top of page
Park Directions
St. Giles Hill Viewpoint is one of the best viewpoints in the South of England, according to the Royal Geographic Society's interactive map of best viewpoints in Britain. It provides the backdrop to the Statue of King Alfred. It is often rated on social media as one of the Top 10 places to visit in Winchester.
The park contains four other viewpoints worth visiting. These are linked by paths that are often unmade or in poor condition.
The only accessible view is at the Lower Viewpoint – the Blue Route below which starts at the Quarry Road entrance.
If you have any mobility limitations – please see our accessibility guide here.
Most of the routes, below, start at the City Bridge over the Itchen where you can see St. Giles Hill rising in front of you. Make your way across the busy roads until you are on the same side as the old black and white buildings and start walking up the hill. From here you have a choice of 3 direct routes to the Main Viewpoint. These are marked on the map in Red, Orange and Green. None of these 3 routes are step free.
A fourth route (in purple) starting in the Chesil Street car park, is the Rail Trail visiting the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway heritage sites. Again, this walk has many steps involved.
A fifth route shown in blue, enters the park from Quarry Road, which has no steps and leads to the lower viewpoint. If you have any mobility limitations – please see our accessibility guide which has far more information.
The shortest, steepest and quickest – there are 170 steps! As you reach the safety barrier at the side of the road continue straight up the wide paved path. At the top of the first section where there is an open gate through the fence to your left and a wooded glade front and right. At this point you are standing directly over the entrance to the old railway tunnel.
The route continues straight up with five short flights of steps taking you a T-junction. Take a dog leg to the right and then climb the next set of steps. Another dog leg right and a final set of steps takes you to the top where you turn right and follow the path and fence around to the Main Viewpoint.
Starts by following the right hand side of Bridge Street up to the Glade and then the fence along to the right. There are no steps but the path is steep and in poor condition. Take a close look at the metal fence posts, they are a curious shape. See the Rail Trail for more info.
Keep climbing until you come to the crest of the path where you will have emerged from the shade at the Lower Viewpoint. This has a fine view over the rooftops of Winchester. Turn your back on the view to face the hill and make your choice to continue with your climb by taking either the path ascending to the left or the one to the right.
The left hand path takes you gently up through the woods on an unmade path. It eventually emerges at a junction where there is an old disused water fountain and the few steps up immediately to the right set you on a paved path running back along the side of a metal fence around the hill to the main Viewpoint.
The right hand path is steeper, shorter and sunnier with a log bench where the tarmac ends. The route is a zig-zag - when you come to a crossing of paths, turn left up a gravel path to a step and join the paved path which leads to the main Viewpoint.
Pass by the crash barrier and broad paved path to the other side of the apartments. There an iron gateway is the formal entrance to the park. An elegant staircase rises in a series of steps to meet a path crossing. You can take the opportunity of a small diversion along the path to the left to visit the Milner Viewpoint. This looks out over the rooftops with a vista stretching from the tower of St.John’s, the oldest parish church in Winchester to the tower of the Cathedral.
Return to the crossing and resume your climb up a gently rising set of steps until leaving this part of the park through another iron gateway and turn left. This path takes you on up two short flights of steps and the old water fountain. Take the gently rising path up a final four steps opposite and follow it and a metal fence running around the hill until you come to the Main Viewpoint.
The route shown in purple is the Rail Trail visiting the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway heritage sites. This is a circular walk that starts and ends at Chesil Street car park and can be walked in either direction.
A fully accessible short route from the Quarry Road entrance follows a wide paved path, to your left, which rises gently to the Lower Viewpoint. The best views of the City can be admired in the morning sun and sunsets enjoyed in the evening. For more details of this and other accessible options see our Accessibility Guide
If you have time you can visit two other viewpoints, the Beech Lookout and St. Catherine’s View. Both are “worth a detour” even on a short visit. They're both marked on the map above.
On a very quick visit we recommend climbing by the steepest route, you can manage, and choosing one of the alternatives to descend back to the City centre to give yourself a ‘circular’ tour.
We recommend taking time to explore St. Giles Hill. It has a rich heritage, several beautiful viewpoints and is an urban haven for nature, a peaceful quiet space to relax or exercise.
For more information see Plan Visit.
bottom of page