Spend part of the Easter break leading your own alpaca through Itchen Valley Country Park. A relaxed two-hour walk for the whole family, from £32 per person.
Easter weekend has a habit of arriving with a houseful of relatives, a fridge full of chocolate and a long list of ways to keep everyone entertained. Walking an alpaca is a pleasingly different answer. Over about two hours at Itchen Valley Country Park in West End, you and your family each take the lead rope of a calm, halter-trained alpaca and stroll the park's riverside paths at an easy, chatty pace.
The Easter school holidays sit right at the point where Hampshire shakes off the winter. Hedgerows are greening up, the light stretches into the late afternoon and the meadows along the Itchen are far drier underfoot than a few weeks earlier. It is the first stretch of the year when a two-hour outdoor activity feels like a treat rather than an endurance test, and it gives children something to do that is not a screen or a sugar hunt.
Because we have more than 40 alpacas, even a large family party can be matched up with an animal each. Our handlers choose the right alpaca for every walker, so a nervous first-timer is paired with a patient old hand while a confident teenager might get a livelier character.
Each session begins with a short briefing from an experienced handler. You will meet the herd, learn how to hold the lead, and find out how alpacas communicate (the humming is a good sign). Then you set off. Children aged 3 to 12 share a lead with an adult, those aged 12 to 16 lead their own alpaca with an adult nearby, and anyone 16 or over walks independently.
Along the way there are plenty of unhurried stops for photographs and for the alpacas to graze. Nobody is rushed, and the route is gentle enough for grandparents to join in.
Walks start from £32 per person, with family packages from £92 and baby alpaca walks from £54. An extra walker can be added for £18, and rescheduling insurance is £4.50 if the British weather worries you. Easter dates fill up early, so booking ahead is wise. Our family-run team has been welcoming guests for 16 years and is BAS-registered, so you are in experienced hands.
Getting here is simple: we are roughly 15 minutes from Southampton, Winchester and Eastleigh, and an easy drive from Portsmouth, Fareham, Romsey, Basingstoke and the New Forest. Questions? Call 0333 050 4012.