Winchester

Introduction

Winchester cathedral

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Winchester is a city on edge of South Downs and was capital of England from 871AD until William the Conquerer defeated Harold the Great at the battle of Hastings in 1066. Winchester's most famous resident was Jane Austen who lived nearby and latterly within the city until her death in 1817.

Sights and Activities

Winchester has a rich history to explore, with King Arthur's table, St Swithin's tomb and Jane Austen's home all nearby. The Winchester City Council Tourist office contains details of a number of activities available.

Winchester Cathedral is built in the Romanesque style, with work beginning on it as early as 1079. Daily masses were said for the bishops buried in its chantry chapels.

Further afield for the more active, the South Downs offer some beautiful English countryside to explore either on foot or on by bike.

Events and Festivals

• Winchester Hat Fair is held on the first weekend in July (Thu-Sun), with the main day being on the Saturday. It is Britain's longest running street theatre festival, attracting over 30,000 visitors each year. It is free to watch, but expect to donate a few pounds into the hats being passed around.

Getting There

By Train

Winchester is well served by Southwest Trains which run regular and express services to Winchester from London and the South West.

By Car

Winchester is located by Junction 8 of the M3 motorway, so those travelling from either London or the South West (Southampton, etc) are advised to use that route.

Getting Around

By Foot

Winchester town centre is ideally suited to exploration on foot. It provides ready access to most of the tourist attractions such as the cathedral.

Eat

Winchester is packed with good quality restaurants for people looking for a special night our or good quality dinner The Black Rat Restaurant has some great reviews for a small friendly restaurant serving modern British food.

Drink

The Black Boy is a great local English pub to visit, in a very old building and full of strange things on the walls.

Keep Connected

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

The area code for Winchester is 01962 (+44 1962 if dialling from outside the UK)

Post

The Royal Mail provides postal services in the United Kingdom. The Royal Mail's store fronts are called Post Office and offer services ranging from sending letters and packages to foreign currency exchange. Use the branch locator to find the nearest Post Office branch. An alternative includes TNT Post.
It's common for a post office to be incorporated into a grocery store, where there will be a small counter located at the back of the store for dealing with post related matters. All post offices are marked with signs that say 'post office' in red lettering. Post boxes can be found at any post office and standalone large red post boxes on the streets or red boxes in the sides of public buildings.