Footprintsofsussex Reviews 13

Just returned from our walk of the South Downs Way organised by Richard at Footprints of Sussex / Pear Tree Tours. As our walk organisers, they were excellent.

Prompt and helpful communication, especially when we confused matters just before our start date due to question marks over the health of my friend.

Mixed range of accommodation, but none that we wouldn't be more than happy to return to. Quite interesting, as a number are only really just returning back to business following (Covid) events of the last couple of years, a couple taking the opportunity to refurbish during the enforced closure. Others would appear to be still short of staff. But as I write, this is common countrywide in the leisure industry.

But I digress, this is a review of Footprints of Sussex. The clue is in the name. Local company with local knowledge and we'd say this is what made the difference. They know the area and this shows.

Myself and 2 other women did our South Downs Way walk from Winchester to Upper Beeding with Footprints. This was a trip of a lifetime for me as I had never done a walking trip but always wanted to and SDW was wonderful. Richard was incredibly helpful during the planning process trying meet all our needs and expectations. The recommended book and notes from Richard were very helpful I highly recommend reading them prior to each day. We had a little trouble with the first day getting our bearings we just should’ve spent more time reading and following the book/notes. We stayed at Bucks Head very thankful for an incredible dinner, breakfast and great hosts. Next Buriton again great accommodations and hosts. Cocking was good the room with twins seemed small for 2 of us but we had backpacks, suitcases etc. Our host was able to give us dinner on our arrival and we sat out in their garden. Fox Leigh Barn in Amberley was wonderful we had the whole place to ourselves and totally enjoyed having our hosts join us for tea and chat. The next day we woke up to rain our hosts suggested calling Richard to see if we could get a ride. Richard called me back in 5 minutes and his father picked us up with our luggage and drove us to Steyning, which was not our next stop but Richard thought a day there would be perfect. His father was wonderful, showed us the bus stop we spent the day touring this charming village and got the bus to Upper Beeding. We had great accommodations and the hosts told us where to have dinner. Well done Richard and Footprints.

Dear Richard
We finished our walk with a stunning day along the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head. A glorious end to a very fine walk.
Thank you for your splendid and thoughtful organising.
The baggage movement was seamless, thank you.
The guidebook and strip map were excellent, easy to follow. Your additional notes were also helpful, although occasionally harder to follow. Perhaps a few distances might help?
Accomodation and breakfasts were excellent. Probably Foxleigh Barn took the prize. The notable exception was Moonlight Cottage at Cocking. The welcome was unenthusiastic, he did not seem to care.
Thank you and well done. Thanks also for helping with the taxi at Lewes. All turned out well.

Some of the accommodation was disappointing. The Bucks Head was basic, had to ask for glasses, teaspoons and the WiFi didn’t work in the bedroom. The towels were ripped and had seen better days. Our meals and breakfasts on the other hand were good. The Premier inn at Petersfield was okay but with both of them there was nowhere to dry things. The second Premier Inn at Lewes wasn’t great, no service, didn’t book us in for breakfast second day, Windows didn’t open so hot or had to have noise of air con all night. Only Dean’s Place put luggage in our room, rest we had to do ourselves. Foxleigh Barn was great and Black Horse was good. Hillview was good, friendly and most comfortable bed of all! Pizza van at Star Inn was okay but had to wait a fair time but could eat meal in pub as they don’t serve food on Wednesdays. Dean’s Place was good and they did switch us to a room with bath when requested which was most welcome. Sheldons was quite basic and not impressed with breakfast in a bag, bacon bap was cold. Just a general observation that it seems Covid is being used as an excuse, why can’t rooms be serviced? They have to be cleaned once guests leave. The taxis collections worked reasonably well though they didn’t turn up second morning in Lewes. Also we changed the end of day pick up point to further on to take advantage of the dry weather but this didn’t get communicated though we rang and told driver. On the whole was a bit disappointed with trip, we hadn’t expected such intense agriculture, enormous fields with few hedges and long boring stretches of track/road. Obviously the poor weather didn’t help but so few benches or toilets available - of the latter when we came across them they were closed/locked due to Covid!!! As were the churches. Sad that the National Trust and councils alike can’t put themselves out a little more for walkers/visitors.

My friend and I booked a trip at footprintsofsussex last february, for september. We looked forward to it, but in august, due to the covid- measures of the British government, we had to cancel our holiday. We already paid footprintsofsussex in advance the costs for hotels, breakfasts, taxis, luggage transport and maps. Alas this organisation refused to refund us these costs that were never spent... Neither did they want to give us vouchers...

I did the southdowns way walk with Footprints in 2009 and it was really enjoyable
and very well organised. It meant I could get home to feed my cats and soak my feet every evening! I'm hoping to do it again this September with x2 friends and I'm looking forward to taking part with Footprints again!

A wonderful way to walk the South Downs Way. Well-organised and friendly, this is a fantastic event. Looking forward to 2020!

A great team, one of the best walks in Britain and superb organisation. All we need now is the weather! Well done, Footprints.

Fantastic, Friendly & tThoroughly Enjoyable

Walking the annual SDW walk with Footprints is a fantastic experience. Very well organised and nothing to worry about ( well, apart from the actual walking over 100 miles).

A fine balance of background efficiency and foreground, unintrusive, friendliness.

The annual South Downs Way walk has quickly become one of the highlights of my year. The walking is wonderful and the support and organisation supplied by Footprints of Sussex is simply excellent.

We had an excellent time walking the South Downs Way. The scenery was stunning with incredible views of the coast. Richard had a good knowledge of all the accommodations we stayed at and ensured that they were exactly as we required. The information booklet he sent out before hand proved to be invaluable, providing us with detailed instructions for finding the accommodation in the evenings and giving a list of placed we could eat at. We walked shortly after all the rain and there had been a great deal of flooding in the area, but Richard phoned to warn us of any potential problems which meant we were able to plan in advance for any detours.
The attention to detail meant we were able to concentrate on the beautiful views rather than worrying about the logistics.