Distance 7 miles (11.3km)
Classification Moderate
Duration 3 hours
Begins High Down chalk pit car park
OS grid reference SZ325856

Walk in a nutshell
A fairly challenging figure-of-eight circuit around this spectacular and blustery corner of the island where Tennyson was once a regular walker. You'll pass the magnificent granite monument to him, get a perfect view of the Needles, and pass through the habitat of many rare flora and fauna. Do not go near the cliff edges, be aware that the chalk paths may be slippery, and brace yourself for a decent workout – over the course of the route you'll climb 450m (1,450ft).

Why it's special
Not many poets become a tourist attraction, even in their lifetime. Yet the thought of the great Tennyson at work here, where he said the fresh air was worth "sixpence a pint", brought droves of fans down to his home in Farringford, which you'll pass on the second half of the walk. Even today there is still a thrill in knowing that the author of In Memoriam, Maud and The Charge of the Light Brigade will have walked the same cliff tops, and watched the same seas, while he considered his next lines.

Keep your eyes peeled for
Britain's largest concentration of rare early gentians can be found on the West High Down, where nine species of orchid are also known to grow. There are also fritillaries in the summer, with adonis blue and chalkhill blue butterflies. Herring gulls, cormorants and ravens nest on the chalk cliffs and some peregrine falcons are now re-established too. There are not many trees along the route, but those you see have often grown into extraordinary shapes because of the persistent wind.

Recover afterwards
There's a kiosk at the Needles New Battery selling drinks and refreshments. For something more substantial try the Highdown Inn, a traditional pub specialising in local seafood. Find it at the start of Highdown Lane, through which you access the car park at the start of the walk.

If it's tipping down
In Freshwater Bay, at the route's eastern edge, you'll find Dimbola, the house where Julia Margaret Cameron, the great portrait photographer and friend of Tennyson, once lived and worked.

How to get there
An hourly Southern Vectis bus service leaves from Newport to Alum Bay. If you arrive by ferry at Yarmouth, you're just 2 miles from Freshwater.

Step by step

1 Facing the quarry, take the left‑hand path out of the car park. After 40m turn right and climb the steps beside a wooden bench. The steep upward path continues through a gate to the top of the hill.

2 By the Tennyson monument, turn right and follow any of the cliff-top paths, aiming for the aerial mast visible on the skyline to the far west. Skirt the right boundary of the aerial building then head diagonally left and downwards to a concrete road by the corner of the coastguard station. Cross over the road and follow the signs to the Needles viewpoint.

3 Return to the road, turn left and climb the steps on the left, just beyond the coastguard station before the New Battery. Follow the path down to the Needles Old Battery, then join the tarmac road heading towards Alum Bay.

4 At the corner where the road bends sharply left towards Needles Park, go straight ahead, climb a few steps and then cross the stile. Keep to the path along the lower boundary of the slope, with a fence on the left, passing by the farm, until it starts to rise by a gate. Follow the track diagonally upwards to a beacon. Cross the stile and take the rutted path gently downhill on the left, returning to the car park after a gate.

5 Again, follow the outward track from the car park in step 1, but instead of turning right to climb the hill, go straight on. Pass through a gate and follow the path at the bottom edge of the trees, ignoring two footpaths on the left and a rising path branching right.

6 At a four-way junction by a marker post turn left, go through a gate and down the bridleway. Turn right at the T-junction and go along the path with the golf course and glimpses of Farringford on the left.

7 Turn right towards Freshwater Bay at the road, passing the thatched church of St Agnes.

8 Just after Dimbola Lodge, turn right through a gate into a field and go straight up the hill and through the gate on the skyline. Bear gently right and carry on uphill until the Tennyson monument is reached. Turn right and head to the gap in the trees and retrace your steps down the steep path back to the car park.