The South Downs are a 100-mile line of chalk hills stretching across Sussex from the Pevensey Levels by Eastbourne to the historic city of Winchester in Hampshire. For centuries travellers and traders have used the spine of the Downs as a route from one village to the next.

Today that route is still used by walkers, outdoor enthusiasts and others who simply need to escape from box-like offices in congested towns and cities. London, Brighton, Southampton and other urban areas are all within an hour or two of the South Downs, making these beautiful windswept hills the most important recreational area for the millions who live in the region.

A traverse from one end to the other following the national South Downs Way trail is a great way of experiencing this beautiful landscape with its mixture of rolling hills, steep hanging woodland and windswept fields of corn. Add to this the incredible number of pretty Sussex and Hampshire villages with their friendly old pubs, thatched cottages and gardens bursting with blooms of foxgloves and hollyhocks and one begins to understand the appeal of the Downs as a walking destination.

The South Downs Way begins in the cathedral city of Winchester from where it heads across rolling hills and the Meon Valley with its lazy, reed-fringed chalk-bed river and charming villages. At Butser Hill the Way reaches the highest point of the Downs with views as far as the Isle of Wight and, in the other direction, the North Downs. Continuing along the top of the ridge the Way passes through ancient stands of mixed woodland, past the Roman villa at Bignor and on towards the sandstone cottages of Amberley. Close by is the fascinating town of Arundel with its grand cathedral and even grander castle rising above the trees on the banks of the River Arun. Then it is on to Chanctonbury Ring with its fine views across the Weald of Sussex. The next stretch climbs past the deep valley of Devil's Dyke and over Ditchling Beacon to Lewes with its crooked old timber-framed buildings and the famous Harvey's Brewery.

Finally, the path reaches the narrow little lanes of Alfriston with more historic pubs than one would expect in such a small village. The grand finale to the walk includes the meandering Cuckmere River and the roller-coaster Seven Sisters chalk cliffs to reach the final great viewpoint of Beachy Head, overlooking the seaside town of Eastbourne.

Walking the South Downs Way can easily be fitted into a week's holiday but you should allow more time for excursions to the many nearby places of interest such as Arundel, Lewes and Winchester itself. Quite apart from that, however, anyone tackling the South Downs Way should also bear in mind that the lure of all those enchanting village pubs may make the trip rather longer than intended.

About this book
This guidebook contains all the information you need; the hard work has been done for you so you can plan your trip from home without the usual pile of books, maps, guides and tourist brochures. It includes:

• All standards of accommodation from campsites to luxurious guesthouses
• Walking companies if you want an organized tour
• A number of suggested itineraries for all types of walkers
• Answers to all your questions: when to go, degree of difficulty, what to pack and the approximate cost of the whole walking holiday

When you're all packed and ready to go, there's detailed information to get you to and from the South Downs Way and over 60 detailed maps (1:20,000) and 10 town plans to help you find your way along it. The route guide section includes:
• Walking times in both directions
• Reviews of campsites, bunkhouses, hostels, B&Bs and guesthouses
• Cafés, pubs, tea-shops, takeaways, restaurants and shops for buying supplies
• Rail, bus and taxi information for all the villages and towns along the path
• Street maps of the main towns: Winchester, Petersfield, Midhurst, Arundel, Storrington, Steyning, Lewes, Alfriston and Eastbourne
• Historical, cultural and geographical background information.

Minimum impact: maximum insight
More and more people are discovering the pleasures of walking and exploring the countryside. The beauty of the natural world helps restore our sense of proportion and the stresses of everyday life slip away. Whatever the character of the terrain walking can benefit us mentally and physically inducing a sense of well-being and an enhanced awareness of what lies around us.

Many people, however, take the stress of their daily lives with them when they go walking, rushing about and not stopping to take it all in. This book encourages walkers to observe in greater detail; with heightened perception all our senses are engaged and we get maximum enjoyment from the walk. There is so much to experience apart from the magnificent views. Weary after an uphill walk, rest in a grassy hollow watching the changing clouds, the sheep in the fields, the hovering kestrel's sudden drop on its victim. The quietness is alive with sound: the rising song of a lark somewhere high above you, the spring cuckoo, the rustling branches and crops in the fields, distant church bells, the lowing of cows waiting to be milked, the bleating of lambs – age-old sounds unchanged for centuries. Feel the softness of Old Man's Beard in the hedgerows, the vivid green mosses, the springy turf, the smooth birch bark that contrasts with the rough-ridged oak. Notice the scents and smells: honeysuckle and briar rose in the hedges, bluebells in the woods, the farmyard smells and
the salty tang of the sea as you near the end of the Way. Take time to look around you; don't go too fast. The more perceptive we are the more the countryside gives us and it behoves us to do all we can to safeguard it by supporting rural economies, local businesses, low impact methods of farming and land management and by using environmentally-sensitive forms of transport – walking being pre-eminent.

Healthily tired and hungry after each day in the open air, you'll appreciate home-cooked local food. If when you get home you spend more on organic produce and nothing on supplements you'll do well for yourself and the farmers.

In this guidebook there's a chapter on wildlife and the conservation of the Downs and another on minimum impact walking with ideas as to how we can minimize the pressure on this fragile environment; by following its principles we can help to preserve our natural heritage for future generations.