Walks you can reach from Sandy by train

Flat riverside paths, water meadows, farmland tracks, tarmac lanes, nature reserve and market town streets.

Time: 4h

Warnings: Prone to flooding.

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

Chilterns chalk ridge, farm tracks, field boundaries, grassy lanes, woods, steep chalk downland, flat-bottomed valleys, alder and willow fen woodland, chalk river and historic market town.

Time: 6h

Warnings: Can be hilly.

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

Chalk stream meadows, field boundaries, hilltop village, open farmland with far views, green lanes, lavender farm and Garden City.

Time: 5h30

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

Recommended: Wide open views; good views. A fairly hilly route, mostly on field-edge paths and good tracks across arable land and with some overgrown stretches and short sections on quiet roads and verges. The Luton end has rather a lot of residential roads. Good views from the higher ground. Follows the Chiltern Way Extension for a significant distance. Whitwell has an interesting tower.

Time: 5h–10h

Lunch: There is a pub at St Paul's Walden, roughly mid-route.

Warnings: Crossing London Road (B656) needs a little care. Some paths are a little overgrown, occasionally between barbed-wire fences.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Time: 6h30–13h30

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Lovely views around Weston in particular. Mostly footpaths and some urban pavements, leaving the concrete of Stevenage to cross gently rolling countryside on footpaths and bridleways, with a small amount on pavement-less country roads. Fairly flat; surprisingly not too muddy even after rain and though some muddy paths.

Time: 3h30–6h30

Warnings: Some steps onto bridges over roads at the Stevenage end (some with ramps); a small amount of walking on country roads without pavement.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Suburban residential streets out of Stevenage give way to scenic farmland and woodland, with road walking only on quiet lanes. Mostly field paths and farm tracks; can be very muddy in the woods (Stocking Grove) and on field edges after rain and with some steep verge walking. Town walking out of Stevenage is mostly kept away from traffic on cycle paths and underpasses. No shops or pub at Datchworth; places to eat near the cinema by Stevenage station.

Time: 3h–5h30

Lunch: No shops or pub at Datchworth mid-route.

Warnings: Deep mud and puddles in the woods after rain; narrow verges and a steep (25%) step up off the road onto the verge near Datchworth; slippery when wet.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Lovely views. Begins with a long uphill road out of Luton, then transitions through farm tracks, common land, narrow paths and footpaths across open fields and small woods. Steep in places with steps and kissing gates; paths are generally good. Some short road walking in quiet places and plus an unavoidable roadside stretch into Hitchin. Expect fields of barley and skylarks; field paths shift as crops change and fields are ploughed.

Time: 4h–8h

1 lunch spot: the Red Lion

Warnings: Field paths can be narrow through crops and steep in places; expect kissing gates and some steps. An unavoidable roadside walk leads into the town centre at the Hitchin end.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A beautiful, mainly off-road countryside walk that is far from flat despite its reputation, with steady climbs and descents and some big fields to cross. After ploughing and footpaths across the fields between Higham Gobion and Pulloxhill may not be reinstated and can be very muddy; good navigation or GPS is essential there. Around 1.5 miles of town walking at the Hitchin end. The Ickleford Nature Reserve riverside path is recommended as an alternative start. The route ends near, but avoids, Flitwick Moor SSSI. Walking from Flitwick eastwards gives a downhill start.

Time: 5h30–11h

Lunch: A very good food pub at Pulloxhill, mid-route.

Warnings: Field paths west of Higham Gobion can be lost after ploughing and replanting; competent navigation or GPS is essential. There is a steady uphill stretch along a fairly busy fast road at Higham Gobion. Fields can be very muddy in wet weather.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A pleasant route through leafy suburbs on flat pavements and across grassy farmland and diverting north of Stevenage to avoid a major road and using Stevenage's wide pedestrian/cycleways and underpasses. A short flight of steps at Willian (avoidable via about 50m of road). Makes use of permissive paths in several sections. Subject to footpath diversions near Stevenage Old Town due to new-build development (check in 2025).

Time: 3h–6h

Lunch: Pubs at Willian and Graveley and a village shop at Willian; Stevenage Old Town has refreshments.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Some lovely open countryside with nice paths and views, let down by uncomfortable verge walking on busy roads with no or sporadic narrow verges, plus muddy open fields and kissing gates and barriers. Steps on both sides of the dual-carriageway crossing. The A602 crossing can be avoided via Todds Green between Little Wymondley and Stevenage; an alternative route via Redcoats Green also avoids it. Little Wymondley has two pubs; convenience shops near the stations at each end.

Time: 2h30–5h

Lunch: Two pubs at Little Wymondley mid-route, plus convenience shops near the stations at each end.

Warnings: Crossing the A602 dual carriageway on foot via the central reservation is the main hazard, with fast traffic (reviewers disagree on how dangerous, but care needed and wear something bright); a 75m in-road dash along a busy road near Titmore Green; an unlit motorway underpass at Symonds Green.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A flat-ended route with a considerable hill between Willington and Northill. A high proportion is on tarmac (disused railway cycle track then quiet village roads); off-tarmac stretches through the woods can be very muddy and greasy. Follows the disused Bedford to Cambridge railway (now a cycle track) and the Greensand Ridge Walk.

Time: 6h–11h30

Lunch: Pubs at Willington and Northill (the Northill pub is the last refreshment before Biggleswade).

Warnings: The footpath crossing of the dual-carriageway A1 is dangerous; use the right-hand fork to the culverts under the road rather than walking across. Crossing the busy A603 in Willington needs care. Can be muddy.

Walk details: Slow Ways.