Opening times
1st April- 30th September, open until 20.30
1st October- 31st March, open until 18.00
Toilets are open from 9.30am - 4.30pm each day.
All buildings are closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day but the park is open as usual.
Woodland Café
Our Woodland Café serves a range of fresh, delicious food and hot drinks.
Opening times
The café is open seven days a week, 10am until 4.30pm.
On Saturdays, we open from 9am to accommodate parkrun attendees and other early risers when a choice of sausage and bacon baps are made available.
Well behaved dogs on leads are welcome inside.
Directions
Allington Lane,
West End,
Southampton SO30 3HQ
By car
The SatNav postcode SO30 3HQ brings you to our main entrance.
Itchen Valley Country Park is situated just off the A27. Exit the M27 at Junction 5 from the west, or Junction 7 from the east. Follow the brown tourist signs to the country park on the A27 (towards West End) from either direction.
Parking
Ticketless ANPR is now up and running at Itchen Valley Country Park.
Parking charges
1 hr £2.20
2 hr £3.50
3 hr £4.40
4hr + £5.20
On arrival your number plate will be read, and the entry barrier will lift.
When it’s time to go home, visit a pay station by the café or at the top of the drive, enter your car number plate and pay for your parking. You have 10 minutes to leave the car park after making payment.
Blue Badge Holders
No concession for free parking is available for holders of a Blue Badge. Those with a valid Blue Badge can, if required, use the wider dedicated Disabled Persons Blue Badge Bays located within the car parks.
Coach Parking
£28.00 per day
Please contact staff in the café for assistance
Permits
All permits, including annual permits can be bought at the pay stations.
Permit charges
3 months £23
6 months £35
1 year £70
Please note RingGo is no longer available at Itchen Valley Country Park; however, any valid season tickets previously purchased by RingGo have been transferred to the ANPR system, and the entrance & exit barriers will automatically lift for the vehicle previously registered with RingGo until the expiry date. Any problems with previously purchased RingGo season tickets, please email.
BBQ’s are prohibited
Due to the fire risk to people and wildlife at Itchen Valley Country Park, we do not accept the use of any BBQ’s on site under any circumstances.
Dog friendly
Itchen Valley Country Park is an increasingly popular destination for dog owners, with facilities such as a dog enclosure and dog wash, and dog’s welcome in the café.
Dogs can be off lead on the open fields at the top of the park, but must remain on lead whilst using the country park trails, marketplace and café. Maps of the park showing off-lead areas can be viewed by each dog poo bin, located along the main trails and marketplace. For everyone’s enjoyment, please pick up after your dog.
There is no access to the River Itchen from any of Itchen Valley Country Park. The section of the River Itchen which runs alongside the park is privately owned and is not accessible. We would therefore ask all visitors to expressly avoid the paths along the river and to not let their animals enter the water.
Only assistance dogs are permitted in play areas.
We are aligned with Bird Aware Solent's Canine Code
Self-service dog wash machine
Avoid muddy paws in the car and at home after your walk by using the Polygon Pets dog wash. Located to the side of the Kingfisher Barn, it's just £4 for a wash that includes warm water, shampoos and a blow dry. Payment is by card only.
Other important information
Accessibility
All our paths are wheel friendly, we have a wheelchair accessible toilet and our Visitor Centre and Woodland Café are all on ground floor level.
We have priority parking for Blue Badge holders in our main car park.
Flying drones
Due to the proximity of the country park to the airport, visitors are not permitted to fly drones in the park.