Southburs two

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

Some busy roads, but there were some really nice views along the walk.

This was one of a series of walks we were doing over the weekend and I wasn't particularly looking forward to the city walk and out through St Mary's and over the Itchen. That said it offers a little more greenery once east of the Itchen and is a solid enough route to take.
We missed going through St Mary's church yard and skirted it slightly which can be blamed on the navigation not the route. We also made a slight hash of accessing Itchen Bridge (which offers some nice views). Its also easy to go wrong in Westwood Nature Reserve, but that's no big deal.
Otherwise the route is nice and accurate.

A nice route out of Southampton to Bursledon, taking in one of the city centre parks. Great views of the Itchen from the bridge, plenty of places to stop along the way for a drink etc. Nice walks through the parks east of Weston and on to Bursledon.

On the whole I thought that walk was very well thought out, I did this today during relatively constant rain but nothing was muddy to the point of ruining a set of trainers or slippery enough that it raised concern. Whilst its starts off in the middle of Southampton by the train station it immediately moves you away from the road where possible through the small park by Blechynden Terrace. Unfortunately the path was being worked on today so had to go on the normal footpath around but as this section was only 30 seconds to 1 minute of the walk it was a minor issue and looks to be relatively temporary.

One of the things to keep in mind with this walk is that whilst its 12km you are have to deal with a few slopes, all of them short but some of the ones in the wooded areas can be a bit steep, the one at the start by the BBC South building is average in terms of what this walk has to offer. Whilst its one of the longer slopes it is relatively shallow.

Getting out of the city centre it then guides you through a few of the parks, nothing fancy as parks go but a great way to move you through the inner city without being on a busy street.

Between here and Itchen Bridge its then relatively flat, fully pathed, quiet streets. It does pass by Solent University so you may get **higher volumes of traffic** during key points of the week during term time but as I say, it is fully pathed with pedestrian crossings.

Then to the Itchen Bridge, offering some of the best views of the city, although as it is a long bridge it is another long slope. I did veer off the suggested path slightly as it recommended going all the way to the end of the bridge before crossing but south side of the bridge does have a footpath that you can get off the bridge earlier, so I used that.

As soon as you get off the main road through Woolston the amount of traffic should reduce a lot as you come to much quieter suburbia.

You then come to the great part of this route and that is the sheer amount of woodlands this is able to pack in. Not only is most of the rest of the journey going to be through either parks or woodland but they are mostly really well maintained. Both with the quality of the paths and the tidiness, barely any litter throughout wooded areas. Only a couple of quibbles with the first wooded area, firstly there was a **large tree down** across the path. Not so huge as a person of average adult size couldn't straddle over it but large enough that it would pose difficulty for someone below average height or reduced mobility. Secondly this first wood contained the steepest hill section, although it was short.

Leaving the woods and into the fields by Weston Secondary School the amount of rubbish strewn about was noticeable but it was a lot quieter than needing to go via roads, so a good choice to take.

Then spend a little bit of time going through small, quiet estates before you are back into the green of Westwood Nature reserve.

Worth mentioning at this point that the other route posted for Southampton-Bursledon would have you walking down a busy main road from Itchen Bridge rather than through the suburbs, playing fields and woods.

You then come out of the nature reserve and spend a few minutes next to a busy main road before quickly going back into the side paths of more quiet suburbs and then back into Priors Hill Copse where again its just really well maintained woodland. That being said, the later section of the woods has a narrow cut way for 100 meters or so with **brambles and stinging nettles **, today they were easy enough to avoid but I am sure that given a few wet days this could quickly be difficult to avoid in summer cloths.

Coming out of the woods and on the final section of the journey you are left with quiet village streets BUT without footpaths so from here until Bursledon you will have to be **conscious of traffic**. There was barely any on this journey but it could easily be busier at other times of the day/ year. The path leading to the train station here is **quiet steep **going down but it does have a hand rail that follows the path if required.

On the whole a great walk and at 12+km you will get a fair few steps in and it ends near the Jolly Sailor, a bit pricey but has great views of the River Hamble and a seating area that juts out over the water.

A very pleasant route with very little road walking. Takes advantage of parks, nature reserves and greenways as well as the footpaths and alleyways that cross housing estates. Really shows up how much green space there is even in very urban areas. A vast improvement on slogging along Bursledon Road!

Options for refreshments in a number of pubs en route: the Old Vine in Bursledon, Woodie's Wine Bar in Netley, the Cottage in Butlock's Heath and the small but perfectly formed Olaf's Tun micropub in Woolston. Shops, cafés and takeaways in Woolston.

My u3a walking group used this route on 23/9/21.Weather was fine and no rain for at least 3 weeks; therefore dry underfoot. The route contains a few short slopes otherwise mostly flat. Easy to follow but narrow in places. Road sections either have a decent pavement or a good verge. Views from Itchen bridge are superb.

Share your views about this route, give it a star rating, indicate whether it should be verified or not.

Include information that will be useful to others considering to walk or wheel it.

You can add up to 15 photos.