INSIDER GUIDE TO WINCHESTER
Weekend Break
We’re hoping you’ve brought the car because we’re sending you out and about around the wilds of Hampshire.
Head over to rural Avington (a nice drive past a classic Georgian country estate) and pay a visit to Max Rollitt’s showroom. Max, friend of the shop, Georgian antique dealer and House and Garden Interior Designer of the Year, has converted agricultural buildings into a beautiful showcase of his antiques.
We’ve planned an afternoon for you in Kingsclere. It’s a pretty drive if you go the back way (or quicker on the A34). Visit Jenna Burlingham Gallery. She deals in Contemporary and Modern British art and it’s arranged over the rooms and outbuildings of an old village house. Just lovely. And everyone who works there is great. Grab some little sharing plates at the Bel and the Dragon for lunch.
Stay at Lainston House just outside Winchester for a country house feel (dinner there so you don’t have to drive) or the Black Hole in town if you’re looking for something more casual, and more central. Have dinner at The Pizza Tavern which is just down the road. Delicious wood-fire pizza and, if you’re lucky, you’ll be serenaded by co-owner Freddie on the piano. There are occasional open mic nights if you want to get involved.
Proper brunch to start the day at Greens (our chosen venue for this year's Hambledon Christmas party, just saying) and then we’re encouraging you to walk off the full English with a Tower Tour of the Cathedral (make sure to book in advance) which will give you a spectacular view of the city and quite the workout (it’s 213 steps up).
Spend a restful afternoon at Hinton Ampner. It’s a National Trust pile with a rambling garden and views over glorious Hampshire countryside. Dinner at the Tichborne Arms which was recently voted one of the cosiest pubs in England (and that seems a perfect recommendation for a chilly Autumn day).
