Walks you can reach from Highbury & Islington by train

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

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

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).

Woodland, waterways and pre-history, through Broxbourne Woods and Celtic Harmony Camp to the River Lee at Ware.

Woodland: two fifths under tree cover.

Celtic Harmony Camp: A reconstructed Stone Age and Iron Age village offering a free weekend visitor experience.

Time: 4h30–9h

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

Suburban parks, ancient woodland, leafy avenues, Victorian gardens and urban pavements.

Time: 3h30

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

Walk through surviving fragments of the ancient Great North Wood, from Streatham Common via Crystal Palace Park to One Tree Hill.

Woodland: a third under tree cover.

Time: 3h–6h

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

Recommended: An accessible East London route mostly through green spaces and back roads, along the River Lee and past the marshes and with some rough ground beside the river. There are steep ramps over footbridges and a low bridge (about 1.5m) to duck under near Coppermill Lane.

Walthamstow Marshes: One of the last remaining floodplain marshlands in London, home to over 400 plant and animal species.

Time: 2h–4h30

Lunch: Plenty of refreshment stops at either end and in Clapton Village.

Warnings: A third urban. A low bridge (around 1.5m) at the marshes end of Coppermill Lane means many walkers will need to stoop.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Recommended: Great views of the City. An exceptionally green urban route, almost entirely through parks and open spaces — Alexandra Park, the Parkland Walk with great city views, Highgate Wood and Hampstead Heath — with only short residential-street sections. Excellent paths with lots of shade.

Woodland: a third under tree cover.

The Hampstead Heath: A sprawling ancient heath above London with bathing ponds and Parliament Hill views.

Time: 2h–4h

Warnings: A fifth urban.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Recommended: Excellent views across the River Beane to Heath Mount. A varied route taking in the Woodhall estate and the valley of the River Beane and with a short section along the River Lea towpath in Ware.

Time: 3h–5h30

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Recommended: Pretty views on the canal and at the church in Stapleford. An easy-to-navigate, pleasant country walk through beautiful countryside, following the River Beane chalk stream and water meadows for much of the way, with hedgerows, views of a stately house and a few sections of roadside walking along the A119 (paved verges throughout). Mud in winter is still manageable. Follows the River Beane, a chalk stream (one of only around 210 in the world). Tons of wildlife and plenty of park benches. The river has been restored to natural banks. Watton-at-Stone has a Budgens for local baked goods.

Time: 2h30–4h30

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.

Disused railway trackbed nature reserve, urban green spaces, woods, heathland, parkland, ponds, garden suburb streets and panoramic hilltops.

Time: 5h

Warnings: Can be muddy.

Source: A longer variant of Highgate to Hampstead – the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Urban park, reservoir wetlands, residential streets, riverside path and open marshland.

Source: A variant of Alexandra Palace to Tottenham Hale – the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).