Best walks near Luton by train
Bedfordshire · South East England
Stations: Luton Airport Parkway · Luton
MapA day hike in the countryside is just a simple train journey away — explore the most charmingly located railway stations in South East England and plan your next day of green.
Aspley Guise Station Circular via the Woburn Estate (Bedfordshire)
45m from Luton, with one change.
13km. Moderate ascents. 3h–5h.
Beginner-friendly: A shortish but satisfying walk. It’s hard to go wrong and, if you do, it’s easy to recover. Lunch is in the pleasant village of Woburn, where there are many choices, so no faffing with making reservations needed. Plus it goes through a safari park and you’ll likely spot some of the beasts.
A rambler favourite!
Highlights: Woburn Safari Park.
Lunch stops in Woburn (1h–2h in): the Black Horse, Lussmanns, or the Woburn Hotel.
End-of-walk reward: the Anchor.
Harpenden Station to St Albans City Station (Hertfordshire)
5m direct from Luton Airport Parkway.
17km. Gentle ascents. 4h30–7h30.
Mostly fields and country lanes. Some beautiful new bluebell woods, stunning historic city streeets, commons, golf courses, and parkland. Best in April (bluebell season). Some sections are busy.
Highlights: Heartwood Forest, St Albans Cathedral, and St Albans itself.
Lunch stops in Sandridge (2h–3h in): the Green Man (excellent; reservations recommended), Heartwood Tea Rooms (busy!), the Rose & Crown, or the Queens Head (not great).
End-of-walk rewards: the Lower Red Lion, the Mad Squirrel Tap, the Peahen, the Snug, or the Boot.
Garston Station to St Albans City Station (Hertfordshire)
15m direct from Luton Airport Parkway.
13km. Gentle ascents. 3h30–6h.
Common woodland, farmland tracks, river meadows, water meadows, quiet residential roads, and historic city streets. Can be very muddy.
Highlights: St Albans.
Lunch stops: Moor Mill Watermill & Inn (1h30–3h in), the Overdraught (2h30–4h in), or Rumbles Fish Bar (2h30–4h in).
End-of-walk rewards: the Horn, or the Robin Hood.
Kettering Station Circular via Pytchley (Northamptonshire)
30m direct from Luton.
19km. Moderate ascents. 5h–8h30.
Villages and countryside.
Lunch stops in Broughton (3h30–6h in): Best Plaice, the Red Lion, Broughton Fish and Chips, or the Broughton & Cransley WMC. Other lunch stop: the Overstone Arms (1h30–2h in).
Adapted from a route by the Leicester Ramblers — download GPX route
Market Harborough Station Circular via Braybrooke (Leicestershire)
45m from Luton, with one change.
17km. Moderate ascents. 4h30–8h.
Lunch stops: the Swan Inn (2h–3h30 in), or Waterloo Lodge (2h–3h30 in).
End-of-walk rewards: the Beer House, the Freemasons Arms, the Cherry Tree, or the Oat Hill.
Adapted from a route by the Leicester Ramblers — download GPX route
Bow Brickhill Station to Woburn Sands Station (Buckinghamshire)
1h from Luton, with one change.
19km. Moderate ascents. 5h–8h30.
Woods, golf course, gentle hills, landscaped deer park, village streets, playing fields, and golf links. Can be muddy.
Highlights: Woburn Safari Park.
Lunch stops in Woburn (2h–4h in): the Black Horse, Lussmanns, Galloways, Woburn Thai, or the Woburn Hotel.
End-of-walk reward: the Station Tavern.
Barrow-upon-Soar Station to Leicester Station (Leicestershire)
1h from Luton, with one change.
Tough: 21km. Flat terrain. 5h30–9h30.
On decent paths.
Lunch stops in Birstall (3h30–6h in): the Earl of Stamford, the Old Plough, or the White Horse.
End-of-walk rewards: the Corn Exchange, or the Rainbow and Dove.
Adapted from a route by the Leicester Ramblers — download GPX route
St Albans City Station Circular via Ruins of Gorhambury House (Hertfordshire)
15m direct from Luton Airport Parkway.
15km. Moderate ascents. 4h–7h.
Highlights: St Albans Cathedral, Verulamium Roman City Walls, Ruins of Gorhambury House, and St Albans itself.
Lunch stop: Ye Olde Fighting Cocks (30m–1h in).
End-of-walk rewards: the Six Bells, the Lower Red Lion, the Snug, the Boot, the Mad Squirrel Tap, or the Peahen.
Harpenden Station Circular via the Devil's Dyke (Hertfordshire)
5m direct from Luton Airport Parkway.
15km. Moderate ascents. 3h30–5h30.
Highlights: St Albans.
Lunch stops: the Swan (1h–2h in), the Bull (1h–2h in), or the Wicked Lady (2h–3h30 in).
End-of-walk rewards: the Marquis of Granby, or the Amble Inn.
Market Harborough Station to Northampton Station (Leicestershire)
45m from Luton, with one change.
29km.
Rolling hills of the south east Midlands. Brampton Valley Way: former railway opened 1859, closed 1981, converted to multipurpose path in 1993; one of the longest ex-trackbed paths in the UK; runs through former ironstone quarrying area. Two unlit tunnels (Oxendon Tunnel and Kelmarsh Tunnel).
Documented by Walk Midlands — download GPX route
Leicester Station Circular via Charles Wilson Building (Leicestershire)
1h from Luton, with one change.
1km.
Midland's Best Modernist Panorama. University College Leicester established 1921 as memorial to WWI fallen; campus features notable postwar modernist architecture by Denys Lasdun, Ove Arup, and James Stirling.
Documented by Walk Midlands — download GPX route
South Wigston Station to Leicester Station (Leicestershire)
1h from Luton, with one change.
10km.
Canal towpath and cycle greenway. Route ends at Leicester Cathedral where Richard III's remains were interred in 2013.