Explore Winchester’s rich heritage in more depth. Join one of Winchester’s professional guides for a 90 minute walking tour, starting at Winchester Visitor Information Centre, Broadway, Winchester, Hampshire SO23 9GH.
Winchester is alive with natural, historic and architectural treasures. Each year the Guides offer a programme of walking tours which allow them to share their special interests and enthusiasms. See some of the private buildings and hidden places of Winchester or follow a theme to uncover stories of the past. Enjoy some traditional seasonal delights as the year draws to a close – have some fun at Halloween or enjoy the special atmosphere of Winchester and Abbey House at Christmas.
Note: Tickets can be purchased in advance on the Eventbrite website by clicking below or on the day from the Visitor Information Centre if not already sold out.
This year’s Themed Tours and others, including Sherlock Holmes, the Battle of Cheriton and Eastern Winchester, can be booked as private tours. See the Group Tours page for more information.
For more information on the Themed Tours contact the Visitor Information Centre:
Tel: 01962 840500
E-mail:
A guided walk exploring the route of Winchester’s “other” railway, the old Didcot, Newbury and Southampton line operated by the Great Western Railway.
Winchester Chesil station was opened in 1885 and closed in the 1960s because of lack of demand. The tour explores the old station site, the route of the line, some of its remaining buildings and ends by going inside the disused Chesil Railway tunnel, one of the city’s hidden treasures. There are steep slopes and steps around St. Giles’ Hill which makes this tour unsuitable for wheelchairs. Please wear suitable footwear.
Tickets: £11 adults, £5 children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH
A guided walk exploring the route of Winchester's "other" railway, the old Didcot, Newbury and Southampton line operated by the Great Western Railway.
When: Sat, Apr 27, 10:30am - 12:00pm
Tickets: £11 adult, £5 for children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
A guided walk exploring the route of Winchester's "other" railway, the old Didcot, Newbury and Southampton line operated by the Great Western Railway.
When: Wed, Jun 12, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Tickets: £11 adult, £5 for children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
A guided walk exploring the route of Winchester's "other" railway, the old Didcot, Newbury and Southampton line operated by the Great Western Railway.
When: Sat, Sep 28, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Tickets: £11 adult, £5 for children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
A walk to discover Winchester’s important role in Saxon history.
The tour includes locations in the city centre that had significance in Saxon times, concentrating mainly on late Saxon: King Alfred to 1066. It will include the flourishing of art in Winchester, Viking and Norman influences, King Cnut, Queen Emma and the important monasteries of the time – Old & New Minsters and Nunnaminster.
The route is accessible to wheelchair users. Well behaved dogs on leads are welcome.
Tickets: £11 adults, £5 children (under 16).
Venue: Tourist Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH
A walk to discover Winchester's important role in Saxon history.
When: Sat, May 11, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Tickets: £11 adult, £5 for children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
A medieval Jewish themed walking tour of Winchester.
The tour focuses on Winchester’s Jewish community in the medieval period. The route passes the north side of the Cathedral before crossing the High Street to St. Peter’s Street and Jewry Street, once the main area of Jewish population. During the 1200s some members of the Winchester community were very wealthy and powerful including Licoricia and her family. The tour then visits the site of Winchester Castle and covers the politics and prejudice that led to the expulsion of the community in 1290.
Tickets: £11 adults, £5 children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH
A medieval Jewish themed walking tour of Winchester.
When: Sun, May 12, 1:30pm - 3:00pm
Tickets: £11 adult, £5 for children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
A medieval Jewish themed walking tour of Winchester.
When: Sun, Jul 14, 1:30pm - 3:00pm
Tickets: £11 adult, £5 for children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
A look back at Winchester’s many royal connections.
This tour will explore the many very important links Winchester has with royalty. It will introduce the early Anglo Saxon Kings of Wessex, including King Alfred the Great, and explore Winchester’s role as the ancient capital of England and the centre of royal power. The tour will also cover royal events and ceremonies including Mary Tudor’s wedding to Prince Philip of Spain and a visit made by Queen Elizabeth.
The route is accessible to wheelchair users. Well behaved dogs on leads are welcome.
Tickets: £11 adults, £5 children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH
A look back at Winchester's many royal connections.
When: Sat, May 18, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Tickets: £11 adult, £5 for children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
Explore Winchester during the children’s holidays to see what you can spot to decode the city’s history. This is a 60 minute walking tour.
The Children’s Winchester History tours are for children aged 7 years and over along with their grown-ups. The tour will highlight the most wonderful, worst, weirdest and whackiest stories of Winchester. Including myths, legends, ghosts and the craziest of the kings, queens and ordinary folk of the city’s past. There will be some hair-raising stories about Winchester’s past people!
Tickets: £8 adults, £3 children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH
Explore Winchester during the children's holidays to see what you can spot to decode the city's history. This is a 60 minute walking tour.
When: Wed, May 29, 2:30pm - 3:30pm
Tickets: £8 adult, £3 for children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
Explore Winchester during the children's holidays to see what you can spot to decode the city's history. This is a 60 minute walking tour.
When: Thu, Aug 15, 2:30pm - 3:30pm
Tickets: £8 adult, £3 for children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
Explore Winchester during the children's holidays to see what you can spot to decode the city's history. This is a 60 minute walking tour.
When: Tue, Oct 29, 10:30am - 11:30am
Tickets: £8 adult, £3 for children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
A chance to discover some of the hidden brooks and streams which run through Winchester.
This walk follows the waterways established during Saxon and medieval England to service the local population as well as many of the monasteries and nunneries that abounded in Winchester. Some waterways can be seen and others can be heard.
The route is accessible to wheelchair users. Well behaved dogs on leads are welcome.
Tickets: £11 adult, £5 children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH
A chance to discover some of the hidden brooks and streams which run through Winchester.
When: Sat, Jun 1, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Tickets: £11 adult, £5 for children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
A chance to discover some of the hidden brooks and streams which run through Winchester.
When: Sat, Aug 10, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Tickets: £11 adults, £5 for children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
A chance to discover some of the hidden brooks and streams which run through Winchester.
When: Sat, Sep 21, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Tickets: £11 adult, £5 for children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
A walk to explore Jane Austen’s Winchester and get to know the “real” Jane.
Almost everyone in the UK has read one of her novels, watched a film adaption or heard of her famous characters. Jane had connections with Winchester, some of them very strong and others more tenuous. This tour will cover all these connections, revealing little known details about this famous author. Discover landmarks of Jane’s life, places in Winchester that Jane visited and people she met. Jane died 207 years ago in Winchester.
Please note that whilst Jane is buried in Winchester Cathedral this tour does not include entry to the Cathedral. However there will be an opportunity to view the Jane Austen display case at the City Museum.
Tickets: £11 adults, £5 children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH
A walk to explore Jane Austen's Winchester and get to know the "real" Jane.
When: Sat, Jul 13, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Tickets: £11 adult, £5 for children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
Discover how crimes were punished in Winchester in the past.
A whistle stop tour through a thousand years of the history of crime, law and punishment visiting several significant sites around the city. See the site of the stocks, previous prisons and lock-ups and hear about trials, tribulations, treason and transportations. Not for the faint hearted!
This tour is not suitable for wheelchairs. Well behaved dogs on leads are welcome.
Tickets: £11 adults £5 children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH
Discover how crimes were punished in Winchester in the past.
When: Sat, Jul 27, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Tickets: £11 adult, £5 for children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
Discover Regency Winchester on a summer evening along with the beautiful watercolours of 19th century artist George Shepherd.
The tour illustrates Winchester in the Regency period through the medium of a series of detailed watercolours painted by George Shepherd in the 1820s. Explore twelve familiar views of the city captured by Shepherd some two hundred years ago, long before the age of photography, which provide a unique record of how Winchester looked at that time. See what has and hasn’t changed since then.
Tickets: £11 adults, £5 children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH
Discover Regency Winchester on a summer evening along with the beautiful watercolours of 19th century artist George Shepherd.
When: Wed, Aug 7, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Tickets: £11 adult, £5 for children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
Explore St. Giles’ Hill, home to a Bronze Age settlement, a great medieval fair and Winchester’s prestigious eastern suburb. There are some steep steps but the view over the Winchester is worth the effort.
St. Giles’ Hill is located in a commanding position overlooking the historic city of Winchester which nestles in the River Itchen valley below. The tour charts the fascinating and intriguing history of St. Giles’ Hill from the Bronze Age settlement dated to 1500BC, Saxon burials, the site of one the most important medieval annual fairs in Europe which was run by the powerful Bishops of Winchester to the development of Winchester's prestigious eastern suburb and pleasure park in the late 19th century.
There are steep slopes and steps around St. Giles’ Hill which makes this tour unsuitable for wheelchairs. Please wear suitable footwear. Well behaved dogs on leads are welcome.
Tickets: £11 adults £5 children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH
Explore St. Giles' Hill, home to a Bronze Age settlement, a great medieval fair and Winchester's prestigious eastern suburb.
When: Sat, Oct 5, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Tickets: £11 adult, £5 for children (under 16).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
A Halloween feast of ghosts and other ghastly goings-on. Come dressed for the part if you like!
A night-time meander around the backstreets and alleyways of old Winchester including the Cathedral precinct and the ancient High Street. A mix of well-researched, age-old tales of local supernatural activity from Winchester’s rich history and lore together with some of Winchester’s contemporary ghostly goings-on.
Suitable for visitors to Winchester as well as locals who would like to experience their city in a different way. For adults only. A morning Children’s Tour on 29th October is suitable for families.
Tickets: £11 (adults only).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH
A Halloween feast of ghosts and other ghastly goings-on for adults only. Come dressed for the part if you like!
When: Thu, Oct 31, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Tickets: £11 (adults only).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
A Halloween feast of ghosts and other ghastly goings-on for adults only. Come dressed for the part if you like!
When: Thu, Oct 31, 7:30pm - 9:00pm
Tickets: £11 (adults only).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
A Halloween feast of ghosts and other ghastly goings-on for adults only. Come dressed for the part if you like!
When: Thu, Oct 31, 8:00pm - 9:30pm
Tickets: £11 (adults only).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.
An opportunity to visit Abbey House, the official residence of the Mayor of Winchester. After a tour round the principal rooms enjoy a glass of mulled wine and mince pies with the Mayor. This tour starts next door at the Visitor Information Centre in the Guildhall.
This is a tour which will give you access to an important public building not normally open to members of the pubic. The tour gives a brief history of the house from about 1700 and its evolution over the years up to its acquisition by Winchester City Council in the 1890s and it becoming the official Mayor’s residence. It will include the principal rooms within the house focusing on their use and the many and varied contents, all of which form part of the Winchester City Council collection. At the end there will be a chance to meet the Mayor, see the Mayor's regalia and ask questions about the role as well as enjoy a Christmas glass of mulled wine and mince pies!
There are stairs and limited space in parts of the house which make this tour unsuitable for wheelchair users or those with limited mobility. Numbers are limited so advance booking is recommended. The tour price includes a donation to the Mayor’s charities. Minimum age 12 years old.
Tickets: £16 (including a donation).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH
An opportunity to visit Abbey House, the official residence of the Mayor of Winchester.
When: Wed, Dec 4, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Tickets: £16 (including a donation).
Venue: Visitor Information Centre, The Broadway, Winchester SO23 9GH.