20 of the best walking and cycling routes around the UK converted from former railway lines

Crab and Winkle Way: Canterbury to Whitstable, Kent 7.5 miles
This cloisters to oysters route, from the cathedral town to the seaside town, follows the route of 1 of the nation’s oldest railways. The environment is a combine of forestry and fields, but it is the destinations – a single famed for pilgrimages, the other for seafood – that make it specific. explorekent.org/actions/crab-and-winkle-way-canterbury-to-whitstable

Marriott’s Way: Aylsham to Norwich, Norfolk 26 miles
This art-lined green corridor operates into the heart of Norwich. En route it passes by way of the 18th-century market town of Reepham, complete of independent shops and Georgian houses. Much of its route follows the previous Midland and Great Northern Railway, aka the “Muddle & Go Nowhere”. At Aylsham, it connects with the Bure Valley Railway, which operates steam trains into the Norfolk Broads. marriottsway.data

Meon Valley Trail: West Meon to Wickham, Hampshire 11 miles
The trackbed of the previous Meon Valley Railway loops spherical sinuous chalk streams, generations-aged church buildings, gently sloping downland and even an Iron Age hillfort. For a quick although it also hosts the South Downs Way. East Meon is the prettier of the two Meon villages and has an superb pub for a Sunday lunch, the Outdated George. little bit.ly/MeonTrail

The Cuckoo Path: Heathfield to Eastbourne Park, Sussex 14 miles
This environmentally friendly corridor sales opportunities from the heart of East Sussex down to the south coastline and is lined with picnic tables and sculptures in wooden and metal. It operates by great Victorian brick-designed bridges and the current market towns of Horam, Hailsham and Polegate. It is also part of the Avenue Verte, the cycle route from London to Paris via rural routes. new.eastsussex.gov.uk/leisure-tourism/countryside-internet sites/cuckoo-trail

Two Tunnels Greenway: Bath to the Midford Valley, Somerset 4 miles
This reconstituted portion of the Somerset & Dorset line one-way links the Georgian spa city of Bath with the rather village of Midford. Its sleek blade of Tarmac exits the metropolis by using cuttings and tunnels right before emerging into a valley dotted with place houses. To full a 13-mile circuit, return to Tub through the Kennet and Avon towpath. twotunnels.org.uk

Strawberry Line: Cheddar to Yatton, Somerset 9 miles
Named soon after the fruit that it transported from Cheddar’s farms to the Bristol Channel, this route begins by weaving by the Mendip Hills shut to Cheddar Gorge. It cruises via cider orchards and the rather 50 percent-timbered city of Axbridge, before soothing on to the flatlands of the northern Somerset Levels. strawberrycycles.com/discover

North Dorset Trailway: Sturminster Newton to Spetisbury, Dorset 14 miles
The former Somerset & Dorset Railway follows the sinuous River Stour for significantly of its route, by means of Thomas Hardy region by using untroubled woodland and floodplain. Shillingstone station has been restored by rail enthusiasts, entire with tracks and wagons, and the café serves cream teas in an outdated mentor. northdorsettrailway.org.british isles

The Granite Way: Okehampton to Lydford, Devon 11 miles
This former option rail route to Cornwall runs all around Dartmoor’s northern waistline. Its well-surfaced path girdles the moor to genteel Lydford, with its pub and pint-sized castle. Halt off en route at Sourton’s quirky Highwayman Inn, a fantasy globe of sparkly minotaurs and a bar in the tummy of a galleon. visitsouthdevon.co.uk/items-to-do

Camel Path: Blisland to Padstow, Cornwall 18 miles
This trail starts on the edge of Bodmin Moor and descends as a result of the wooded Camel Valley to arise inevitably at the wide Camel estuary, by itself designated an Spot of Remarkable All-natural Attractiveness. The end position is the foodie pilgrimage city of Padstow, famous for seafood and pasties. visitcornwall.com/matters-to-do/out of doors/north-coastline/padstow/camel-trail

Wye Valley Greenway: Chepstow to Tintern, Monmouthshire 5 miles
A floral mile and a lengthy tunnel at Tidenham, which has exclusive opening hrs for the reason that of its bats, are two of the crucial features of this previous track that follows the lessen reaches of the River Wye. Handsome Chepstow bristles with medieval fortifications, and romantic Tintern has its drastically ruined abbey, inspiration for lovers and poets. wyevalleygreenway.org

The Mawddach Path: Dolgellau to Barmouth, Gwynedd 9 miles
The lovely Mawddach Estuary, with views in direction of the peaks of Snowdonia, has important peat and salt marsh habitats with RSPB reserves. Welsh gold was mined right here till not too long ago. Station buildings nevertheless stand at Penmaenpool, while the close issue at Barmouth, with its bridge stretched tantalisingly throughout the river mouth, is a historic seaside resort. mawddachtrail.co.british isles

Smardale Gill: Newbiggin-on-Lune to Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria
5 miles
Whilst it is promoted extra as a wildlife reserve, this stretch of the defunct Tebay to Darlington railway makes an great walk, albeit far more overgrown than many others on this checklist, with sights of rolling countryside. Smardale Viaduct is its most important attribute, its deep cuttings described as “geological time tunnels”. cumbriawildlifetrust.org.british isles/character-reserves/smardale

Drinking water Rail Way: Lincoln to Kirkstead, Lincolnshire 15 miles
Fertile and mainly flat agricultural land laced with fens and ditches are the emblems of Lincolnshire. Leaving the cathedral city, the route of the former railway clings to the meandering river Witham, nesting spot for the shy Drinking water Rail. The route is punctuated with artworks that celebrate regular Lincolnshire farming and local poet Tennyson. sustrans.org.british isles/find-other-routes/water-rail-way

The Monsal Trail: Blackwell Mill to Bakewell, Derbyshire 8.5 miles
This path cuts by means of the Peak District’s magnificent limestone dales, with 6 tunnels and two viaducts, in a bravura exhibit of 19th-century railway engineering. Its river valley is dotted with grand outdated mills, and the previous station at Hassop has turn out to be a significantly common pit cease. peakdistrict.gov.united kingdom/going to/trails/monsaltrail

The Manifold Way: Hulme Conclude to Waterhouses, Derbyshire 8 miles
The dingly dell of the River Manifold, hectic with bees and bluebells, when hosted the Leek and Manifold Valley Mild Railway. There is a attractive tea room at Wetton Mill, a former corn mill by a handsome stone bridge in which families feed the ducks. Just downriver, the Manifold out of the blue springs a leak and all its h2o disappears down a geological fault. letsgopeakdistrict.co.united kingdom/the-manifold-way

South Staffordshire Railway Walk: Wolverhampton to Pensnett, Staffordshire 16 miles
The initial Wolverhampton to Dudley railway line follows the River Stour previous Newbridge by using the rather Smestow Valley mother nature reserve, with fantastic woodland sections. At Wombourne, the place there is a railway café, it intersects with the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal, a very good picnic spot. web pages.google.com/website/familyfriendlycycling/south-staffordshire-railway-wander

The Derwent Wander: Consett to Swalwell, County Durham 12.5 miles
Consett was a growth city in the course of the steel-creating era, but most traces of significant business have been carefully taken out. The previous railway threads along the wooded Derwent Valley, with reintroduced purple kites wheeling higher than the very village of Rowlands Gill, in which the Countrywide Have confidence in appears soon after the Gibside estate, a slice of 18th-century designer landscaping. bit.ly/DerwentWalk

The Deeside Way: Aberdeen to Ballater, Aberdeenshire 41 miles
This is a prolonged-distance route subsequent the previous Royal Deeside Railway, of which the 11-mile Aboyne to Ballater part is very best for walkers. The route climbs gradually into the Grampians, crossing the river on the remarkable suspension bridge at Cambus O’ May perhaps, and ending at Ballater’s Old Royal Station, now a tea space and customer centre detailing the Royal Family’s involvement with the line. deesideway.org

Speyside Way: Aviemore to Buckie, Highland & Moray 65 miles
This route generally follows the initial Strathspey Railway, the first part of which, from Aviemore to Broomhill, has been revived as a heritage line. Thereafter, hikers and bikers bump more than the toes of the Cairngorms and alongside one particular of Scotland’s most superb rivers on its tumbling journey to the sea, passing distilleries these as Knockando and Dufftown. Be expecting leaping salmon and tweedy fishermen. speysideway.org

The Rob Roy Way: Callander to Kingshouse, Highlands 9 miles
The Rob Roy Way runs for 79 miles from Drymen to Pitlochry, but this area makes use of the trackbed of the former Callander to Oban railway, as it swings by way of the Trossachs Nationwide Park and together the shores of Loch Lubnaig. Rob Roy, whose grave is at the considerably stop of this route in Balquhidder, was a Scottish Robin Hood. walkacrossscotland.co.united kingdom/rob-roy-way