King Alfred's Way Loop

Overview

King Alfred's Way is Cycling UK's 350km circular route through 10,000 years of English history, looping from Winchester — King Alfred's capital — across Salisbury Plain to Stonehenge, through the stone circle at Avebury (you ride between the sarsens), along the ancient chalk highway of the Ridgeway, and back over the Surrey Hills and South Downs. Nowhere else can you link four UNESCO-calibre prehistoric landscapes on legal bridleways in a long weekend. The riding is deceptively hard work: endless short, steep chalk climbs, rutted byways, and the sandy tank tracks around the military training areas. The variable that catches people out is chalk in the wet — after rain the Ridgeway becomes a skating rink of slime that doubles journey times and coats drivetrains, so watch the forecast and pack patience in spring. Winchester is an hour from London by train. Four days at 85–90km suits a fit gravel rider; five is kinder. Off-route villages supply pubs and B&Bs — Amesbury, Marlborough, Goring — and Cycling UK's guidebook and GPX are definitive. Budget around £350 with pub beds and cream teas, far less camping.

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Prefilled for 1 May 2027 — the next best-season window. Search on partner sites — opens in a new tab.