UK - Winchester

Timeline - July 2017

Tripmates - Karthik, Siva, Khushal, Abhishek

Winchester is England’s ancient capital city steeped in history, offering historical information for visitors looking to understand Britain’s past. The city hosts medieval and Georgian buildings, arches and several eventful statues to walk through. A small good city for a walk tour. City of Winchester lies in Hampshire county. 

We walked around the old city and covered few parts of it.

Next, we reached Great Hall in 5-7 mins walk from the railway station. The Great hall is definitely great. They charge 2 GBP for entrance per adult and let you see/do 2 important things. One - you get to see a big round table as old as 12-13th century - mounted on the wall - along with a writing on the wall about history of Winchester - first capital of England.

Also, you are allowed to wear some royal clothing and take photographs. This is quite a bit of an experience for any age.

Next, we stopped by Westgate museum. This is situated close by Great hall. One gets to climb it and get a good view of old town of Winchester. We did not climb as it was closed when we were there on a Sunday evening around 5 PM. This is just next to Great hall on the main road as you walk.

Winchester Buttercross is a landmark in Winchester. One gets to see this while going to Winchester Cathedral from the main streets of Winchester. This is well sculpted with intricacies. No history available to read nearby.

We walked by the Winchester City Museum. It was closed and we could not visit.

Winchester Cathedral - 10 min walk from the Winchester railway station. The Old cathedral is a good piece of history and hosting beautiful glass paintings besides being an active church. The place is open until 5 PM. It is quite small when compared to the Salisbury Cathedral but hold its own significance. Overall, a tick mark when you visit Winchester.

We had some excellent coffee and pastries before we boarded train back to Basingstoke.

Others areas of Winchester that can be covered in a day trip would include, Winchester mills, South Downs, Marwell zoo, Gurkha museum and few other based on interest.