Meet your own alpaca and stroll the meadows of Itchen Valley Country Park — a gentle two-hour walk right on Eastleigh's doorstep.
Of all the towns in Hampshire, Eastleigh is arguably the closest you can get to a proper alpaca adventure. Itchen Valley Country Park, where our walks take place, sits within the Borough of Eastleigh itself at Allington Lane, West End — barely ten minutes from the town centre by car. If you have been searching for a genuinely local day out that swaps the shops and the railway heritage for open meadow, riverside woodland and forty inquisitive alpacas, this is it.
Eastleigh is a town built on movement — the railway works, the airport, the busy Swan Centre — so there is something restorative about slowing right down to alpaca pace. Our guided walks last around two hours, and during that time you lead your own halter-trained alpaca along quiet grassland trails while an experienced handler stays with your group throughout. There are no crowds, no queues and no rush. Many of our Eastleigh visitors tell us they had driven past the country park for years without realising a herd of alpacas was grazing just off Allington Lane.
Because the park is so close, it is easy to make an afternoon of it. Families often pair the walk with a picnic by the river or a wander through the wider woodland afterwards, all within the same green corner of the borough.
From Eastleigh town centre, head towards West End via Bishopstoke and Allington Lane — the country park is signposted and has ample free parking. The whole journey is typically well under fifteen minutes. If you are coming by bus or train, Eastleigh station connects easily to the surrounding villages, and a short taxi hop brings you to the gate.
Everyone is welcome. Children aged three to twelve share a lead with an adult, twelve to sixteen-year-olds can lead an alpaca with an adult present, and anyone sixteen and over can walk independently. We run accessible walks every Wednesday from April to October with free carer tickets, so the experience is open to visitors of all abilities. Our family have been raising alpacas for sixteen years, we are BAS-registered, and our forty-strong herd is calm, well-handled and used to gentle first-timers.
Walks start from £32 per person, with family packages from £92 and our ever-popular baby-alpaca walks from £54. Additional walkers can join a booking for £18, and rescheduling insurance is available for £4.50 should the great British weather have other ideas. Gift vouchers make a lovely surprise for an Eastleigh friend or relative. To secure your spot, book online or call us on 0333 050 4012 — weekend slots fill quickly, so a little forward planning goes a long way.