Planning a weekend away with the-future-mrs-rogg in a couple of weeks (without the kids), and Winchester has been suggested. Is it worth a weekend? Any decent hotels/pubs/restaurants I should check out?
Thanks!

Hotel du Vin is good.. You can get some cheap(er) rates by booking ahead or including a Sunday night. It’s close to the centre of town / cathedral and you can park there too.

Not too far away – http://www.thebushinn.co.uk/home.php and very much worth the trip, IMHO. Some lovely walking around there as well. Be sure to get to the river to look at the fishes.

Also worth a jaunt is Stockbridge, again not a million miles away. The Three Cups is lovely for a bit of lunch, or for the full DWA. If not, lunch at either Thyme & Tide or Stokes is a good choice, and then a walk along the Test on the Marsh.

Winchester itself? Well, it’s OK as a location, I suppose. Nothing special, but OK. As above, Hotel du Vin is a nice spot if you’re in town.

Make sure you go in Montazuma’s!

http://goo.gl/kGTm0D

Winchester itself? Well, it’s OK as a location, I suppose. Nothing special, but OK

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You could easily wander around in a couple of hours, have a bite to eat then check out the cathedral. Nothing else really of note IMO.

EDIT: you could of course take your bike, drop the missus off, head along the SDW and meet her later 🙂

I would say so, Winchester Hotel is on the edge of the city centre http://www.thewinchesterhotel.co.uk/, nice pubs around cathedral square, wykham arms, the vine, usual prezzo zizzi, pizza places, farmer market on a sunday if you time it well, walking down the river to st catherines hill and along the old viaduct…

Nip over Upham, Twyford way for more pubs walks etc

Benny Hill and Colin Firth are from Winchester.

I would suggest a visit to New Alresford. Gorgeous Georgian (small) town with walks along the River Arle and, of course, the well-known watercress beds. There is the Watercress Line steam train if that interests you, takes you through the midst of the gentle Hampshire countryside.

Haven’t been shopping in Winch for a few years but didn’t think it was up to much.

http://www.alresford.org/

Agree with the Cap’n re Stockbridge, another lovely little place.

Edit: still haven’t got around to cycling along the viaduct. 😳

If your visit is after the 21st of November then I’d recommend booking an evening session of ice skating at the Christmas market in the Cathedral grounds should score you plenty of points. http://winchester-cathedral.org.uk/christmas/ice-rink/

Tanoshii Fusion for food, Black Bottle wine bar for plonk. Latter a bit London pricey (therefore attracting a certain sort of client which may or may not be to your taste) and maybe not the spot to get completely bladdered but a fun concept.

A swim in the river was fun this summer as well… 😉

This is great, thanks everyone, I really appreciate it. I think we’ll go for it, maybe use Winchester as a base and travel out during the day.

Benny Hill and Colin Firth are from Winchester.

Something to get both of us in the mood then!

*sets ‘Yakkety Sax’ as a ring tone, packs slightly damp large white shirt and breeches*

Tanoshi fusion is great for sushi. Black boy for ale and quirkiness. Water meadows and st Katherine’s hill for views over the city. Greens is a nice bar. Further afield the new Forrest for walks and my 2 favourite pubs are the brushmakers in Upham and the shoe at exton. The round table is worth a look.

I grew up near Winchester, and still have mates there and my brother lives in Eastleigh.

It’s a nice place, the town centre is quaint I suppose, and it has nice restaurants and pubs. The cathedral interesting for an hour or so, and there’s a Ghurkha museum (linky), and a load of other military museums (the Royal Green Jackets for example).

I grew up in a small town nearby – Whitchurch – there’s the silk mill there which is interesting for kids I suppose (but I haven’t been there since I was in the cubs about 25-30 years ago!).

You could also go to Watership Down for a walk but that’s about 20 miles away near Kingsclere. The author, Richard Adams, lived in Whitchurch and there’s a pub called the Watership Down near Whitchurch (in Freefolk on the Basingstoke road). It’s got a nice beer garden and used to do good food, although I haven’t eaten there for about 20 years.

Stonehenge is about an hour away too, near Salisbury.

Bring your bikes too, as you can jump on the South Downs Way from Winchester…most of the organised SDW events start in Winchester.

Awesome brekkie / snacks / coffee here Brekk-ie Link-ie