Walking the Solent Way

Walking the Solent Way

The Solent Way is a sixty-mile long-distance walking trail that follows the Hampshire coast from Milford on Sea in the west to Emsworth in the east. It passes through several of the towns and villages covered by the Solent News network, making it one of the best ways to explore the area on foot and to understand the variety of the Solent coastline.

The route hugs the shoreline wherever possible, crossing shingle beaches, saltmarsh, harbour shores, and seafront promenades. In its western sections, it passes through the New Forest coastal fringe and the mouth of the Beaulieu River, before crossing the industrial waterfront of Southampton and curving around the top of the Solent to follow the Hampshire shore eastwards through Fareham, Portchester, and on towards Havant and Emsworth.

The section most relevant to the Solent News area runs from Hill Head, through Lee-on-the-Solent, around the Gosport peninsula, along the shore of Portsmouth Harbour through Portchester, and on to Fareham Creek. This stretch of roughly fifteen miles takes in beaches, harbour views, military heritage sites, nature reserves, and the quiet creekside paths around the upper harbour. It can be walked in a single long day or broken into shorter sections.

From Hill Head, the path follows the seafront east through Lee-on-the-Solent along Marine Parade, passing the site of HMS Daedalus with views across the Solent to the Isle of Wight. For more on Lee-on-the-Solent's seafront, see leeonthesolent.news. The route continues around Stokes Bay and along the Gosport waterfront, where the Millennium Promenade provides a well-surfaced path past the submarine museum and naval heritage sites. This section is covered in detail at gosport.news.

After passing through Gosport, the route follows the harbour shore northward through Elson and Fleetlands to Portchester Castle, one of the walk's undoubted highlights. The castle, with its Roman walls and Norman keep, stands directly on the route. For Portchester Castle information, visit portchester.news. From Portchester, the path turns west along Fareham Creek, following the water's edge to Fareham town centre.

The Solent Way is waymarked throughout with distinctive blue and white discs, though signage varies in quality and some sections require attention to the route description. The terrain is mostly flat or gently undulating, making it accessible for most walkers, though some harbour-edge sections can be muddy after rain or at high tide. The walk can be done in sections as day walks, with bus and train connections at Fareham, Portchester, Lee-on-the-Solent, and Gosport making it possible to return to your starting point without retracing your steps.

Ordnance Survey Explorer maps 119 and 120 cover the Solent News area section. Guidebooks to the Solent Way are available from local bookshops and tourist information points.