Swap the watercress beds for woodland trails — lead your own halter-trained alpaca on a guided walk just a short drive from Alresford. A relaxed, hands-on hour with gentle animals in the Hampshire countryside.
Alresford is known for its Georgian high street, its watercress beds and the puffing steam engines of the Watercress Line, but just down the road at Itchen Valley Country Park there's a rather different way to spend a morning: walking through open parkland with your own alpaca on a lead. For a town built around slow, deliberate pursuits — browsing antique shops, watching the trains roll in, strolling the water meadows — an alpaca walk fits the local rhythm perfectly.
Hensting Alpacas has been running guided walks from Itchen Valley Country Park for 16 years, and Alresford visitors are some of our regulars. The drive down is easy: follow the B3047 and A31 towards Winchester, then pick up the A33 corridor south towards West End, Southampton — around 30 minutes door to door, most of it through open Hampshire countryside that makes for a pleasant drive in its own right.
Each visit lasts around two hours, though the actual walking is closer to 45 minutes — the rest is spent getting to know your alpaca before you set off, and fussing over the herd afterwards. You're paired with one of our 40-plus halter-trained alpacas and an experienced handler stays with the group throughout, so nobody is left guessing what to do. Alpacas are naturally curious but calm animals, and most first-timers are surprised by how quickly their alpaca settles alongside them.
Routes wind through the park's mixed woodland and open meadow, a world away from the formal, manicured feel of some Hampshire attractions. It's the kind of unhurried outdoor hour that tends to appeal to people who already enjoy Alresford's slower pace — no crowds, no queues, just fresh air and a genuinely friendly animal on the end of your lead rope.
We welcome all ages. Children aged 3 to 12 share a lead with an adult, those 12 to 16 can hold their own lead with an adult nearby, and anyone 16 and over walks independently. Families travelling from Alresford often combine the walk with a wider day out in the Itchen Valley, or treat it as the main event with lunch in Alresford afterwards. We also run accessible walks every Wednesday between April and October, with free tickets for carers.
Walks start from £32 per person, with family packages from £92 and baby-alpaca walks from £54 where availability allows. An extra walker can join for £18, and we'd recommend our £4.50 rescheduling insurance given how changeable Hampshire weather can be on the day. Gift vouchers are available if you're booking on behalf of someone else. Give us a call on 0333 050 4012 if you'd like help choosing a date, or book online whenever suits.