Mar 16, 2018

Top Five Country Walks in the UK

Grab your best walking boots, anorak, a friend of the two or four-legged variety, and get ready to ramble with our top five walking picks.

Richmond Park, London: There are plenty of lovely routes in Richmond Park and our top tip for a promenade should take 45 minutes to an hour to cover 1.5 miles. It's a fairly easy walk and there are clear paths to follow. Look out for deer and parakeets as you go, take in distant views of St Paul's Cathedral and vistas of the North Downs. This walk starts and ends at Pembroke Lodge where you can limber up (or down) with a beverage and a bite to eat.

Delamere Forest and Old Pale Hill, Cheshire: Starting off at Delamere Station car park this route promises ancient plaques, enchanting remnants of old forts from the ninth century, as well as views of Snowdonia, the Clwydian Range and the Pennines. The whole stroll of 4.5 miles takes around 2.5 hours to complete and you'll find traditional inns and a cafe along the way to break up your amble. What's the hurry anyway!

Canal walk at Llangollen: Crossing the boarder of England into Wales is the picturesque Llangollen Canal walk. Enjoy some lovely countryside as well as some impressive industrial engineering examples, like the Pontcysylite Aqueduct which has World Heritage Site status. You'll also pass Jones the Boats which offers regular trips across the aqueduct every day between Easter to October.

Lake District: If you're up for a major hike, check out Helvellyn and sample some of the UK's finest scenery. You'll encounter glacial coves and spiked ridges along the way of this middling to difficult-in-places, five hour trek. It covers some nine miles of stunning views which start and end where you left your car, so leave a flask of hot coffee or chocolate in it as a reward for your tremendous effort. Bravo!

Northumberland, Craster to Low Newton coastal walk: This is a dog friendly, six mile, moderately challenging coastal circular walk. Starting in Craster you pass the harbour en route to the 14th century Dunstanburgh Castle (you can visit inside, too). You'll pass farmland with views of the rocky shoreline and see eider ducks enjoying the rock pools. The trail runs onto the beach and passes the Ship Inn where you can take a break for refreshments before carrying on to the sand dunes and into a little woodland, discovering wildlife lookouts at a nature reserve facing Newton Pool. The path runs past a golf course and a higher track takes you back to Craster.

Always check the weather before you set out, take a fully charged mobile phone, tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back.