Once the route and trail stages for each day were sorted, we started to look at accommodation options for each night.
Where possible we’ve tried to do a mixture of Bed and Breakfast places or a pub, with a bit of camping thrown in here and there. Ideally we have a B & B or a pub the day after we’ve camped so we can at least have a nice shower every other day!
As of mid-February most of the places to stay each night are sorted and 5 of the 8 days are booked. It seems that a lot of campsites and Youth Hostels don’t open their bookings until at least 1st March or a rolling 90 days before, so we’re having to wait until then to check back if their pitches are actually available to book.
The Five Bells pub in Buriton was our planned stay for night 2 but after contacting them they advised they are going to be under new management and can’t commit to any bookings until the new management is in place around the end of March time; will have to check back. There aren’t really any other options in Buriton (there are only 2 pubs and only one does accommodation), so if we are unlucky we will be wild camping that night! *
YHA in Truleigh Hill; this was our planned stop for night 5. After checking the YHA website and finding almost all Tuesday to Friday weeks red and unavailable we contacted them to check. Basically they reserve bookings for school parties during the week during the summer months, so as of mid February the date we require is not yet open and available to book for camping, private room or even a shared room. Their bookings don’t open until 90 days before. So again, we need to check back around 1st April to see when and if we can book, else its a wild camping night! ***
* Update 25th Feb. We have now found a lovely AirBnB in Buriton, 5 minutes walk from the SDW path, 5 minutes walk from the pub, and the lovely lady host does meals, puddings and will even make us a packed lunch the next day! What a find, nice to finally get the Sunday night sorted.
** Update 3rd April – We called the campsite and left a message and later that day the lovely owner, Pauline, returned our call and booked us all in for the Monday 30th, We had sent several emails to request booking their campsite, but these had been unanswered, apparently its lambing season and the farm have been very busy!
*** Update 4th April – YHA Truleigh is all booked! Finally the booking options were available for our dates and we now have a private room for 2 people booked, shared shower and with full breakfast the next day. All accommodation is now booked!!
The accommodation plans are as per the table below.
| Day | Stage | Day of the week | Date | Accommodation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Travel to Winchester | Friday | 27 June 2025 | Premier Inn, Winchester |
| 1 | Winchester to Exton | Saturday | 28 June 2025 | Crossways B&B |
| 2 | Exton to Buriton | Sunday | 29 June 2025 | AirBnB, The Little Annex |
| 3 | Buriton to Cocking | Monday | 30 June 2025 | Manor Farm Campsite, Cocking |
| 4 | Cocking to Amberley | Tuesday | 01 July 2025 | Amberley Black Horse |
| 5 | Amberley to Truleigh Hill | Wednesday | 02 July 2025 | YHA Truleigh Hill |
| 6 | Truleigh Hill to Housedean Farm | Thursday | 03 July 2025 | House Dean Farm Campsite |
| 7 | Housedean Farm to Alfriston | Friday | 04 July 2025 | Alfriston Camping |
| 8 | Alfriston to Meads | Saturday | 05 July 2025 | Gyves House B & B |
| 9 | Travel home | Sunday | 06 July 2025 | n/a |
