Looking for something different to do in Southampton? Spend two unhurried hours leading your own alpaca through Itchen Valley Country Park, just 15 minutes from the city.
Southampton has no shortage of ways to fill a day: the waterfront, the shops, the Common, a match at St Mary's. But if you are after something that feels properly different, something that gets you outdoors, off your phone and eye to eye with an animal that hums when it is content, an alpaca walk deserves a place on your list.
We are based at Itchen Valley Country Park on Allington Lane in West End, roughly fifteen minutes from the city centre by car. There is no long drive and no need to plan around a motorway. Park up, meet your handler and your alpaca, and within a few minutes you are strolling along the river valley with a halter-trained animal at the end of a soft lead.
The walk lasts about two hours. Our family has kept alpacas for sixteen years, and we have more than forty of them, each with a distinct personality. Some are chatty, some shy, a few are gleefully greedy. Your handler matches you with a suitable walking partner and stays alongside the whole way, so you never need any prior experience.
Couples looking for a date idea that is not dinner again, friends who want a catch-up with a bit of fresh air, grandparents treating the grandchildren, and visitors to Southampton who want a memory that is not a shopping bag. Children aged three to twelve share a lead with an adult, those aged twelve to sixteen lead with an adult present, and anyone sixteen or over can walk independently.
Walks start from £32 per person, with family packages from £92 and baby alpaca walks from £54. An extra walker is £18, rescheduling insurance is £4.50, and gift vouchers are available if you are planning for someone else. Accessible walks run every Wednesday from April to October, with free carer tickets.
Wear sturdy shoes and layers, bring a camera, and leave the rest to us. Call 0333 050 4012 or book online and give Southampton's most unusual outing a try.