Our St James' Way Walk

23rd July 2025

Follow along Alex's pilgramage journey from Reading to Southampton along the St James' Way.

The St James' Way, from Reading to Southampton, is a lovely walk, first and foremost. It was worth doing just for the scenery and architecture along the route, but of course it is also an accredited pilgrimage route, part of the Camino de Santiago, so we were conscious we were following in the footsteps of medieval pilgrims and as such felt we were also part of something more substantial. 

The route started us off in surprising medieval Reading before heading out along the scenic towpath of the Kennet & Avon Canal and then through the woods, fields and villages of West Berkshire and North Hampshire before picking up the impossibly gorgeous River Itchen, passing working watercress fields, exploring medieval Winchester and finally reaching the sea at Southampton. Throughout the walk, we stopped to poke our noses into every little church and welcoming pub, getting the valued stamps for our passport as we went.

We had been slightly dubious at the begining about the need for a passport in order to enjoy the St James' Way, but we pretty quickly changed our tune and became avid collectors as we went.

Having walked some of the camino in Spain, we were surprised that far more of the St James' Way is off road (I would guess about 90%) than in Spain, which reminded us how lucky we are in the UK to have such brilliant public footpaths and towpaths. 

Having collected our certificate of completion in Southampton, we definitely felt a sense of pride and achievement at having walked from Reading all the way to the sea but also a feeling that we had been part of something bigger and longer-lasting.

It is such a quiet route - we didn't meet many other pilgrims along the way, although we saw that people had passed through most days by looking in the church visitor books. So we feel like we have discovered a part of our own country before everyone else does!

While the guidebook suggests you can do the 68.5 mile walk in five or six continuous days, we decided to take our time and do it a little differently. All in all, we walked for all or part of eight days, heading home to Reading at the end of every day. 

Walking the St James' Way in stages

We are based near Reading and decided to walk the St James' Way one day at a time on occasional weekends over a period of nine months, returning to base at the end of each day's walking. We also decided that we would take our time on the days we were walking so ended up splitting some of the longer day's walking into two.

When to walk the St James' Way 

We started in early Autumn 2024 when the weather was still kind but we stopped over the winter as parts of the route, particularly alongside water meadows, become impassable after a lot of rain. We picked it up again in Spring 2025 and finally got to Southampton by the end of June. The season for the walk seems to be roughly April to October. 

Practical stuff

There is plentiful accommodation along the route (although we didn't use it) and good public transport, which we did use, almost everywhere except at Upper Wield (we used a taxi).

We bought the CSJ's Pilgrim Guide to St James' Way and A-Z St James' Way map, which are both really useful but mostly just followed the brilliant waymarking along the route. For most of the way, we just needed to keep our eyes open for the next arrow. The guidebook and map are available from Reading Museum or the CSJ online.

Day by day

If you are planning your own St James' Way walk, we hope our day by day photo breakdown of the route is useful to you and give you an idea of what each leg holds in store. Click through for a picture story and longer breakdown of each day.

Day 1 - Reading to Mortimer 

We took our time to explore Reading's medieval history at the start although we knew a lot of it already as locals and really liked the first day's walk alongside the Kennet & Avon and through the woods north of Mortimer.

Day 2 & 3 - Mortimer to Worting 

We made sure we had enough time to explore Silchester Roman walls which are right on the route by dividing this leg up into two.

Day 4 - Worting to Upper Wield

Dummer and Preston Candover are lovely villages and the old church of St Mary, which is looked after by the Churches Conservation Trust is a real gem.

Day 5 - Upper Wield to Itchen Stoke

On Day 5 we spent time in New Alresford, which is a lovely town with its own steam railway and watercress fields and then strolled the most beautiful stretch of the Itchen.

Day 6 - Itchen Stoke to Winchester

Another splendid stretch of the Itchen. This part of Hampshire would give you house envy if the other views weren't so lovely! Walking into Winchester was a great way to finish the day.

Day 7 & 8 - Winchester to Southampton

Winchester Cathedral was a must - we were allowed into the service as pilgrims and the cafe is also heartily recommended. We weren't expecting the Hospital of St Cross to be as jaw-droppingly stunning as it was. We loved it. And we asked for our 'dole'.

Find out more

Discover more about the St James' Way or explore Reading's Las Estrellas del Camino street art in the town centre.