Walking Tours of England

I have been looking at this one https://www.hfholidays.co.uk/ for years and we are finally taking a trip with them in May. I'll report back, but others here have been happy with the company.

Hi Jon -

While you say you aren’t concerned which part of England you walk through, do you have any preference, even of the vaguest kind? What sort of terrain were you hoping for? Might help to refine the search a bit!

What I think I might do is to look at the National Trails to start with and see what floats your boat. Then if you search ‘self guided walking holidays on (trail name)’ you should get a list of companies who will be able to help you.

Some of the obvious and most frequent names that crop up in this regard are Contours, Macs Adventures, Headwater, Mickledore, to name but a few, but there are plenty of others. A special shout out to Encounter Walking holidays who specialise in a plethora of trails in the south west, not just the national trails in the area. They helped me sort our Two Moors Way hike out when my reach exceeded my grasp and would couldn’t have been more helpful, efficient, not to mention cost effective.

Have a bit of a search and let us know how you get on! Maybe then we can help finalise which direction you head in and with who!

Ian

@Ian, thanks - we are currently looking at a walk through Cornwall, and a walk through the Lake District.

@Laurel thank you, checking out their website now - have fun, and looking forward to hearing about it!

Hi again Jon -

Well, if Cornwall is on your list, you could do a lot worse than consulting Encounter.

What walk are you planning for the Lakes? Cumbria Way? You could do the first week of the Coast to Coast route through the Lakes - tough but spectacular.

Ian

In 2019 we did a 4 day/5 night self-guided walking tour of the Highlands with HF Holidays. We stayed at their guest house in North Ballachulish near Glencoe. Although it was self-guided, there were guides at the guest house leading the guided tours and they were very generous with their time and very knowledgeable about routes. The guest house had maps and routes which you could use and the food was excellent. Looking at their website, there are a number of guided and self-guided tours in the Lake District and Cornwall and they have guest houses in both locations. One of the benefits of the guest house is that you only unpack once. And if you are on a guided tour, they shuttle you to and from the trail head. In addition, the guest houses have boot drying rooms.

you realize England is actually quite big, yes? This is a bit like saying I want to take walking tours in California ...

We have used https://www.contours.co.uk/ twice and were very satisfied.

I will be walking the first leg (54 miles) of the Thames River Path from Cotswolds to Oxford in May-5 nights/4days of walking. This is my first walk using walkthethames.co.uk , my test run before trying the longer hillier West Highland Way. Prices seem very reasonable.

Another factor is how challenging you want your walking experience to be. Are you serious hikers, ready to carry a 30-lb pack in any weather? Or do you want your bags taken in a van to your next night's lodging, and would you take a taxi if it was raining? I haven't done any walking tours -- have always wanted to and maybe I will one day -- but I'd want to know ahead of time how much athleticism was expected before choosing a tour company.

For self-guided tours, maybe check the trails of the National Trust and websites of national parks/ Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty websites.