Walks near Bristol Temple Meads by train
MapA day hike in the countryside is just a simple train journey away — explore the most charmingly located railway stations near Bristol Temple Meads and plan your next day of green.
Alternatively, view walks directly from Bristol Temple Meads.
Bath Spa Circular via Dundas Aqueduct (Somerset)
15 minutes direct from Bristol Temple Meads.
Disused railway path, tunnels, viaducts, canal towpath, river and historic city centre.
Time: 6h30 (5h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Castle Cary Circular via Cadbury Castle (Camelot) (Somerset)
1 hour from Bristol Temple Meads, with one change.
Somerset Levels fringes, hillock, quiet residential streets, charming market town, dry green valley, ancient holloway, pastures, shallow river valley, hillfort plateau, steep ascents, large WWII airfield remains and broad plateau with views.
Time: 9h (7h walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)
Warnings: Steep ascents and descents.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Abergavenny Circular via Ysgyryd Fach (Monmouthshire)
1 hour from Bristol Temple Meads, with one change.
Worcestershire Parkway to Pershore (Worcestershire)
1 hour direct from Bristol Temple Meads.
Open farmland and field paths through quiet villages.
Time: 4h (2h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: Worcestershire Community Rail Partnership (PDF).
Ashchurch for Tewkesbury to Pershore (Gloucestershire)
45 minutes from Bristol Temple Meads, with one change.
Dramatic outlying northwestern limb of the Cotswolds. Walk crosses from Gloucestershire into Worcestershire at Carrant Brook.
Time: 7h (5h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Dangerously busy lane with tight bends near Aston-on-Carrant.
Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).
Chippenham Circular via Lacock (Wiltshire)
30 minutes direct from Bristol Temple Meads.
Flat fields, river meadows, canal path, farmland, small woods and residential streets.
Lacock (National Trust)
Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Gloucester Circular via Gloucester Docks (Gloucestershire)
45 minutes direct from Bristol Temple Meads.
Medieval friaries, Gloucester Cathedral's fan-vaulted cloisters, the historic docks and the river-meadow Alney Island reserve on the Severn.
Gloucester Docks: Britain's most inland port, the 1827 terminus of the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, ringed by Victorian warehouses.
Gloucester Cathedral: A great medieval cathedral with celebrated fan-vaulted cloisters, near the start of the walk.
Llanthony Secunda Priory: The surviving buildings of a 12th-century Augustinian priory beside the Gloucester docks.
Alney Island Nature Reserve: A river-meadow nature reserve on an island between two channels of the River Severn.
Over Bridge: A single-span masonry bridge over the Severn designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1829.
Time: 3h30 (2h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: Bristol Rail Campaign (photos, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Cardiff Circular via Cardiff Bay Barrage (Glamorgan)
45 minutes from Bristol Temple Meads, with one change.
Flat Wales Coast Path circuit around Cardiff Bay out to the barrage, with views back to Cardiff, Flatholm Island and across to Devon on a clear day.
Waterway: four fifths beside rivers and canals.
Wales Millennium Centre: Landmark bronze-clad arts centre on the Cardiff Bay waterfront.
Pierhead Building: Grade I listed red-brick Victorian dock office on the bay.
Senedd: Welsh Government parliament building on the Cardiff Bay waterfront.
Norwegian Church: White-painted timber church built for Norwegian sailors, now an arts centre.
Captain Scott Monument: Memorial to Captain Scott's 1910 Antarctic expedition, which set sail from Cardiff.
Cardiff Bay Barrage: Tidal barrage closing off Cardiff Bay, with a wide promenade across it.
Time: 3h (1h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
1 lunch spot: Mermaid Quay
Warnings: Lower waterside path is not fully accessible due to its surface.
Walk details: Transport for Wales (tips, photos and turn-by-turn directions).
Didcot Parkway Circular via Wittenham Clumps (Berkshire)
1 hour from Bristol Temple Meads, with one change.
Thames Valley farmland, riverside paths, attractive villages, Iron Age hill forts and a nature reserve.
Time: 7h (5h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Kemble Circular via Thames Head and Cirencester (Wiltshire)
1 hour from Bristol Temple Meads, with one change.
Cotswolds farmland, disused canal towpath, ancient hillfort, beech woods, high watershed, grand parkland vistas, market town streets, quiet fields and upper Thames riverbank.
Time: 8h (6h walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)
Warnings: Can flood at Thames Head.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
St Andrews Road to Avonmouth (Gloucestershire)
30 minutes direct from Bristol Temple Meads.
Flat and heavily industrial Avonmouth: distribution centres, wind turbines, an old level crossing and the greenery of Avonmouth Park.
Time: 3h (1h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Heavily industrial; some footpaths overgrown or eroded by trail bikes.
Walk details: Bristol Rail Campaign (photos, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Westbury to Warminster (Wiltshire)
45 minutes direct from Bristol Temple Meads.
Chalk downland, Iron Age hillforts, five hills, Salisbury Plain military range, abandoned village and sweeping views over Wiltshire and Somerset.
Time: 9h (7h walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)
Warnings: MOD closures apply.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).