Swap the dockyards for the countryside — lead your own halter-trained alpaca on a 2-hour guided walk just 25 minutes from Gosport.
Gosport sits right on the water, wedged between Portsmouth Harbour and the Solent, with more naval history packed into a few square miles than almost anywhere else in Britain. It's not, on the face of it, obvious alpaca country. But head twenty-five minutes north-west up the A32 and onto the M27, and you land at Itchen Valley Country Park in West End, Southampton — 385 acres of woodland and open meadow that feels a world away from submarines and ferry pontoons, and exactly where our herd of 40-plus alpacas spend their days.
Gosport families tend to book an alpaca walk as the contrast trip — the thing you do after a morning at the Submarine Museum or a wander round Stokes Bay, when everyone wants grass underfoot instead of concrete. Each walker leads their own halter-trained alpaca around the park's tracks for roughly two hours, with one of our experienced handlers alongside the whole way. There's no rushing; alpacas set their own pace, which usually means plenty of stops to graze, sniff the air, and generally ignore your attempts to hurry them along. That's half the appeal.
Skip the ferry queue for this one — it's a road trip. Via the A32 to Fareham then the M27 westbound, or the back roads through Fareham and Botley if you fancy the scenery, the drive to Itchen Valley Country Park (Allington Lane, West End, Southampton, SO30 3HQ) takes most Gosport visitors around 30–40 minutes depending on traffic on the M27. It's an easy one to pair with a Southampton day out either side.
Everyone, largely. Children aged 3–12 share a lead with an adult, those 12–16 lead independently with an adult present, and over-16s walk solo. We also run accessible walks every Wednesday from April to October with free carer tickets, which several Gosport families with additional needs have found genuinely easier logistically than a harbourside day out. Sixteen years running these walks has taught us how to read a nervous walker and a confident one within the first five minutes, alpaca or human.
Walks start from £32 per person, with family packages from £92 and baby-alpaca walks from £54. An extra walker can join for £18, and £4.50 rescheduling insurance is worth adding if Gosport's coastal weather ever threatens your plans. Gift vouchers are available if you're booking for someone else. As a family-run, BAS-registered herd of 16 years, we keep booking simple — reserve online or call 0333 050 4012.