Opening times
Gates open at 5.30am everyday (including Christmas day).
From 1 October to 31 March (GMT) gates are locked at 6.30pm.
From 1 April to 30 September (BST) gates are locked at 8.30pm
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.
Hot food is served from 11am - 3pm
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
Entry to the country park is free but parking charges apply. Your parking fee will help support all that we do to maintain the park.
Blue badge holders and motorcycles can park for free.
Daily charges
Parking is pay and display only which applies to the drive, as well as the car parks. Payment can be made by card (contactless/pin), or RingGo (by phone/app). We no longer accept cash.
Up to one hour £2.10
Up to two hours £3.40
Up to three hours £4.40
Up to and over four hours £5.10
parkrun discount
Parkrun runners can get two hours parking for the price of one by placing their parkrun barcode alongside their one hour parking ticket on the dashboard.
Coach parking
Coach parking is charged at £27 per day through RingGo (by phone/app), alternatively coach drivers can purchase their day permit from the Woodland Café.
Annual/Seasonal parking permits
You can purchase a permit through RingGo via their app, website or by calling 02380 982 984. The RingGo location code for Itchen Valley country park is 4910.
Annual permits: £60
Six-monthly permits: £34
Quarterly permits: £22
Paper permits
New paper permits are no longer issued. However, if you have a valid paper permit you will need to continue displaying this when you visit the park until the expiry date.
When this runs out, you can then purchase a digital permit. All new digital permits are specific to a vehicle registration. Your car registration is stored centrally and will be checked to ensure your permit is in date.
Dog friendly
We welcome caring dog owners to our country park. If your dog is sensible off the lead, you can let them run on the High Hill Field - the large recreation area at the top of the main driveway.
Please keep your dog on the lead in all other areas of the park, including woodland and nature trails, as well as the visitor centre and café.
Only assistance dogs can access play areas.
Our park is covered by a ‘poop-scoop’ by-law so you must clean up after your dog. You’ll find dog bins behind our visitor centre and around the edge of High Hill Field.
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.