Where the Ridgeway meets the Thames - Goring Gap | 26km (16mi)

GRADE 🥾🥾🥾Level 3/5
——
📕ABOUT:
Swap the Tube for the Thames! We start in the postcard villages of Goring & Streatley, climb (properly, sorry 😅) onto the North Wessex Downs, then stride out along The Ridgeway, Britain's oldest road. Big skies, red kites overhead, ancient barrows and Thames Valley views to the Chilterns 🦅
Lunch on the green in Blewbury, all thatched cottages and chalk streams, where Kenneth Grahame wrote The Wind in the Willows 🥪🌿 Then a gentle wander back along the Thames Path through water meadows to Goring Bridge, and a pint at the Bull or the Swan before the train home 🍺🚂
Come for the views, stay for the Ratty and Mole jokes!
——
⭐️HIGHLIGHTS:

• The Goring Gap & Thames Bridge: where the river slices through the chalk between two AONBs.

• Lardon Chase & The Hollies: a stiff climb rewarded with sweeping views over the Thames Valley to the Chilterns.

• The Ridgeway National Trail: walking in the footsteps of 5,000 years of travellers along Britain’s oldest road.

• Lowbury Hill: site of a Romano-British temple high on the Berkshire Downs.

• Blewbury Village: thatched cottages, chalk streams and Kenneth Grahame’s old home — our lunch stop.

• The Thames Path return: peaceful riverside walking through water meadows back to Streatley.

• Goring & Streatley: a perfect village finish with riverside pubs by the bridge.
  ——
  📖SUMMARY:
  🥾26km (16mi) | Ascent 377m | Descent 369m | Max Elevation 187m
  🚊Train: Return Ticket (Direct) London Paddington 🔁 Goring & Streatley
  ⛳️ Meeting Point: 2 Options
  1- London Paddington Station Ticket Office | 09:15 (Train is at 09:38)
  2- Goring & Streatley outside train station | 10:35
  ⚠️This is a Circular Hike
  📍Hike start: Goring & Streatley train station | 10:40
  🔚Hike finish: Goring & Streatley | approx. ~17:30
  ——
  🚊TRAIN TICKET INFORMATION:
  I would recommend you get:
  🎟️Off Peak Return Ticket (direct) London Paddington 🔁 Goring & Streatley with a Network Railcard is £20.75 (instead of £31.20).

• ➡️Outbound: London Paddington 09:38 → 10:35 Goring & Streatley

• ⬅️Inbound: Goring & Streatley any Off-Peak time → London

💡If you’d like to join other hikers using a Network Railcard, please arrive earlier so we can organise small groups. Note that each card can cover up to 4 people.
🚦Visit National Rail for details
——
💷COST: Free
This hike is completely free to join but participants need to purchase their own transport tickets.
——
🎒WHAT TO BRING:
2L Water
Packed lunch and snacks
Comfortable walking/hiking shoes
Weather-appropriate clothing (layers, waterproofs, hat, sunscreen)
Optional: trekking poles, camera
——
✅WHO CAN JOIN:
Our hikes are open to adults aged 21 and over.
For safety reasons, we’re not able to include children.
We love animals, but pets (including dogs) can’t join our hikes.
——
🚨RSVP & ATTENDANCE:
RSVP only if you plan to attend. Please cancel as early as possible if you can no longer make it so others can join. A no-show means you RSVPed but did not attend or cancelled just before or after the start time. Repeated no-shows or late cancellations without a valid reason may lead to removal. Reliable regulars who end up on a waitlist may message the host for priority consideration.
——
☯️STAYING TOGETHER:
A dedicated back marker is not always present, so please keep others in sight and avoid moving too far ahead or falling too far behind. Faster walkers should wait at junctions. The hike leader will pause at key points to regroup and reduce the chance of anyone becoming separated from the group.
——
⚠️ DISCLAIMER:
By joining, you confirm that you have read and accepted the group policy on the About page. You are responsible for your own safety, and neither the host nor the group can be held liable for injury, loss, or damage.