Walks near Stevenage by train

Beginner-friendly: A straightforward walk along the River Cam with many lunch options in Granchester. Within Cambridge itself, feel free to wander about randomly rather than following the route — there’s plenty to appreciate.

King's College Chapel (2h45 in)

Fitzwilliam Museum (2h45 in)

Hobson's Conduit Monument, Cambridge (3h in)

Cambridge (2h45 in)

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

4 lunch spots: Grantchester (1h30 in) — the Orchard Tea Garden, Grantchester, the Red Lion, the Rupert Brooke, or the Blue Ball Inn

1 end-of-walk reward: the Panton Arms

Warnings: A quarter urban.

Adapted from: The Rough Guide to Walks in London & the South East (3rd edition).

Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.

Highly recommended

Waterway: two thirds beside rivers and canals.

Ely Cathedral: the 'ship of the fens', a great Norman cathedral visible for miles across the flat fenland (5h15 in).

Oliver Cromwell's House (5h30 in)

Ely (5h15 in)

Time: 7h30 (5h30 walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)

2 lunch spots: the Five Miles Inn (2h in), or Wren Cafe (3h in)

5 end-of-walk rewards: the Cutter Inn, the Drayman's Son, the Kings Arms, the Minster Tavern, or the Prince Albert

Adapted from: The Rough Guide to Walks in London & the South East (3rd edition).

Similar walk: Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

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).

Open fenland, flat drained farmland, long straight tree-lined farm tracks, hedge-lined meadows, river banks, dykes and catchwater drains, quayside and historic city.

Ely Cathedral: the 'ship of the fens', a great Norman cathedral visible for miles across the flat fenland.

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

Warnings: Exposed river banks.

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

A short city and riverside walk linking Cambridge's two stations, taking in some of the best-known views of the ancient colleges, punting on the upper river, and riverside paths across the commons where college and town crews race their traditional 'bumps'.

Cambridge

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

Warnings: Shared with cyclists along most of the route, so watch out for bikes.

Walk details: Mid Anglia Rail Passengers Association (PDF).

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: 7h30 (5h30 walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)

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

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

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.

Undulating Hertfordshire countryside, woodland, large open arable fields, quiet lanes, deer park and pretty villages.

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

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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: 8h (6h walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)

Warnings: Can be hilly.

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

Rolling Hertfordshire countryside, landscaped parkland, arable fields, picturesque village and Gothic church ruin.

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

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

Rolling Hertfordshire hills, farmland, woods, hedgerows and riverside path along the River Beane.

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

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