Walks near Watford by train
Hertfordshire · South East England
Stations: Watford North · Watford Junction
MapA day hike in the countryside is just a simple train journey away — explore the most charmingly located railway stations near Watford and plan your next day of green.
Alternatively, view walks directly from Watford.
Aspley Guise Circular via the Woburn Estate (Bedfordshire)
45 minutes from Watford Junction, with one change.
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).
Tring Circular via Ashridge Estate (Hertfordshire)
15 minutes direct from Watford Junction.
Beginner-friendly: It’s nearly all in a big National Trust estate that’s extremely well sign-posted. It’s completely fine to deviate from the route — explore and shorten as you like! The lunch options are simple cafés, so no messing around with booking a table in advance. The Ashridge Estate is very beautiful if you appreciate woodland, and covers more then enough ground to cover a day of hiking in itself. There are paths everywhere and you can wander freely. Ancient trees, rolling chalk downlands and lush meadows.
Woodland: half under tree cover.
Ashridge Estate (National Trust)
The Ashridge Estate Café (National Trust; 45m in)
Pitstone Common Woodland Walk (National Trust; 1h in)
Ashridge House (2h15 in)
Time: 5h (3h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
2 lunch spots: the Ashridge Estate Café (45m in), or Ashridge House café (2h15 in)
1 end-of-walk reward: the Valiant Trooper
Warnings: Relatively busy. Take the minor paths to avoid the crowds. Can be muddy.
Source: Trains2Green.
St Albans Circular via Ruins of Gorhambury House (Hertfordshire)
15 minutes direct from Watford North.
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).
Harpenden to St Albans (Hertfordshire)
15 minutes direct from Watford North.
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).
Tring to Berkhamsted (Hertfordshire)
15 minutes direct from Watford Junction.
Canal towpath, ancient woodland, chalk commons, open grassy hillsides, beech and oak estate woodland and ridge paths with town views.
Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Reverse direction: Walking Post (inc. GPX).
Tring to Wendover (Hertfordshire)
15 minutes direct from Watford Junction.
Flat canal towpath, reservoir banks, open arable fields, wooded Chilterns hills and steep descents.
Woodland: a third under tree cover.
Time: 7h30 (6h walking, 1h30 lunch)
1 lunch spot: the Partridge (3h in)
1 end-of-walk reward: Wendover Woods Café
Warnings: Steep chalky descent.
Adapted from: Time Out Country Walks Volume 1.
Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.
Reverse direction: Walk by Rail.
East Croydon to Oxted (Surrey)
1 hour from Watford Junction, with one change.
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).
Berkhamsted Circular via Hockeridge Woods (Hertfordshire)
15 minutes direct from Watford Junction.
Canal towpath, wide bridleways, fields, woodland paths, school playing fields and town centre.
Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Rugby Circular (Warwickshire)
45 minutes direct from Watford Junction.
Canal towpath, riverside path and village lanes.
Time: 3h (1h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: Heart Rail Trails (PDF).
Coventry Circular (Warwickshire)
1 hour direct from Watford Junction.
City streets, canal basin and historic centre.
Time: 3h (1h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: Heart Rail Trails (PDF).
Ridgmont Circular (Bedfordshire)
45 minutes from Watford Junction, with one change.
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).
Millbrook Circular via Folly Wood (Bedfordshire)
1 hour from Watford Junction, with one change.
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).