Walks you can reach from Harpenden by train

Recommended

St Albans Cathedral

Verulamium Roman City Walls

Ruins of Gorhambury House

St Albans

Time: 4h–8h

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

First stage of the Vanguard Way, from suburban East Croydon out through Selsdon Wood and the North Downs to Oxted.

Woodland: a third under tree cover.

Time: 5h30–11h

Walk details: Walking Post (tips, photos and local insights).

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

Time: 5h30

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

A walk through London's history around the square mile, past the Tower of London, St Paul's Cathedral and the Guildhall.

Time: 2h30–5h

Warnings: Two thirds urban. Several sets of steps, cobbled streets and narrow alleys.

Walk details: Walking Post (tips, photos and local insights).

Meadows, solitary chalk hills, ancient woodlands, steep chalk escarpments, chalk downland, Neolithic hill forts, ancient trackways, rolling grassy fields and hilltop village.

Time: 5h

Warnings: Steep chalk escarpments.

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

Steep rolling downlands, chalk escarpments, hilltop views, grassy fields, pastures and ancient woodland.

Time: 5h

Warnings: Can be hilly.

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

Common woodland, farmland tracks, river meadows, water meadows, quiet residential roads and historic city streets.

Woodland: a fifth under tree cover.

St Albans

Time: 3h30–7h

3 lunch spots: Moor Mill Watermill & Inn (1h30–3h30 in), the Overdraught (2h30–4h30 in), or Rumbles Fish Bar (2h30–4h30 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.

Undulating Greensand Ridge, mixed woods, open parkland, heathland, historic market town, ancient woodland and flat moors and wetland nature reserve.

Time: 5h

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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.

The countryside views are fantastic, and the scenery is extremely varied; a marvellous view of the rest of the route all the way to St Albans. A very enjoyable and varied route with a mix of fields, woodland, lanes, tracks and urban residential estates, plus a riverside walk; mostly good path and road or pavement with some muddier track and one or two extra-muddy fields. No pavement-less B-roads and all road crossings safe except one. Marvellous mid-point view across to St Albans. Rich wildlife (skylark, woodpecker, red kites, butterflies) and varied features including an air museum, a fishery and a gravel-extraction conveyor belt. Pubs at South Mimms and Tyttenhanger, plus a picnic area and WC at the Willows Lakes fishery. Note St Albans High Street is on the far side of the station.

Time: 4h–8h30

Lunch: Pubs at South Mimms and Tyttenhanger split the route into thirds, plus picnic area and toilets at the Willows Lakes fishery.

Warnings: The crossing of the A414 is uncontrolled on a dual carriageway with fast traffic, though there is a central median so you only cross two lanes at a time; some narrow kissing gates and barriers along the route, and a fair bit of mud in winter.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A direct yet pleasant, largely off-road route following the River Ver across meadows and managed wetlands, then field edges, woodland, fields and tracks to the outskirts of Radlett, finishing on a quiet private road. The Ver meadows are boggy and may flood in winter (gaiters or waterproof boots advised); some steps and narrow paths and a small bridge. Passes the site of a Roman villa and fishing lakes at Frogmore that can encroach over the path.

Time: 2h30–5h

Lunch: Refreshments at Park Street, with a hotel by the M25 useful for those on a long journey.

Warnings: The Ver Valley water meadows are boggy and likely to flood in winter — waterproof boots or gaiters needed. Some steps and narrow paths. Can be muddy.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A fantastic Slow Ways route; a totally pleasant, easy to navigate, accessible, direct, and beautiful route; the complete forest bathing experience. An easy, flat route almost entirely along a disused railway line, the Alban Way, on paved and wide paths separated from traffic and shaded by trees. Accessible and suitable for all types of wheels; some find the tree-tunnel monotonous as there are no views. Follows the Alban Way disused railway almost the entire route, with displays at one of the former stations and benches to rest. Good pubs, cafes and shops at the St Albans end.

Woodland: half under tree cover.

Time: 2h30–5h

Warnings: A quarter urban.

Walk details: Slow Ways.