Alton Walking Festival 2025
Alton Walking Festival, now in its 13th year, is a truly friendly walking event, ideal for enthusiastic walkers, relaxed wanderers and curious explorers of all ages. The festival is the ideal opportunity for the local community and visitors from further afield to meet like-minded people, explore the town and its surrounding villages and discover the superb Hampshire countryside with its abundance of wildlife and rich cultural heritage. You’ll be spoilt for choice!
Walks are free to attend apart from the Ghost Walks, you will need to book these directly with the company...please see below.
Please check the grade of the walk (Slow, Moderate or Brisk) to make sure that the speed of the walk is suitable for you before booking:
SLOW WALKS 2 miles per hour or less
MODERATE 2.5 to 3 miles per hour
BRISK 3+ miles per hour
SCAVENGER TRAIL FOR CHILDREN
A walk for little legs...
Alton Walking Festival under 5s Scavenger Trail every Wednesday during the Festival. Thank you very much to Wild House Play Cafè for organising.
To book please click on the following link: (https://shop.beyonk.com/5azku1e7/experiences/xga403b5)
CELEBRATING JANE AUSTEN 250
Alton Walking Festival 2025 will also be joining the Jane Austen 250th anniversary celebrations by including Jane Austen-themed walks as part of its festival programme. Alton, located near Jane’s home in Chawton, offers visitors the chance to explore the landscapes and places that inspired her writing. The guided walks will take participants through key locations connected to Jane’s life and spots she would have frequented. These walks provide a unique opportunity to step into Jane’s world and experience the Hampshire countryside she knew so well. For more details about all Jane Austen 250 events visit Visit Hampshire website.
CELEBRATING RAIL 200
Alton Walking Festival 2025 will also celebrate Rail 200, marking 200 years of railway history, by including special Railway Walks in its festival programme. These walks will explore the rich railway heritage of the area, including historic routes, disused railway lines and connections to the Mid Hants Railway, also known as the "Watercress Line". Participants will have the chance to learn about the impact of the railway on local communities while enjoying scenic countryside trails. For more details about all Rail 200 events visit Rail 200.
GHOST WALKS 7th and 21st May
It is 1867… a year that places Alton in the history books with a notoriety to rival that of Whitechapel of London. Beyond the tourist trail, the dark lanes and streets hide secrets of ghosts, conspiracy and smugglers. Join the Theatre of Dark Encounters as we bring these stories to life in a truly immersive experience, as ghosts of the past come to tell their tales of well-known haunting spots in the town, including; St Lawrence Church, Flood Meadows, The Crown Hotel and the Swan Hotel.
You will learn a little, you will laugh a little - but hopefully you will scream a lot…FIND OUT MORE