Our qualified Green Badge Guides are experts on the history of Winchester and have plenty of tales, secrets and hidden gems to share with you. In this video our hosts – David, Val, Dave and Pauline will whet your appetite and leave you wanting to find out more about the history of Winchester.
David will start at Abbey Gardens and under the watchful gaze of King Alfred he will tell you more about how this great Saxon king came to be the best remembered for burning cakes. Keep watching as later on you’ll get to hear David sing outside Winchester Cathedral before he tells you more about one of our national treasures. Follow Pauline as she takes you along the River Itchen – you can follow this beautiful river walk through the water meadows right to the Hospital of St Cross, a medieval almshouse – before she hands over to Dave at Winchester College. At this stop you’ll get some stunning views from inside the College – opened in 1394 this is the oldest school in the country in existence still occupying its original site.
Hear more about Jane Austen’s life in Hampshire with Val and enjoy views of the Square and the high street with Dave and Pauline. You’ll get a glimpse of some of our wonderful independent shops as well as eateries serving up fresh, locally produced food.
As you follow the guides up the High Street, through the Westgate – a fortified medieval gateway to the historic city which houses a formers debtors’ prison, our guides will end this virtual tour at The Great Hall – home to King Arthur’s legendary Round Table.
Tours must be pre-booked via our Visitor Information Centre or online. Tours leave from the Visitor Information Centre and from 17 May they will run daily at 11am in line with current government guidance. Find out more about the measures in place to keep you, our guides and others safe on the Winchester Tourist Guides website.
The Winchester district is a great place to escape the everyday – a heritage city on the doorstep of the South Downs National Park, surrounded by beautiful countryside, market towns and villages.
