbury during the week, with an hourly service on Sundays.

That leaves the complication of how to get from Christchurch to Ringwood; fortunately the X3 bus actually starts at Bournemouth, so you can either catch a train or a bus service from Christchurch to Bournemouth - see the relevant leg for more information.

Map information

1:25,000 maps


Outdoor Leisure 22 (New Forest, Southampton, Ringwood, Ferndown, Lymington, Christchurch and Bournemouth)		Explorer 130 (Salisbury & Stonehenge)

1:50,000 maps


Landranger 195 (Bournemouth & Purbeck, Wimborne Minster & Ringwood)		Landranger 184 (Salisbury & The Plain, Amesbury)

Tourist Information

There are tourist information offices at:

Salisbury: Fish Row, Salisbury SP1 1EJ. Tel.:01722 342860
Fordingbridge: 45B Salisbury St, Fordingbridge SP6 1AB. Tel.: 01425 654560
Christchurch: 49A High St, Christchurch BH23 1AS. Tel.: 01202 471780

When to walk

Because flooding can make some of the route impassable, it might be best to avoid walking after heavy winter rainfall. However the area can look beautiful at any time of year.