Walks near Rugby by train
MapA day hike in the countryside is just a simple train journey away — explore the most charmingly located railway stations near Rugby and plan your next day of green.
Alternatively, view walks directly from Rugby.
Tring Circular via Ashridge Estate (Hertfordshire)
45 minutes from Rugby, with one change.
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. Extensive woodland.
Woodland: half under tree cover.
Time: 3h30–7h30
2 lunch spots: the Ashridge Estate Café (1h–1h30 in), or Ashridge House café (2h–4h30 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.
Derby Circular via Allestree Park (Derbyshire)
1 hour from Rugby, with one change.
Parks, river and heritage trail.
Time: 5h–10h30
6 lunch spots: Darley Park (1h–2h30 in) — Darley Park Terrace Cafe, the Little Darley in the Park, the Abbey Inn, or the Darleys; plus the Joiners Arms (3h–6h in), or the Orangery Café (3h–6h in)
4 end-of-walk rewards: the Alexandra Hotel, the Brunswick, the Victoria Inn, or the Waterfall
Adapted from: the Leicester Ramblers.
Similar walk: North Staffordshire Community Rail Partnership.
Tring to Berkhamsted (Hertfordshire)
45 minutes from Rugby, with one change.
Canal towpath, ancient woodland, chalk commons, open grassy hillsides, beech and oak estate woodland and ridge paths with town views.
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)
45 minutes from Rugby, with one change.
Flat canal towpath, reservoir banks, open arable fields, wooded Chilterns hills and steep descents.
Woodland: a third under tree cover.
Time: 6h–12h
1 lunch spot: the Partridge (3h–6h 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.
Derby to Long Eaton (Derbyshire)
1 hour from Rugby, with one change.
Waterways — River Derwent, Derby & Sandiacre Canal and Erewash Canal.
Time: 5h30–11h
2 lunch spots: Canal Cottage Cafe (2h30–5h30 in), or the Navigation (3h–6h30 in)
2 end-of-walk rewards: Peking House, or the Sawley Junction
Adapted from: the Leicester Ramblers.
Derby to Peartree (Derbyshire)
1 hour from Rugby, with one change.
Largely urban walking on pavements and a riverside path, through parks and along the line of the Derby Canal.
1 lunch spot: Waterside Café
Warnings: Only a few trains a day call at Peartree.
Walk details: North Staffordshire Community Rail Partnership (tips and turn-by-turn directions).
Derby to Nottingham (Derbyshire)
1 hour from Rugby, with one change.
Mixture of off-road cycle path and on-road sections. Part of the longer London-to-Lake-District route.
Walk details: Derwent Valley Line Community Rail Partnership (local insights).
Melton Mowbray to Oakham (Leicestershire)
1 hour from Rugby, with one change.
Rural countryside.
Time: 5h30–11h30
2 lunch spots: Little Spice Box (3h–6h30 in), or the White Lion Inn (3h30–6h30 in)
2 end-of-walk rewards: the Railway Inn, or the Grainstore Brewery
Adapted from: the Leicester Ramblers.
Bromsgrove to Barnt Green (Worcestershire)
1 hour from Rugby, with one change.
A gentle climb through open country on the Monarch’s Way and canal towpath.
Waterway: three fifths along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.
Time: 3h30–6h30
Walk details: Worcestershire Community Rail Partnership (PDF).
Bromsgrove to Droitwich Spa (Worcestershire)
1 hour from Rugby, with one change.
Mostly along canal towpaths with field paths and road sections. Walk through mid-Worcestershire from Bromsgrove to Droitwich Spa, tracing salt industry heritage and Victorian spa development via canal routes. Droitwich is a town literally constructed on salt.
Waterway: four fifths along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.
Time: 3h–6h30
Warnings: Be careful of fast-moving cars on lane; towpath muddy in places.
Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).
Reverse direction: Worcestershire Community Rail Partnership (PDF, inc. GPX) and Railwalks (inc. GPX).
Bromsgrove to Alvechurch (Worcestershire)
1 hour from Rugby, with one change.
Most pleasant rolling countryside. Pastoral yet industrial terrain of north east Worcestershire. Two towns shaped by 18th-19th century canal development. Alvechurch has long history under Bishop of Worcester from late 8th century.
Waterway: four fifths along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.
Time: 2h30–5h
Warnings: Fast cars on lane; narrow busy road with no pavements.
Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).
Buxton to Macclesfield (Derbyshire)
1 hour direct from Rugby.
Spectacular views. Wild landscape of deep valleys and gritstone peaks and studded with peat bogs and pine forests. Buxton developed as a fashionable spa in 18th-19th centuries using profits from Dukes of Devonshire's copper mines. Macclesfield granted borough charter for market in 13th Century.
Time: 5h30–10h30
Warnings: Stiles; busy road with no pavement and fast traffic.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Similar walk: Walk Midlands (inc. GPX).