Walks near Luton by train

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).

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

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).

Recommended

St Albans Cathedral (30m in)

Verulamium Roman City Walls (45m in)

Ruins of Gorhambury House (2h in)

St Albans (2h in)

Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)

1 lunch spot: Ye Olde Fighting Cocks (30m 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).

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)

Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

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).

Woodland: a fifth under tree cover.

St Albans (2h in)

The Devil's Dyke (National Trust)

Time: 5h (3h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

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).

River valley, wooded wetland fringes, quiet villages, rolling fields, escarpment ridge, nature reserve lakes and ancient woodland.

Time: 7h (5h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Largely flat riverside paths, fields, woods, parks and pedestrianised town centre.

Time: 8h (6h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

River Nene towpath, gravel quarry-edge paths, fishing lakes, grassy fields, nature reserve, four villages and Swanspool Brook parkland.

Time: 8h30 (7h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Villages and countryside.

Time: 6h30 (5h walking, 1h30 lunch)

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.

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.

Time: 4h (2h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

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).

An easy, stile-free circular from Ridgmont station on good waymarked paths, passing the edge of Woburn Safari Park and climbing onto the Greensand Ridge before dropping back to the line. A short steep climb and stepped section, one railway crossing and several road crossings; some stretches get very muddy after rain.

Woburn Safari Park: a 300-acre wildlife park opened in 1970, home to over 80 species including critically endangered hoofed mammals.

All Saints' Church: designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and built in 1854, replacing the old Segenhoe church.

Time: 4h (2h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Lunch: Refreshments and toilets at the Heritage Centre & café at Ridgmont station; vending refreshments at the Woburn Safari Park entrance; and a shop, café and pub in Ridgmont village (just over a mile from the station).

Warnings: Some sections can be very muddy when wet; includes a short steep climb, a flight of steep steps and a railway crossing.

Walk details: Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership (PDF).

Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

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.

Urban green spaces, canal towpath, river Thames towpath, parks, gardens and suburban streets.

Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

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