Guided two-hour alpaca walks at Itchen Valley Country Park, around 20 minutes from Wickham — lead your own halter-trained alpaca through woodland and meadow.
Wickham's Thursday market and Georgian square make it one of the prettiest stops in the Meon Valley, but if you want a morning that gets the whole family off their phones and properly outdoors, the real find is a short drive away. Hensting Alpacas run two-hour guided alpaca walks at Itchen Valley Country Park in West End, Southampton — around 20 minutes from Wickham via the B2177 and M27 — where every visitor leads their own halter-trained alpaca alongside an experienced handler, through quiet woodland paths and open parkland.
Alpaca encounters come in all shapes these days, but ours is built around the walk itself rather than a quick paddock visit. You'll meet your alpaca, learn how to hold the lead and settle it, then spend a genuinely unhurried two hours out on the trail. Our herd of more than 40 alpacas has been settled at Itchen Valley for 16 years, and every animal is well used to visitors, dogs on leads and the occasional over-excited toddler, which makes for a relaxed morning rather than a nervy one.
Wickham families ask us most often whether young children can take part, and the answer is yes, with one small adjustment: children aged 3 to 12 share the lead rope with an adult, those aged 12 to 16 lead independently with an adult walking alongside, and anyone over 16 is free to lead solo. We also run accessible walks every Wednesday from April to October, with free tickets for carers, so limited mobility needn't rule a visit out.
Walks start from £32 per person, with family packages from £92 and baby-alpaca walks — where you can meet that season's young crias alongside the adult herd — from £54. An extra walker can join a booked group for £18, and £4.50 buys rescheduling insurance in case Hampshire weather has other ideas. Gift vouchers are available for anyone who'd rather give the experience than book it themselves. We're a family-run, BAS-registered herd, so a Wickham booking is with the people who actually raise and know these alpacas, not an agency reselling a slot.
To book, call 0333 050 4012 or use the calendar link below. From Wickham it's close enough for a relaxed weekend morning without feeling like a big outing, and far enough into the Itchen Valley that it feels like a proper change of scene.