View to Turville and Fingest from the edge of Great Wood

Start & Finish: Car park next to the Stag and Huntsman, Hambleden, Henley-on-Thames RG9 6RP
Distance: 12.3 km (7.6 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 216m
Shakespeare’s Way section covered: Southend to Hambleden: 5.4 km
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): The Chiltern Way, Shakespeare’s Way
Other routes touched (cycle): Chiltern Cycleway
Pubs / Cafes on route: The Stag and Huntsman at the start and finish, The Frog at Skirmett (closed for refurbishment when we passed)
Map: OS Explorer 171: Chiltern Hills West, Henley-on-Thames and Wallingford
Links: Hambleden, Skirmett, Southend

The Shakespeare’s Way is a 235 km / 146 mile mile long-distance path connecting Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon with the Shakespeare's Globe (Theatre), Southwark, London. A 34km section of the path cuts through the Chiltern Hills National Landscape in a south-easterly direction. Our walks take in short sections of the Shakespeare’s Way and loop back to the start on other paths. The Shakespeare’s Way is reasonably well marked however you’ll need a map or GPX route to keep on track for the return sections of the loops. The guidance below will help but don’t use it as a fully accurate turn-by-turn guide.

For this walk we parked at the car park next to the Stag and Huntsman in Hambleden and took Pheasant’s Hill (lane) in a northerly direction out of the village. After approximately 300m take a footpath on the left to join the Chiltern Way and continue following it north until Shogmore Lane. Take a left then a right onto Fingest Lane. Shortly after The Frog pub in Skirmett, take the first footpath on the left and follow it until it rejoins the Chiltern Way. Take a left onto the Chiltern Way and follow it in a south-westerly direction to Drover’s Lane in Southend.

Take a right onto Drovers Lane, continuing on the Chiltern Way to connect with the Shakespeare’s Way. Take the first footpath on the left to follow both the Chiltern Way and Shakespeare’s Way back to the start in Hambleden.