England · City Guide
Winchester
Winchester is one of England's most beautiful and historically significant cathedral cities, the ancient capital of Wessex and the site of one of England's finest medieval cathedrals. From the magnificent Winchester Cathedral and the Great Hall housing the legendary Round Table to the beautiful chalk streams of the Itchen Valley and access to the South Downs National Park, Winchester offers an outstanding English city break.
Elect's take
"Winchester has a quality and a sense of history that I find genuinely moving. The cathedral is extraordinary, the city is beautifully walkable and the surrounding Hampshire countryside of chalk streams and water meadows is among the finest in southern England."
Winchester Cathedral is the longest cathedral in Europe with an extraordinary Norman crypt and the grave of Jane Austen. The medieval Great Hall houses the legendary Round Table. The city centre has excellent independent shops and restaurants. The chalk streams of the River Itchen provide beautiful water meadow walking. The South Downs National Park is immediately accessible.
Best time to visit
How to get there
What to expect
Winchester Cathedral
One of England's greatest medieval buildings and the longest cathedral in Europe.
King Arthur's Round Table
The legendary medieval Round Table displayed in Winchester's magnificent Great Hall.
River Itchen
Beautiful chalk stream water meadow walks through the heart of the city.
South Downs National Park
Outstanding chalk downland walking immediately accessible from the city.
Jane Austen
The burial place of England's most celebrated novelist in Winchester Cathedral.
Winchester Dining
An excellent independent restaurant scene in a beautifully compact city centre.
