HOW TO ARRIVE AT THE START OF YOUR WALK

Well, obviously the walk has a start and finish, that means Its not a circular route so this immediately presents  a transport  problem. Shall we start from the east or west? For us it was an easy decision as we lived close to the eastern finish, so we felt that to 'walk home' would be the most incentivising thing each day! Other factors came into play, such as the prevailing wind direction and where to stay, but we discuss this in more detail in our story. Overton Hill is the most remote of the two ends, having no public transport and a small car-park that could fill up quickly, especially in the summer or bank holidays. Ivinghoe, on the other hand, is served by a bus every day except Sunday,or Its fairly close to Tring mainline station. There is also a large car park within a few hundred meters of the start/finish, but would you really want to leave your car at either site for days? For both, the option of a taxi is much more convenient from nearby towns or stations, unless you can cadge a lift from a friend or family.

OUR OWN JOURNEY STARTING AT OVERTON HILL/THE SANCTUARY, WILTSHIRE

Yes, we took the bus almost all the way! We are lucky enough to have a bus on our door-step and with a quick Google we looked at the various bus timetables and realised that Saturday, the day of our travel, we could link up four buses to arrive at our accommodation for the night prior to our walk, with time to spare in Oxford for lunch. It's just as easy if your bus feeds into the main centres just mentioned or towns and villages they serve en-route.It's practical also from Buckingham, Milton Keynes, High Wycombe, Amersham (with good tube link) Reading, Bicester and Luton. So as you can see a lot of the South Central area is covered by bus and if you qualify for a bus concession, the pass will bring a smile to your face each time you hover your pass over the reader and see the 'free' message appear on the screen! For the 'younger' persons, a day-rover will limit the cost to around £10.00 per bus operator and a senior day rover for the over 60s will halve that amount. Check with your operator web-site for exact terms & conditions. (2023-4....max fare £2.00 per journey! until end of June other offers are now available since our walk)

Busses we took to the start: 

  1. Arriva 50 Wendover-Aylesbury Bus Station
  2. Arriva Saphire 280 Aylesbury Bus Station-Oxford City Centre then walk :
  3. Stagecoach Gold 66 Oxford Bus Station -Swindon Bus Station
  4. Stagecoach 70 Swindon Bus Station-Ogbourne St George village centre