UK walking holidays for beginners

Northumberland

Northumberland Coastpath

By Simon Heptinstall

• Best for: easy-going long-distance path
• Distance: 62 miles/100km
• Duration: Three to six days - or shorter segments
• Difficulty: Easy

Generally flat, although with more ascents than the Norfolk Coastpath, this way-marked coastal walk offers a pleasant and easy-going route through nature reserves, broad sandy beaches and dunes, and across low rocky headlands.

Landmarks like Lindisfarne and Bamburgh Castle are highlights but walkers will also appreciate a series of unspoilt coastal villages and towns, all with friendly pubs and B&Bs to eat and stay.

Lake District

Ambleside

By Simon Heptinstall

• Why it's best for beginners: A huge range of walks for all abilities
• Distance: Various day walks
• Duration: Two to three days
• Difficulty: Easy to moderate

Basing a walking holiday in a popular Lake District centre like Ambleside means you have a vast choice of accommodation, outdoor shops and walking routes. It can be crowded and won’t feel like ‘getting away from it all’ but with all those resources on hand it can be perfect for beginners. Walkers can find paths ranging from tricky fell ascents to gentle hikes around lakes, right from their doorstep.

Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal

By Simon Heptinstall

• Why it's best for beginners: Flat, gentle canal-side walking
• Distance: 36 miles/58km
• Duration: Two to three days
• Difficulty: Easy

One of the UK’s quietest, least known canals isn’t even connected to the rest of the network but offers a leafy, flat, easy walking adventure through the Usk Valley. Historic towns like Crickhowell and Abergavenny provide en-route facilities while walking highlights will include an aqueduct, tunnel, locks, lifting bridges… and fine Brecon Beacons views.

Snowdonia National Park

Betws-y-Coed

By Kerry Walker

• Why it's best for beginners: Easy-going day hikes and moderate ascents up Snowdon
• Distance: Various day walks
• Duration: Two to three days
• Difficulty: Easy to moderate

Snowdonia’s answer to Ambleside is another outdoor centre nestling among trees amid an inspiring mountainous landscape. The picturesque riverside town is a tourist honeypot but walkers can avoid day-tripper crowds by setting off on a wide choice of routes in all directions, then return for quieter evenings among a wide choice of restaurants and accommodation. Highlights could be easy but impressive waterfall walks or tackling one of many routes up Snowdon.

Wales

Gower Coast Path

By Simon Heptinstall

• Why it's best for beginners: A moderately-easy long distance path
• Distance: 46 miles/74km
• Duration: Four to five days
• Difficulty: Easy to moderate

This section of the Wales Coast Path packs a spectacular series of coastal landscapes into a short and, apart from a couple of steep cliffs, mostly easy walk. The route passes some of Britain’s best beaches, swaying marshes, caves, castles and churches. Landscape highlights include Worm’s Head and Three Cliffs Bay. It’s impossible to get lost and walkers find plenty of accommodation and luggage transfers available.

The Highlands

The Speyside Way

By Fergal MacErlean

• Distance: 65 miles (105km)
• Duration: Five to eight days
• Start point: Buckie
• End point: Aviemore
• Difficulty: Easy to moderate – well-marked route; few steep gradients; some stiles to negotiate
• Suitable for: Most walkers, family friendly sections

The Speyside Way is one of four official Long Distance Routes in Scotland (the others are the West Highland Way, the Southern Upland Way and the Great Glen Way). It largely follows the course of the majestic River Spey from the Moray coast to the Cairngorms National Park gateway town of Aviemore. Along the route one passes myriad whisky distilleries and stands of ancient pine and birch woods.

Yorkshire Wolds

Yorkshire Wolds Way

By Simon Heptinstall

• Distance: 79 miles (127km)
• Duration: six days
• Start point: Hessle, East Yorkshire
• End point: Filey, North Yorkshire
• Difficulty: Easy to medium
• Suitable for: Relaxed walkers who prefer quiet rural exploration over star attractions at every turn

Yorkshire isn't known for its modesty, especially not when it comes to the well-known (and busy) Dales, Moors and Peak District. In comparison, the Yorkshire Wolds is a quiet and unpretentious stretch of gentle countryside and very quiet paths. The Yorkshire Wolds Way is the best long distance walk you've never heard of; expect homely inns, B&B’s and guesthouses, real ales and hearty traditional food.

The route wends its way from the banks of the expansive Humber estuary, across the tranquil countryside and unspoilt villages of the Wolds to reach the spectacular headland of Filey Brigg on the North Yorkshire Coast.

There are no cities on the route and no serious hills either. Don’t imagine it’s dull though: this is rural England at its best. It’s an area that seems to have bigger skies with wide panoramic views. It’s easy to see why artist David Hockney spent years painting landscapes here.

Yet the Wolds Way is never crowded. In fact, this has been called ‘Britain’s least known National Trail’ by the BBC. Nevertheless, the path is generally well mapped, maintained and way-marked.

England

The Thames Path

• Distance: Approximately 184 miles (296 kilometres)
• Duration: Typically 12-14 days (or shorter segments)
• Start Point: Kemble, Gloucestershire, England
• End Point: Thames Barrier, London, England
• Difficulty: Mild

The Thames Path is a scenic long-distance walking route following the course of the River Thames in southern England. Beginning in the rural Cotswolds at Kemble, it extends to the Thames Barrier in London, covering approximately 184 miles of rural southern England landscapes. This path winds through tranquil meadows, historic cities like Oxford and Windsor, and eventually the urban sprawl of London. Along the route, you’ll encounter various iconic points of interest , including Oxford University, Hampton Court Palace, and the Tower Bridge. The journey can be completed in roughly two weeks, but walkers often opt for shorter, more manageable sections.

South Downs

South Downs Way

By Simon Heptinstall

• Distance: 99 miles (159km)
• Duration: Nine days
• Start point: Winchester
• End point: Eastbourne
• Difficulty: Moderate to easy – relatively short and very easy to navigate; few very steep climbs, though a lot of walking up and down small hills
• Suitable for: Any reasonably fit walker, including families; can also be cycled

You’ll walk through landscapes of rolling hills and breezy fields of corn, passing numerous pretty villages with thatched cottages, historic pubs and gardens bursting with blooms. And there’s a fitting final-day climax as you rollercoaster your way up and down the majestic chalk cliffs known as the Seven Sisters before reaching the beaches of Eastbourne for a celebratory ice cream.

Most of the gradients are reassuringly manageable along the pleasant chalk hills of the South Downs Way, and the weather down here is usually pretty favourable.

The Lowlands & Central Belt

Fife Coastal Path

By Fergal MacErlean

• Distance: 117 miles (188km)
• Duration: Eight days
• Start point: Kincardine
• End point: Aviemore
• Difficulty: Easy first half, easy to moderate thereafter – well-marked route; few steep gradients; rough ground and slippy steps in places; some sections only suitable at low tide
• Suitable for: Most walkers, family friendly sections

Tamer than most Scottish walking routes, this 188km well-signed route passes through picturesque seaside villages, old smuggling caves, and fabulous beaches. In summer it is very beautiful. There are many historical castles and sites too in addition to the stunning sea views; Fife is bounded by the Firths (estuaries) of the Forth and Tay, to the south and north respectively, and juts east into the North Sea. You can even take a boat trip to one of the islands.

The route really lends itself to walking in multiple sections if that takes your fancy rather than one big undertaking. Its character changes a lot from the low-lying easy first half to include some rougher but straightforward parts on the easternmost section, the East Neuk.

Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire Coast Path

By Simon Heptinstall

• Distance: 186 miles (299km)
• Duration: 16 days in total or shorter segments
• Start point: Amroth
• End point: St Dogmaels
• Difficulty: Moderate – No problem to navigate, and not technically difficult, but don’t underestimate its length, nor the steepness of some of the cliff climbs
• Suitable for: Any fit walker; great for families, though not necessarily in one go

Think South Wales is all industrial heritage and dour coastal cities? Think again: most of the southern half of Wales is rural, and the Pembrokeshire coast is truly glorious.

The 186 mile Pembrokeshire Coast Path is one of the finest long-distance footpaths in the country. It can be done in around 16 days, or in shorter segments.

Pembrokeshire has it all – dramatic clifftop vistas, seemingly endless beaches, secluded coves and tiny fishing villages, but best of all; almost no one knows about it, so you get pretty much all of it to yourself.

You’ll need two or three weeks to complete the trail in one go, most people do it in shorter segments. Some of the more remote stretches have a dearth of accommodation so you may need to adjust your daily distances accordingly. In general, there’s a good range of places to stay, from campsites and hostels, to B&Bs and guesthouses. Don’t forget to factor in one or two rest days; walking for 16 days on the trot is a tough ask.

The Peak District

Limestone Way

By Simon Heptinstall

• Distance: 48 miles
• Duration: Four to eight days depending on your pace
• Difficulty: Easy to moderate

The southern half of the Peak District, called the white peak for its limestone geology, is the gentler and more 'traditionally' picturesque stretch of the national park. You'll find no brooding crags and desolate moors here, it's more about gentle dales, meandering brooks and quant – sometimes twee – villages. That's not to say the scenery isn't impressive; around Monyash and Lathkill Dale it's often breathtaking.

The Limestone Way weaves through the white peak, skirting historical Illam, crossing famous (and busy) Dovedale, before meandering north towards Matlock and, eventually, Castleton on the border of the much sterner dark peak.

Broken up into eight casually-paced days this is a gloriously gentle walk through some of the most easy-going but immensely rewarding countryside in the UK.