Jane Austen itinerary

A journey through Jane Austen's England is a journey through the gentlest corner of southern England: brick and thatch villages, country rectories, elegant spa towns, Gothic cathedrals and sea cliffs. In six days this itinerary follows the writer's life from the house at Chawton, where she wrote or revised all her novels, to her grave in Winchester Cathedral, by way of Bath, the city of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, and the harbour wall at Lyme Regis, where Louisa Musgrove falls from the steps. Along the way you pass the gardens and villages where the best-loved films were shot, from the 2005 Pride and Prejudice to the 1995 BBC series.

It is an itinerary for lovers of literature, gardens and stately homes who are in no hurry: distances are short and you drive on narrow, slow country lanes. It works all year round, but the best time is May to September, when the gardens are in bloom and Bath hosts, in September, the Jane Austen Festival, with hundreds of people in Regency dress parading through the streets.

Who was Jane Austen

Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775 in the rectory at Steventon, Hampshire, the seventh of eight children of the Reverend George Austen. She grew up in a cultured, lively family where books were read aloud and little plays performed, and she began writing as a girl. In 1801 the family moved to Bath, then to Southampton, and in 1809 Jane, her mother and her sister Cassandra settled in a cottage at Chawton, offered by her brother Edward, who had inherited a large estate. There Jane spent her most productive years: she published Sense and Sensibility in 1811, Pride and Prejudice in 1813, Mansfield Park in 1814 and Emma in 1815, all anonymously, signed only "by a Lady". She died in Winchester on 18 July 1817, aged 41, and her last two novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, appeared after her death. Since 2017 her portrait has appeared on the £10 note.

Day 1: Chawton and Steventon

Leave London by car (about 80 km, an hour and a half) or take the train to Alton, a couple of kilometres from Chawton. Before leaving the capital, devotees can call in at the British Library, which sometimes displays manuscripts and the writer's small portable writing desk.

Jane Austen's House is the red-brick cottage where Jane lived for her last eight years. Today it is an intimate, moving museum: you see the tiny round table at which she wrote, the creaking door she never wanted mended because it warned her when someone was coming, rooms with period furniture, jewellery, letters and family needlework. The garden is full of cottage flowers, and the kitchen sometimes hosts demonstrations of period recipes. Allow at least an hour and a half.

A short walk down the lane is Chawton House, the great Elizabethan manor of her brother Edward, which Jane visited often. Today it houses a library devoted to women writers from the 17th to the 19th century, with gardens and parkland to explore on foot. Her mother and her sister Cassandra are buried in the church of St Nicholas next to the house.

In the afternoon, about half an hour from Chawton, the village of Steventon keeps the little church of St Nicholas, where her father was rector and Jane went to church as a child. The rectory no longer exists: an old lime tree marks the spot where it stood. It is a stop for the most devoted, but the Hampshire countryside you drive through is exactly that of her novels.

Where to stay: in Winchester, about 25 minutes from Steventon, to have the evening free in the historic centre.

Day 2: Winchester and Stourhead

In the morning, visit Winchester, the ancient capital of Wessex. In the north aisle of the cathedral lies Jane Austen's ledger stone: the inscription praises her goodness and faith but does not mention her novels, a sign of how little known she still was as a writer. A brass plaque added later, and a memorial window, make up for the omission. At 8 College Street, a private house with a plaque, Jane spent the last weeks of her life. In the Great Hall of the castle you can also see the Round Table hanging on the wall, linked to the legends of King Arthur.

In the afternoon continue west to Stourhead (about an hour and a quarter), the 18th-century landscape garden with its lake, Palladian bridge and classical temples. Beneath the columns of the Temple of Apollo, Mr Darcy makes his first proposal, in the rain, in Joe Wright's Pride and Prejudice. From Stourhead to Bath is about 45 minutes.

Where to stay: in Bath, for two nights.

Day 3: Bath, the Regency city

Bath is the Austen city par excellence. Jane visited as a young woman and lived here from 1801 to 1806, and two novels are set here. A full day is the minimum.

Start at the Jane Austen Centre in Gay Street, a small museum with costumes, reconstructions and a tea room upstairs, the Regency Tea Room. Walk up to the Circus, the circular sweep of Georgian houses, and to the Royal Crescent, the great half-moon of thirty houses overlooking the park: at No. 1 a museum shows how a well-to-do family of the period lived. Nearby are the Assembly Rooms, the ballrooms and card rooms where scenes of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion take place.

In the afternoon head down to the Roman Baths and the Pump Room, the salon where polite society met to drink the waters and be seen, as Catherine Morland and her friends do. Today you can have lunch or afternoon tea there with live music. Crossing the River Avon on Pulteney Bridge you reach Sydney Place, where the Austen family lived at No. 4, and Sydney Gardens, where Jane used to walk. In the evening, Thermae Bath Spa lets you bathe in the rooftop thermal pool, with views over the city.

Day 4: Lacock and the road to Lyme Regis

Leave Bath for Lacock (about 30 minutes), a National Trust village that has barely changed, with no visible aerials or power lines. In the 1995 BBC series it was Meryton, the Bennet sisters' town, and its streets have also appeared in Cranford and Emma. Visit Lacock Abbey, where William Henry Fox Talbot made one of the first photographic negatives in history.

In the afternoon drive down to the Dorset coast (about two hours). If you have time, stop at Montacute House, the elegant Elizabethan mansion used in Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility.

Where to stay: in Lyme Regis, for one or two nights.

Day 5: Lyme Regis

Jane Austen stayed in Lyme Regis in 1803 and 1804 and was enchanted by it. In Persuasion it is here that Louisa Musgrove, jumping from the steps of the Cobb, the long curving stone harbour wall, falls and hits her head: the steep steps known as Granny's Teeth are one of the most photographed spots for fans. The same wall also appears in The French Lieutenant's Woman, based on the novel by John Fowles, who lived in Lyme.

Stroll through the little Jane Austen Garden on the seafront, visit the Lyme Regis Museum, built on the site of the birthplace of fossil hunter Mary Anning, and look for ammonites on Monmouth Beach, along the UNESCO-listed Jurassic Coast. For an afternoon of nature, the coast continues towards Durdle Door and Corfe Castle.

Day 6: back to London

From Lyme Regis to London is about 250 km, three and a half hours' drive. By train, leave from Axminster, about 15 minutes by car, arriving at London Waterloo. If you still have time, stop at Salisbury, with its soaring spire, or Stonehenge, both on the way.

Extension: Pemberley and Derbyshire

With two more days you can reach the Peak District, the region Elizabeth Bennet visits with her aunt and uncle. Chatsworth was Pemberley in the 2005 film: the scene in which Elizabeth wanders among the statues of the Sculpture Gallery was shot here. Lyme Park, in Cheshire, was Pemberley in the 1995 series, the one with Colin Firth's famous dip in the lake. Stay in Bakewell, the little town mentioned in the novel. See also the page on the Peak District.

How much it costs

Prices are indicative and vary a lot with the season: in summer and during the Bath festival accommodation costs more and should be booked months ahead.

To save money: with National Trust membership or the overseas visitor pass, entry to Stourhead, Lacock and Montacute is free; Bath's centre is easily walkable, and many hotels outside the centre cost less.

Practical information

• Bookings: Jane Austen's House uses timed entry at busy times; book online. For tea at the Pump Room and the Regency Tea Room, book at weekends.
• Without a car: London to Alton by train, then taxi or bus to Chawton; Winchester and Bath are well served by train; there is a bus to Lacock from Chippenham; Lyme Regis is reached by bus from Axminster. Allow one extra day.
• Driving on the left: the lanes of Dorset and Hampshire are narrow, often between high hedges; a small car is easier.
• Jane Austen Festival: mid-September in Bath, with the Grand Regency Costumed Promenade, balls, talks and fairs. You can join in even without a costume.
• Documents: to enter the UK most visitors need a passport and an ETA, see documents and ETA.

What to read and watch

Before you go, it is worth rereading Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, which moves between Bath and Lyme Regis, and Northanger Abbey, the parody of Gothic novels set in Bath. For the woman behind the books, Claire Tomalin's biography is among the most admired. Among the films, besides the 2005 Pride and Prejudice and the 1995 BBC series, don't miss Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility of 1995 and Becoming Jane, about the writer's youth.

Final tips

• Pace: don't try to see everything; the itinerary is designed to leave time for afternoon tea and walks.
• Combinations: Bath and Lyme combine well with the Cotswolds and the south-west; see also our other UK itineraries.
• A tip: read the last page of Persuasion on the Cobb at sunset: it is the best way to end the journey.

Bath on the map

Nearby