Best places to go walking in England
England is indeed green and pleasant but this slightly undersells it when it comes to the eclectic beauty that you can walk through. There is a whole palette of colours going on as painters such as Turner famously captured along the Suffolk coast, with misty pink and ecru so accurately portraying its wild beauty. Or the vibrant purples and yellows of Hockney’s Yorkshire landscapes, painted on large canvasses in order to depict the seasonal changes in these gorgeous vast terrains. Seek out the heavenly heliotropes of Ivon Hitchens’ South Downs, or the evocative icy blues of William Heaton Cooper’s famous Lake District landscapes. And then get walking. You may even be tempted to pack some watercolours.
1.
Cotswolds
2. Dorset
3. Lake District
4. Peak District
5. Pilgrims Way
6. Shakespeares Way
7. South West Coast Path
8. Suffolk coast
9. Sussex & the South Downs
10. Thames Path
11. White Cliffs of Dover & Kent coast
12. Yorkshire
2. Dorset
3. Lake District
4. Peak District
5. Pilgrims Way
6. Shakespeares Way
7. South West Coast Path
8. Suffolk coast
9. Sussex & the South Downs
10. Thames Path
11. White Cliffs of Dover & Kent coast
12. Yorkshire
Cotswolds
1. Cotswolds
It is not surprising that great writers from Shelley to Waugh have been inspired by the Cotswolds. Like their literary worlds, walking here transports you to a serene and soothing place. Walk through ancient towns such as Stow-on-the-Wold or Bourton-on-the-Water, where even the names evoke time gone by. Well known for its slow food ethos, you won’t be short of fine inns and food as you wander through village and vale.
Dorset
2. Dorset
A six-day, self guided walking vacation will take you along this dramatic and downright gobsmacking Jurassic Coast, also a UNESCO site, thanks to its cliffs, rocks and fossils dating back 185 million years. It is breathtakingly beautiful but the walking won’t take your breath away too much with a relatively flat route between Weymouth and Swanage. A wonderful shorter break is in the Purbeck Hills and around Studland.
Lake District
3. Lake District
Tackling parts of the Cumbria Way will take you through some of the national park’s typical topography through remote farmland, rivers and fells between Ulverston and Carlisle, for example. Book a tailor made vacation for at least eight days to cover the whole thing, having bags transported for you, and amble through Lake District classics like Coniston Water, Borrowdale, Derwentwater and Keswick.
Peak District
4. Peak District
This is UK’s first national park with dramatic Derbyshire moorland, particularly around the Dark Peak, to the river valleys of the White Peak, where you can tailor make a vacation depending on how many days you are able to spoil yourself with. Spend three days walking around Dovedale, for example, where the likes of Tennyson and Byron gushed about the River Dove valley, wooded ravines, stepping stones and hidden caves.
Pilgrims Way
5. Pilgrims Way
This trail between Winchester and Canterbury follows in the footsteps of pilgrims between two magnificent cathedral cities. Walk on ancient tracks, across the chalk hills of North and Kent Downs, and through magnificent ancient woodland. With a great network of accommodation (and pubs, of course) along the way, self guided vacations are easy, with bags transported for you, and choosing as long a section as you like.
Shakespeares Way
6. Shakespeares Way
Download a few sonnets before heading off on this gorgeous route through the poetry and prose inspiring landscapes between Shakespeare’s birthplace at Stratford-upon-Avon and his Globe Theatre in London. A tailor made trip will help you decide the best bits of this 235km trail to take on; though you’ll be pushed for choice with delights such as the Cotswolds, Chilterns, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Blenheim Palace.
South West Coast Path
7. South West Coast Path
The mother of them all when it comes to marine magnificence. A 1,000km walking trail around England’s dramatically beautiful southwest through Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and Dorset, with about ten clear sections that are easily navigable for independent walking. Regional treats include Lands End, Lundy Island, Salcombe and Burgh Island. Or push the boat out and do the Scilly Isles, too.
Suffolk coast
8. Suffolk coast
Suffolk’s long beaches and nature reserves such as at Walberswick, with its gorgeous dunes and superb bird watching in wide open expanses of wetlands, make your heart soar. As does the sea swimming. Start in Aldeburgh, famous for being home and inspiration for Benjamin Britten, head to Turner country at Orford, and then up the coast to the charming town of Southwold or historic fishing village of Dunwich.
Sussex & the South Downs
9. Sussex & the South Downs
A perfect escape, and just a short hop from London. The downs, their eponymous national park and Sussex coast boast some of the most eclectic walking escapes. From the Ouse Valley famous for its Bloomsbury Set, or estuarine landscapes around Chichester harbour to the heart of the South Downs, where you can take on part of the magnificent South Downs Way (161km), it’s a walker’s must.
Thames Path
10. Thames Path
Far from just a path through central London, this national trail stretches for nearly 300km from the Thames Barrier to the source of the river in Gloucestershire. Book a tailor made vacation and take on a section that tickles your Thames fancy, discovering historic cities such as Windsor and Oxford along the way. Relatively flat and accessible, wander through Cotswold prettiness to historic havens, with endless waterside pubs en route.
White Cliffs of Dover & Kent coast
11. White Cliffs of Dover & Kent coast
Take a tailor made vacation to visit some of Kent’s most historic sites, such as Canterbury and Dover Castle and also walk on the Saxon Shore Way, where you will be following the great White Cliffs of Dover. This is a long distance path between Gravesend and Hastings, tracing the coast as it was in Roman times. The section between Deal and Dover is particularly stunning.
Yorkshire
12. Yorkshire
Walking heaven from dale to dale, through ancient towns and villages. Take a guided or self guided trip for 3-14 days, with a good 10 days needed to complete the Dales Way from Ilkley to Lake Windermere. This is 130km of wild and wonderful Yorkshire landscapes and a vast history. If every stone wall could tell a story and all that. For a shorter trip, Prior Richard Way between York and Ripon is divine.
Winchester to Canterbury Pilgrims way, England
Walk the Pilgrims Way from Winchester to Canterbury
From
£1875
15 days
ex flights
Jurassic Coast walking vacation in Dorset, UK
Explore stunning UK coastline
From
£1049 to £1079
7 days
inc UK flights
Dartmoor and Exmoor walking vacation, England
Self guided walking between the Dartmoor and Exmoor National Parks.
From
£1232 to £1920
11 days
ex flights
South West Coastal Path walking vacation, England
The South West Coast Path and Isles of Scilly
From
£749 to £1100
8 days
ex flights
Shakespeares Way & Thames Path walking vacation
Two fantastic traditional English walks.
From
£952 to £1365
8 days
ex flights
Northumberland coast hike, England
Self Guided Walking Vacation in Northumberland Coast Path
From
£847 to £1400
8 days
ex flights
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WHERE TO GO ON A
WALKING HOLIDAY IN ENGLAND
Paul Day, Managing Director at Let’s Go Walking, shares his experiences of walking in England: “One of my favourite walks is on Dartmoor. It’s a short walk and takes between 2 to 3 hours but the variety of landscapes and quietness that you’ll find en-route from Okehampton to the village of Sticklepath via Belstone are simply stunning. Belstone’s a beautifully unspoiled village on the north edge of Dartmoor and the Dartmoor Inn at Sticklepath makes for a great place to start or finish a walk, no matter what time of year it is.”
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