Step back in time as you chart the length of the Hadrian’s Wall footpath, just like a Roman sentry. Walking west to east along the shortest coast-to-coast route across the country, you’ll take in forts, museums and the largest unbroken section of Hadrian’s Wall. Andante Travels tours are led by experts Mark Corney, a familiar face from TV series Time Team, or former Archaeologist of the Year, Tony Willmott.
At only nine miles by five miles, Jersey is ripe for discovery on foot. While there are hundreds of miles of country lanes, take to the 45-mile network of Green Lanes, where pedestrians, cyclists and horse-riders take priority over motorists. Or head to the rugged west coast, where a series of walks devised by local man and award-winning Blue Badge guide Arthur Lamy, in conjunction with The Atlantic Hotel, reveal the area’s wildlife and golden beaches.
Veer away from Bath’s tourist hotspots with Jules Mitra, a former history and politics teacher turned tour guide. Stretching the limits of a typical walking tour, Jules and his team whisk you and a small group away on a behind-the-scenes adventure, keeping some secret stop-offs up their sleeves. While the tour includes some of Bath’s crowd-pleasers, such as Royal Crescent and the Assembly Rooms, there is also time to see artisans at work, wander down quiet back streets and hear eye-opening stories along the way.
Like other big cities, London isn’t short of walking tour options. Pick carefully if you want to really get under the skin of the sprawling capital rather than just ticking off the big sights. Authentic London’s range of neighbourhood walks reveal the tales behind landmarks, hidden corners, and local residents old and new – all the things that give London’s ‘villages’ their unique appeal.
Spanning over 500 square miles in southern Wales, the Brecon Beacons National Park encompasses high moors, undulating heathland and the namesake Brecon Beacon hills themselves. Tackle the park’s highest peak, the 2,906-foot Pen y Fan, and its neighbours Corn Du, Cribyn and Fan y Big, on a tailor-made tour. Or opt for a gentler stroll past gushing waterfalls, looking out for mountain ponies and sheep along the way.
What better way to get to know Nottingham than under the wing of its most famous son? Award-winning tours led by Ezekial Bone, aka Robin Hood (whose real name is Ade Andrews, if you want to break the spell), provide the authoritative guide to the city, including Nottingham Castle, St Mary’s Churchyard and the Old County Gaol. You’ll hear all about the legend of heroic outlaw Robin Hood and his band of merry men as you follow your feathered-cap guide.
Keep the sea at your side as you walk the 47-mile Norfolk Coast Path on a self-guided tour over several days. Sometimes choppy and uninviting, maybe, but this stretch of the North Sea is a favourite haunt of grey seals. Spot their bobbing heads at Blakeney Point. En route from Hunstanton to Cromer you’ll pass dune-backed golden beaches, creaking windmills and pretty fishing villages. Finish up with dressed Cromer crab on the pier.
Test your grey matter as well as your legs on a back-to-basics weekend in the walker’s paradise that is the Lake District. You'll learn navigation and wildlife-spotting skills as you walk, ending the day by responsibly wild camping in remote spots. A couple of nights under the stars is a sure-fire way to switch off and avoid the daily coachloads of tourists.
Make the most of the Cotswolds’ green and pleasant land on one of hundreds of free guided walks. There’s something for everyone with over 3000 miles of footpaths and rights of way. The 100-mile Cotswolds Way runs between Chipping Camden and Bath, but there are many shorter, circular routes, too. Picture-perfect towns like Winchcombe, the area’s walking capital, are signed up to the Walkers are Welcome initiative. Paths are well-maintained and clearly signed, and there’s no shortage of tearooms and pubs to rest weary legs.
Pluck up your courage to join a ghost walk in Whitby. The place swarms with tales of spooks, shipwrecks and superstitions, not least in the atmospheric ruins of seventh-century Whitby Abbey where Bram Stoker found inspiration for Dracula. The old town is riddled with shadowy alleyways and crannies, the ideal backdrop for the Whitby Storyteller’s entertaining tours.
The UK’s smallest national park, Exmoor packs a lot into its 250 square miles. From bare high moorland and wooded valleys to sheer cliffs and babbling brooks, there’s an astonishing variety of landscapes. The wildlife is diverse, too: look out for the stout Exmoor ponies, elusive red deer and fritillary butterflies. A self-guided tour allows you to piece together your own unique route from the moor’s 600 miles of footpaths and bridleways, including parts of the South West Coast Path.
Those Oxford students certainly are savvy – Footprints tours is a hugely successful student start-up that uses University-educated guides. You get the inside scoop on the top colleges, including Christ Church, Trinity and Oriel, and hear all about the history of Oxford from its Saxon origins to the powerhouse institution and lively city it is today. The two-hour tours run several times a day, with no charge (tips are welcome!).
Lace up your boots for an exhilarating week-long hike along the Northumberland Coast Path. Renowned for its sweeping sandy beaches and dramatic castle-topped headlands, this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is perfect bracing walks territory. Starting in Durham and finishing up just shy of the Scottish border in Berwick-on-Tweed, this coasts and castles tour takes in pretty villages such as Alnmouth, Warkworth and Craster and crosses the causeway to isolated Holy Island (Lindisfarne).
Stories of sea-bathing, exotic architecture, Regency Dandies, green politics and LGBTQ history mean Blue Badge guide Ric Morris has plenty of material to fuel his engaging walking tours around Brighton. Popular with first-time visitors as well as long-term residents, the tour covers the main sights and lesser-known spots, celebrating all that makes the city utterly unique.
An energetic, self-guided walk through Derbyshire’s White Peak, in the southern part of the Peak District, reveals picturesque villages, rolling dales and the grand country estates of Chatsworth and Haddon Hall. But a crucial feature is the limestone underfoot – exposed in impressive gorges formed in past ice ages, and still the lifeblood for local quarries. Following the Limestone Way takes you through archetypal Peak villages like Birchover and Winster and on to Monyash, mentioned in the Domesday Book.
The winding alleys and dark cobbled streets of Edinburgh’s Old Town have a spooky counterpart underground. There’s a ghost town below – a network of lanes, tunnels and vaults that were the original busy city streets. A visit with Mercat Tours grants exclusive access to the Blair Street Underground Vaults, built in the 18th century beneath South Bridge. As you explore the vaults in the damp darkness, you’ll be treated to hair-raising tales of past residents and those that have lingered on...
Get up close to some of Britain’s best wildlife on an expertly guided half or full day hike along Cornwall’s breathtaking coast. Strung out at England’s southernmost tip, Cornwall has the longest coastal path in Britain where you can discover the West Penwith peninsula, the Lizard peninsula, the Roseland peninsula or the north Cornwall coast on an in-depth exploration. Wildflowers, colourful lichen, swooping seabirds and speed-demon peregrine falcons await detection. Lucky walkers might clock Atlantic grey seals, dolphins or basking sharks out at sea.
With a route that reveals a cast of ghosts, gangsters and ne’er do wells, the gripping Gory Walking Tour of Newcastle lays bare the city's dark secrets. Along the way you’ll learn about key sights, including Earl Grey's Monument, Castle Keep and Bigg Market, and gawp at the elegance of Dean Street with its magnificent railway arch.
Follow the boundary established by King Offa of Mercia back in the eighth century. The Offa’s Dyke Path National Trail measures 177 miles coast-to-coast, but you can opt to tackle just the north or south sections and tailor the self-guided trip as you wish. You’ll pass a wildly varying landscape and visit showstoppers such as the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, imposing Chepstow Castle and the evocative ruins of Tintern Abbey.
Truly get away from it all in Scotland’s windswept north. Aside from charity walkers heading to John O’Groats, few make it this far. All the better for finding peace and solitude on the white-sand beaches, craggy slopes and glassy lochs. Rugged it may be, but Wilderness Scotland helps smooth down the edges, offering a luxurious stay in a private lodge before the daily adventures. Uninhabited islands, clifftop walks, Iron-Age dwellings and castle ruins – plus potential glimpses of golden eagles and red deer – lie ahead.
Pick up some ideas for bedtime reading as you make your way from Exeter to Dartmouth, passing through some of Devon’s most beautiful countryside with literary links. This six-day, locally devised route crosses Dartmoor and stops at the ruins of Buckfastleigh Church, the inspiration for Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles. There are more cultural spots in the unspoiled village of Dittisham. A short boat ride across the river Dart is Greenway, the National Trust-owned summer home of Agatha Christie.
While not quite the Alps, the rolling hills around the charming small market town of Church Stretton have long been nicknamed ‘Little Switzerland’. Discover this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) at your own pace on a range of daily walks from your base at Longmynd House, above Church Stretton. From the heather-clad Carding Mill Valley to the black and white timbered buildings of Much Wenlock – home of the Wenlock Olympian Games, a precursor to the modern Olympic Games – there’s diversion in every direction.
You don’t have to venture far from London to get peace, quiet and lungfuls of fresh air. Strike out from the old market town of Dorking to tackle Box Hill, part of the North Downs and site of the memorable picnic scene in Jane Austen’s Emma. From nearby Leith Hill – after a long hot bath and a night’s rest – you can make out the London skyline, but the hustle and bustle feels very far away.
Eat your way around the East End and learn all about the capital’s melting pot as you munch. This comprehensive Eating London tour covers everything from curry to fish and chips, bacon sandwiches to bagels. With eight tastings over four hours, you won’t leave hungry. As well as teaching your taste buds, you’ll discover ancient Roman burial grounds, hidden synagogues and some of the world’s very best street art.
The Coast to Coast trail devised by Alfred Wainwright in 1972 remains one of the world’s most popular long-distance walks. At 192 miles, it’s not for the fainthearted (neither is the customary final dip in the North Sea!). This shorter, self-guided route covers the walk’s central section from Keld to Richmond. It opens up swathes of lesser-known Yorkshire Dales countryside, woodland teeming with birdlife and views of the region’s industrial past.
The city of Winchester is a perfect family-break destination, with castle ruins, ample green space and King Arthur looming large. Above all, it’s walkable. This free, self-guided trail isn’t too much for little legs and takes in all the main sights at a pleasant pace. See Winchester Cathedral, College Street, the Water Meadows and the hospital of St Cross, ending up at the summit of St Catherine’s Hill for marvellous views.
A picture-postcard East Anglian town, Lavenham was once the prosperous centre of the wool trade. The sight of its superbly preserved half-timbered houses, many dating back to the 15th century, draws in coachloads of visitors. Some of Lavenham’s medieval buildings have been reinvented as high-end restaurants and hotels, so it makes sense to end up here after a gentle self-guided amble through green glades and other handsome wool towns.
See another side of mysterious Dartmoor on a star-gazing night walk. With next to no light pollution, you’ll encounter the moor under a sparkling canopy of stars. Dramatic tors silhouetted against the night sky and the chance of brown long-eared bats, foxes and tawny owls for company make it worth staying up late. Lee Byre B&B owners Guy and Kathrin Barnes host this unique walk, armed with hot cocoa, cookies and a good line in ghost stories.
Home to some of Banksy’s earliest works and more than 200 street and graffiti artists, Bristol is at the cutting edge of this worldwide art form. A street art tour has become an unmissable city experience. The longest running outfit, Where the Wall, was established to support and promote the artists whose ever-changing work it celebrates. These top-rated tours start in the city centre, winding their way to the creative hub of Stokes Croft.
Indulge those period drama fantasies as you drop in on country houses across three English counties. With self-guided, flexible trails developed by south-west England experts, you’ll see the most glorious gardens, grandest halls and finest facades at assorted National Trust and English Heritage properties, including Stourhead in Wiltshire. Remember, even a leisurely stroll demands a traditional cream tea finale.
READ MORE: Check out our gallery of the best walking tours in American's biggest cities.