Walks you can reach from Harlow Mill by train
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Shelford to Cambridge (Cambridgeshire)
45 minutes direct from Harlow Mill.
Flat walk through traditional villages and along the River Cam, finishing through Grantchester Meadows into Cambridge city centre.
Great Shelford: Traditional village with thatched cottages and a striking parish church.
Little Shelford: Village with period architecture.
Hauxton Mill: Historic watermill on the River Cam.
Trumpington Meadows: Open meadow nature reserve on the edge of Cambridge.
Byron's Pool: Wild-swimming spot on the Cam named after the poet Lord Byron.
The Old Vicarage (Rupert Brooke's House): Former home of poet Rupert Brooke, with sculptures in the grounds.
Grantchester Meadows: Open riverside meadows along the Cam between Cambridge and Grantchester.
King's College: World-famous University of Cambridge college with its renowned chapel.
The Orchard Tea Garden
Time: 3h30–7h30
2 lunch spots: the Red Lion, or the Orchard Tea Garden
Warnings: Busy A10 road crossing; shared cyclist path before the M11 bridge.
Walk details: Walking Post (tips, photos and local insights).
Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.
Broxbourne Circular via Waltham Abbey (Hertfordshire)
9 minutes direct from Harlow Mill.
Flat river floodplain, towpaths, water meadows, lakeside paths, woodland strips, farmland fields and open parkland.
Time: 4h
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Cheshunt Circular via Royal Gunpowder Mills (Hertfordshire)
15 minutes direct from Harlow Mill.
Flat river floodplain, gravel-pit lakes, water meadows, country park sculptures, farmland and a market town.
Time: 3h30
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Audley End Circular via the Cottage (pargeted house, Wendens Ambo) (Essex)
30 minutes direct from Harlow Mill.
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).
Roydon to Sawbridgeworth (Essex)
7 minutes direct from Harlow Mill.
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).
Bishop's Stortford to Newport (Hertfordshire)
15 minutes direct from Harlow Mill.
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).
Great Chesterford to Shelford (Cambridgeshire)
30 minutes direct from Harlow Mill.
Villages, mills and river crossings along the River Cam, past Hinxton Water Mill and a ford into Duxford.
Hinxton Mill: A 17th-century working watermill on the River Cam.
Time: 4h
Walk details: Walking Post (tips, photos and local insights).
Great Chesterford to Newport (Cambridgeshire)
30 minutes direct from Harlow Mill.
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).
Ware to Bishop's Stortford (Hertfordshire)
15 minutes direct from Harlow Mill.
A pleasant and interesting walk on undemanding local footways, with nothing too challenging underfoot, though gates can be limiting for some and wet periods may cause flooding and especially along the Ash Valley section.
Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.
Time: 5h30–11h
Warnings: Gates may limit access for some. Wet periods can result in flooding, especially along the Ash Valley section.
Walk details: Walking Post (tips, photos and local insights).
Alexandra Palace to Tottenham Hale (Middlesex)
30 minutes direct from Harlow Mill.
Urban north London, disused railway trackbed nature reserve, ancient woodland, reservoir wetlands, residential streets, riverside path and open parkland.
Time: 3h30
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Kings Cross to Liverpool Street (Middlesex)
45 minutes direct from Harlow Mill.
Entirely flat, urban city-centre streets, royal parks, riverside Thames path, canal towpath and historic financial district.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Potters Bar to Cheshunt (Middlesex)
15 minutes direct from Harlow Mill.
The views were magnificent; good views, you can see the Shard. A varied route through fields, woods, hedged farmland tracks and picturesque villages, with steep hills around Cuffley (good views, including the Shard) and stretches of suburban and roadside walking. Frequently very muddy and marshy and especially in Morven open space and the wet field paths south of Cuffley. Passes the Leefe Robinson Memorial and Sopers Viaduct, and joins the Hertfordshire Way. Northaw is a picturesque village with a tap inside the church gate. Cuffley has shops and cafes for a refreshment stop.
Time: 4h30–9h
Lunch: Lots of refuelling opportunities in Cuffley around the half-way point.
Warnings: Many muddy and marshy sections, including waterlogged kissing gates and very muddy bridges over brooks (care needed); some narrow rooty paths; a temporary signposted detour around new road works near the New River at the Cheshunt end.
Walk details: Slow Ways.