Southern England – Avebury
Distance: 18km/11 miles
Time: 6½hrs
Type: Countryside
Where: Circular walk from Avebury, Wiltshire.
Start/End: The Red Lion, Avebury (SU103699).
Terrain: Unmarked but straightforward footpaths over open, chalky farmland with plenty of historic monuments for easy navigation.
Maps: OS Explorer 157; Landranger 173.
Taking in the first section of the Great Stones Way, this ‘taster’ route starts and ends inside the prehistoric stone circle at Avebury and follows the proposed trail as far south as the Neolithic long barrow known as Adam’s Grave. It then joins part of a possible diversion on the Great Stones Way to pass one of Wiltshire’s eight famous white horses, before heading back towards Avebury via other prehistoric sites like the West Kennet Long Barrow and Silbury Hill. Along the way, you’ll get a taste of the landscape and chalk escarpment that characterises much of the full 61km/38-mile Way, but with a much more peaceful grand finale in Avebury than at crowded Stonehenge.
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