Amberley Circular Walk

18.3km (11.4 miles)

5 out of 10: mainly flat, with one long but well-graded hill climb

OS Landranger 197, Explorer OL10 (formerly 121)

This walk has the same finish along the crest of the South Downs as the Billingshurst to Amberley and Pullborough to Amberley walks on this website, but it takes in a slightly longer section of the ridge than those other two walks (5km or 3.1 miles). It also has a more varied and interesting climb up on the downs.

The morning is flat, first passing through the river meadows of the Arun to the picturesque village of Amberley, and then following a route along the foot of the downs, with fine views up onto the ridge one way, and down onto the marshland of Amberley Wild Brooks the other. You get a brief taste of the Brooks, before passing through the park of a stately home, Parham House, and to lunch in Cootham.

After lunch there is a long but reasonably well-graded climb up onto the downs (which is what earns this a toughness rating of 5 out of 10), and then there is an easy walk with fine views along the top of ridge, ending with a descent to Amberley.

This is a good all-season route, with the only potential problem being the short section crossing the meadows from the River Arun to Amberley village, which can be very wet or even flooded in winter. It can be avoided by turning right out of the station and following the main road to the village. See the start of the walk directions for more details.

Amberley is on the Horsham-Littlehampton line, served by trains out of Victoria. Note that Amberley has a short platform, and you can’t alight from the rear three carriages of an eight car train.

From September to March, catch the nearest train to 9.10am from Victoria. This will get you to the Crown Inn in Storrington in time for lunch. In summer, you could take a train an hour or even two hours later and have lunch at one of the earlier lunch options, reserving the Crown Inn for tea.

The Crown Inn (01903 742625) Cootham, 8.4km (5.2 miles) into the walk, is the best located lunchtime pub for this walk. It serves food from 12pm to 2.30pm Tuesday to Saturday, and 12pm to 3.30pm on Sundays. It is a good idea to ring in advance to book a table, as this pub always seems to be busy, though in summer you may be able to find an unbooked table in its garden. It is open all afternoon for drinks a the weekend.

Earlier options include the Black Horse (01798 831183) in the heart of Amberley, 3.2km (2 miles) into the walk, which is open 9am to 10pm daily and serves food 12-2pm and 6-8.30pm Mondays to Saturdays and 12-6pm Sundays. It also has a Garden Room serving tea and coffee.

The Amberley Village Tea Room (see Tea below), just down the road from the Black Horse, also provide light lunches.

A kilometre further on, on the road out of the village, 4km (2.5 miles) into the walk is the Sportsman (01798 831787) a modern pub with a lovely view of Amberley Brooks. It is open 12-3pm and 5-10pm Wednesday to Friday, all afternoon on Saturday, and to 5pm on Sunday.

The Riverside Tea Room and Gardens (01798 831066) has a fine riverside location just beyond Amberley station, and is open till 4.30pm daily. If you can get there in time, it offers a good selection of cakes.

Also highly recommended, and reached by a small diversion off the route, is the Amberley Village Tea Room (01798 839196), a charming and friendly place, not far from the Black Horse pub. Open daily apart from Wednesday, at least in the summer months, this sadly this now shuts at 4pm however, making it challenging to reach in time.

Otherwise, the friendly and atmospheric Bridge Inn (01798 831619) just beyond Amberley station serves tea and coffee until at least 10.30pm, and is also a great place for dinner, with outside tables in summer

After the walk, please leave a comment, it really helps. Thanks!

You can also upload photos to the SWC Group on Flickr (upload your photos) and videos to Youtube. This walk's tags are:

National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234

Jun-24 Peter