Walks you can reach from Shelford by train

Beginner-friendly: A straightforward walk along the River Cam with many lunch options in Granchester. Within Cambridge itself, feel free to wander about randomly rather than following the route — there’s plenty to appreciate.

King's College Chapel

Fitzwilliam Museum

Hobson's Conduit Monument, Cambridge

Cambridge

Time: 3h30–6h30

4 lunch spots: Grantchester (1h30–3h in) — the Orchard Tea Garden, Grantchester, the Red Lion, the Rupert Brooke, or the Blue Ball Inn

1 end-of-walk reward: the Panton Arms

Warnings: A quarter urban.

Adapted from: The Rough Guide to Walks in London & the South East (3rd edition).

Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.

A short city and riverside walk linking Cambridge's two stations, taking in some of the best-known views of the ancient colleges, punting on the upper river, and riverside paths across the commons where college and town crews race their traditional 'bumps'.

Cambridge

Time: 3h

Warnings: Shared with cyclists along most of the route, so watch out for bikes.

Walk details: Mid Anglia Rail Passengers Association (PDF).

Gently rolling chalky uplands, farmland, woods and copses, green lanes, field boundaries and pretty villages with thatched cottages and pargeted houses.

Time: 5h30

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Rolling Essex farmland, grassy field edges, small woods, river valleys, historic market town, parkland and pylons over crop fields.

Time: 4h

Warnings: Can be muddy.

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Reverse direction: Walking Post (inc. GPX).

Historic churches and fields of Essex, along the River Stort past Waytemore Castle and Hassobury Mansion.

Waytemore Castle: The earthwork remains of an 11th-century motte-and-bailey castle beside the River Stort.

Hassobury Mansion: An imposing Victorian country mansion glimpsed from the route near Manuden.

Time: 4h30–9h30

Walk details: Walking Post (tips, photos and local insights).

Gently rolling Hertfordshire countryside, wheat fields, woods, waterways, green lanes, quiet country roads, river stretches and navigation canal.

Time: 5h

Warnings: Cattle in pastures. Avoid end Oct–Easter.

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

A good, varied route along a short canal section then through open farmland with big skies, plus a nature reserve and patches of field crossings that can be muddy. Footpaths and bridleway are well signed, with no steep gradients and but stiles and steps make it inaccessible. Passes the Amwell Way / Amwell nature reserve, with grebes, grey wagtails and dozens of benches along the way. An alternative follows the River Lee and Stort towpaths or the Hertfordshire Way.

Woodland: a third under tree cover.

Time: 4h30–8h30

Lunch: Two pubs with food and drink at Hunsdon, about 40% of the way along.

Warnings: Some field crossings can be muddy, and one was unclear where a farmer had harvested turnips. The road between Mablets and Great Penny's Farm has been known to flood, with the verge submerged. Stiles and steps.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Spoiled by a long trek along a busy road near Audley End.

Saffron Walden

Time: 4h–7h30

5 lunch spots: Saffron Walden — the Temeraire, Waffle, the Courtyard Tearoom, the Kings Arms, or the Eight Bells

1 end-of-walk reward: Audley End House and Gardens

Warnings: Follows a busy road for a sixth of the walk.

Source: Trains2Green.

Rolling Essex farmland, grassy field edges, small woods, river valleys, historic market town, parkland and village with thatched cottages.

Time: 5h

Warnings: Can be muddy.

Source: A longer variant of Great Chesterford to Newport – the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).