for the best in nordic walking, guided walks and weekends away

Friday 18 - Sunday 20 April

Friday 13 - Sunday 15 June

(2 nights)

Itinerary

Friday
After a Welcome Meeting and introduction to your companions and to Nordic Walking, we dine together in the hotel’s award-winning restaurant.

Saturday
After a leisurely breakfast, we set off, full of anticipation, for a day in the ancient wooded glades and open heathland of the New Forest. The silent, sylvan forest paths, populated only by deer and ponies, ideal for your first lesson in Nordic Walking. From time to time, we pause for a demonstration, a drill or a laugh together (this is great fun!), sometimes beneath the canopy of the mighty beech and oak, sometimes beside silvery streams. This is your ‘classroom,’ your green ‘gym’ where you will not only learn a new skill which will change your life but at the same time you will soak up the special atmosphere of the forest.

You’ll look forward to lunch at a forest inn or, if the weather is fine, a picnic, where you can relax, compare notes with others and check with us anything which may need further clarification. Then, back into the forest, putting into practice your newly-learnt skills. After a day of exercise in the fresh air, nothing quite beats the relaxing creature comforts of a hotel.  Over a delicious meal with like-minded companions, you can enjoy reflecting on the day’s shared experiences.

Sunday
Today a complete contrast. After crossing the Solent, you arrive at picturesque Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight, where boats bob in calm harbour waters. Soon you’ll be swinging along beside the Yar Estuary, gaining confidence now in the use of the poles, enjoying the exercise and bracing air. We’ll stop for coffee at a charming former railway station then continue  through a delightful Nature Reserve to Freshwater Bay.

Fully rested after lunch at Sandpipers, you head for the sea once again, now, for the first time, practising uphill and downhill techniques as you traverse the incomparable Tennyson Down, the only hill of the weekend. It’s also one of the scenic highlights, with its ever-unfolding seascapes and panoramas. You will be surprised at how easily you reach journey’s end, at the famous Needles where you’ll board an open-top bus for a scenic 15-minute ride back to Yarmouth and tea! A perfect end to a perfect and memorable weekend away!

Travel and Transport

By rail, fast direct trains twice an hour from London Waterloo to Brockenhurst  - 90 minutes - with onward travel by bus or taxi (4 miles). We can arrange taxi-sharing if required. By road: Total mileage from central London: 80 miles (3.20 hours). Lyndhurst is just 4 miles from the M27 Junction 1. We may be able to arrange car-sharing. Ample car parking at the hotel.

Lyndhurst is 80 miles by road from central London and just 4 miles from the M27 Junction 1.

Shared cars will be used for a short journey to the start of the walks and on one day for the 8-mile journey to Lymington for the Isle of Wight ferry.

The Crown Hotel, Lyndhurst

Dinner, bed and breakfast at the privately-owned Crown Hotel, a listed 19th century building situated in the heart of the lively village of Lyndhurst, capital of the New Forest. With its stone mullioned windows, panelled rooms and elegant Edwardian decor, the Crown has all the character and style of a classic English country house. Alongside these traditional features, you will find all the comforts of an efficient modern hotel. There are 93,000 acres of national park on the doorstep and the ferry to The Isle of Wight is within easy reach.

Price per person: £234 per person for 2 nights (Special Introductory Offer discounted 12 per cent for April and June dates only)  September and October: £262 per person for 2 nights

Price includes:

En suite rooms with tea and coffee-making facilities

Full English breakfasts, 3-course dinners each evening in the Crown’s award-winning restaurant, restaurant gratuities

8 hours’ tuition and the services of 2 fully qualified Nordic Walking instructors throughout the weekend

Ferry crossing to the Isle of Wight

Price excludes:

Hire of Nordic poles (£5)

Bus fare on the Isle of Wight (approx £5)

Accommodation:  5 single rooms, 2 small doubles for single occupancy (allocated to the first 2 singles to book), 3 double rooms, 2 twin rooms

Availability

as at 8 June 2008

13-15 June 2008

Full

Once you have learnt the basics, you are welcome to join us on any of our B or C grade day walks or other weekend breaks for further practice.