Enjoy the diverse landscapes of England by taking a stroll in the country - or climb a mountain in a single day.
From the bleak North Sea coast to the rolling South Downs, England offers an incredible diversity of landscapes. And these landscapes are best appreciated by taking a hike, and watching them unroll as you walk. Here are ten of the best – almost all waymarked, so you won't get lost.
Rough Coastal Walking
1. It’s nineteen miles from Holy Island to Bamburgh Castle, but if you’re up for it, this walk will give you a taste for the wild Northumbrian coast. The route starts at Lindisfarne Priory; you have to walk across the causeway from the island at low tide, before heading down the coast to Bamburgh Castle, dramatically sites on a basalt ridge.
2. A gentler coastal walk takes you from Holkham beach to Wells-next-the-Sea, in Norfolk. Sand dunes, pine trees and marram grass border the beach; salt flats and mysterious creeks run out to sea. In just two miles you reach Wells, a small town with a sleepy harbour.
3. Walk in the footsteps of prehistoric man on the Ridgeway, in Oxfordshire. You’ll have a wide view of the rolling chalk downs; in April, there are bluebells in the woods. From the huge earthwork of Uffington Castle, and the famous bronze age White Horse cut in the turf, you make your way towards the neolithic grave known as Wayland’s Smithy.
4. The South Downs Way takes you from Eastbourne in Sussex along the top of the Seven Sisters, tall chalk cliffs facing the English Channel. The walk ends as you turn inland, with a view of the snake-like meanders of the river Cuckmere in its broad valley.
Walking the Best and Scariest Hill Ever
5. Striding Edge is one of the scariest walks in Britain – a narrow path that sticks close to the ridge leading up from Red Tarn to the summit of Helvellyn, in the Lake District. This is real mountain walking, with a vengeance. Precipitous drops on both sides make it a thrilling walk – for the less courageous, there’s a second path which runs alongside, slightly below the crest.
6. Walk the Malvern Hills “from head to tail” and you’ll have views of Wales to one side, and the Severn valley to the other. The path isn't waymarked, but on this single long ridge of hill above the chequerboard fields of the plain, you don't need a navigator – just keep heading north!
7. High Cup Nick is perhaps the single most amazing sight on the whole length of the Pennine Way. Start from Cauldron Snout reservoir car park; there’s brief excitement as you climb up beside the waterfall, but then follows a trudge across bleak moorland. It’s worth it though – suddenly the land falls away on the left, and you’re at the top of a dramatic ‘V’ shaped valley, with basalt pinnacles towering above, and views as far as the Lake District.
Hike the Sacred Heart of Mystical England
8. Glastonbury is one of the most mystical places in England, with memories of King Arthur, holy wells, and a sacred thorn tree. Start at the Chalice Well, and take the footpath to the top of Glastonbury Tor and its medieval tower. The Tor was once an island in the marshy lakes of the Somerset levels, and on a misty day it’s still easy to imagine yourself cut off from the rest of England.
9. Pen-y-Ghent is as close as you can get to real climbing and still be just a hiker. The path ascends a steep staircase up the steepest side of the hill; but your reward comes at the top, with a gentle slope you can yomp down towards Hunt Pot, a gaping hole that extends two hundred feet down to an underground river. For a really great day out, take the Pennine Way from Malham Cove, a dramatic crag with the crazy cracks of an extensive limestone pavement above.
10. Walk the three and a half miles of Spurn Head – a peninsula that juts out into the North Sea across the Humber estuary. In places, it’s just three metres wide, with sea on both sides, a fragile bulwark against wind and tide.
