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 near Luton and plan your next day of green.
Alternatively, view walks directly from Luton.
Aspley Guise Circular via the Woburn Estate (Bedfordshire)
45 minutes from Luton, with one change.
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.
Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.
Woburn Safari Park: a 300-acre wildlife park opened in 1970, home to over 80 species including critically endangered hoofed mammals (2h in).
3 lunch spots: Woburn (1h in) — the Black Horse, Lussmanns, or the Woburn Hotel
1 end-of-walk reward: the Anchor
Adapted from: The Rough Guide to Walks in London & the South East (3rd edition).
St Albans Circular via Ruins of Gorhambury House (Hertfordshire)
15 minutes direct from Luton Airport Parkway.
Recommended
St Albans Cathedral (30 mins in)
Verulamium Roman City Walls (45 mins in)
Ruins of Gorhambury House (2h in)
St Albans (2h in)
1 lunch spot: Ye Olde Fighting Cocks (30 mins in)
6 end-of-walk rewards: the Six Bells, the Lower Red Lion, the Snug, the Boot, the Mad Squirrel Tap, or the Peahen
Warnings: A third urban.
Adapted from: The Rough Guide to Walks in London & the South East (3rd edition).
Harpenden to St Albans (Hertfordshire)
5 minutes direct from Luton Airport Parkway.
Recommended: Mostly fields and country lanes. Some beautiful new bluebell woods, stunning historic city streeets, commons, golf courses and parkland.
Heartwood Forest (1h30 in)
St Albans Cathedral (4h in)
St Albans (3h30 in)
4 lunch spots: Sandridge (2h in) — the Green Man (excellent; reservations recommended), Heartwood Tea Rooms (busy!), the Rose & Crown, or the Queens Head (not great)
5 end-of-walk rewards: the Lower Red Lion, the Mad Squirrel Tap, the Peahen, the Snug, or the Boot
Best months: in April (bluebell season).
Warnings: A quarter urban.
Source: Trains2Green.
Similar walks: the Saturday Walkers Club and Slow Ways (inc. GPX).
Harpenden Circular via the Devil's Dyke (Hertfordshire)
5 minutes direct from Luton Airport Parkway.
Woodland: a fifth under tree cover.
St Albans (2h in)
The Devil's Dyke: A legendary beauty spot on the South Downs (National Trust).
3 lunch spots: the Swan (1h in), the Bull (1h15 in), or the Wicked Lady (2h in)
2 end-of-walk rewards: the Marquis of Granby, or the Amble Inn
Adapted from: The Rough Guide to Walks in London & the South East (3rd edition).
Kettering Circular via Pytchley (Northamptonshire)
30 minutes direct from Luton.
Villages and countryside.
5 lunch spots: Broughton (3h30 in) — Best Plaice, the Red Lion, Broughton Fish and Chips, or the Broughton & Cransley WMC; plus the Overstone Arms (1h15 in)
Adapted from: the Leicester Ramblers.
Market Harborough Circular via Braybrooke (Leicestershire)
45 minutes from Luton, with one change.
2 lunch spots: the Swan Inn (2h15 in), or Waterloo Lodge (3h30 in)
4 end-of-walk rewards: the Beer House, the Freemasons Arms, the Cherry Tree, or the Oat Hill
Adapted from: the Leicester Ramblers.
Bow Brickhill to Woburn Sands (Buckinghamshire)
1 hour from Luton, with one change.
Woods, golf course, gentle hills, landscaped deer park, village streets, playing fields and golf links.
Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.
Woburn Safari Park: a 300-acre wildlife park opened in 1970, home to over 80 species including critically endangered hoofed mammals (3h30 in).
5 lunch spots: Woburn (2h15 in) — the Black Horse, Lussmanns, Galloways, Woburn Thai, or the Woburn Hotel
1 end-of-walk reward: the Station Tavern
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Adapted from: Time Out Country Walks Volume 1.
Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.
Garston to St Albans (Hertfordshire)
15 minutes direct from Luton Airport Parkway.
Common woodland, farmland tracks, river meadows, water meadows, quiet residential roads and historic city streets.
Woodland: a fifth under tree cover.
St Albans (3h15 in)
3 lunch spots: Moor Mill Watermill & Inn (1h45 in), the Overdraught (2h15 in), or Rumbles Fish Bar (2h15 in)
2 end-of-walk rewards: the Horn, or the Robin Hood
Warnings: Can be very muddy.
Adapted from: Time Out Country Walks Volume 1.
Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.
Flitwick Circular via Old St. Mary's Church (Bedfordshire)
15 minutes direct from Luton.
River valley, wooded wetland fringes, quiet villages, rolling fields, escarpment ridge, nature reserve lakes and ancient woodland.
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Bedford Circular via Stevington Cross (Bedfordshire)
15 minutes direct from Luton.
Largely flat riverside paths, fields, woods, parks and pedestrianised town centre.
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Wellingborough Circular via Summer Leys Nature Reserve (Northamptonshire)
30 minutes direct from Luton.
River Nene towpath, gravel quarry-edge paths, fishing lakes, grassy fields, nature reserve, four villages and Swanspool Brook parkland.
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Millbrook Circular via Folly Wood (Bedfordshire)
45 minutes from Luton, with one change.
A circular from Millbrook station through the Millennium Country Park and surrounding farmland to the village of Lidlington and the Marston Vale Trust's Folly Wood community woodland, with the option of a further mile out into the Vale before returning to the Forest Centre. Surfaces range from firm tracks to uneven cultivated ground; a couple of stiles, several kissing gates and a stepped railway crossing. The route is not waymarked.
Millennium Country Park: the country park at the heart of the Forest of Marston Vale, with lakes, a visitor centre and café.
Folly Wood: a community woodland created by the Marston Vale Trust.
Lunch: A café bar, shops and toilets at the Forest Centre; the Green Man pub in Lidlington.
Warnings: Not waymarked; uneven ground in places, with stiles, kissing gates and a stepped railway crossing.
Walk details: Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership (PDF).