Our 10 best spring walks for wildflowers and views
Put a spring in your step with some of the best places to walk in the UK this season.
Image credit: Shutterstock/Ground Picture
Put a spring in your step with some of the best places to walk in the UK this season.
The temperature is rising and the sun is shining – now is the perfect time to get outside and go for a walk. We’ve teamed up with the UK’s national mapping agency Ordnance Survey to compile 10 of the best spring walks, to enjoy spring flowers, meadows, woodlands and stunning views.
If you are new to walking, spring is a great time to take your first steps in walking and form a healthy new habit.
Distance: 6 miles (10km)
Length: three hours
The Lake District is beautiful at any time of year, and especially in spring, when you can see lambs and wild daffodils. We’ve chosen a relaxing walk along the River Greta. The famous Lakeland poet William Wordsworth even wrote a sonnet about the river in 1823.
The walk is perfect in spring as it follows the fast-flowing river through woodland, with views to the spectacular mountains beyond.
You may get to see herons and red squirrels. You’ll walk beside the river through Fitz Park and along the easy-access Railway Trail, while the Brundholme Wood section is optional.
Distance: 6.5 miles (10.5km)
Length: three-and-a-half hours
A perfect spot for a spring walk, as you can often see the green-winged orchid at this time of year. Golden Cap is the highest point along the English Channel coast, so pick a clear day and enjoy the spectacular views in all directions.
This classic walk from Seatown skirts Langdon Hill and St Gabriel’s Wood before rising to Stonebarrow Hill and returning along the South West Coast Path.
It is an energetic walk, but the views and scenery repay your effort. Don’t forget to leave time to enjoy Seatown’s beach.
Distance: 3 miles (4km)
Length: one hour
This walk is at its best in spring. It really is the very best of English woodland, so enjoy the delicate white flowers of wood anenomes and keep your eyes peeled for ‘humbugs’ – baby wild boar.
You’ll also smell the wild garlic that grows on the forest floor and in spring, the forest floor is carpeted with bluebells.
The walk starts in the village of Parkend and then loops around Parkhill, which is one of the oldest enclosures in the Forest of Dean.
Distance: 4 miles (6km)
Length: one-and-three-quarter hours
The three-stepped waterfalls at Aysgarth have been a tourist attraction for more than 200 years and the surrounding woodland is a nature reserve.
In the spring the reserve is full of wood anemones and primroses which makes it a great time to visit.
The Lower and Middle Falls are visited on the outbound leg of this walk, and an optional detour gives you the chance to visit the Upper Falls – note that there's a small charge to see them.
If you are taking children, take care by the river sections and avoid after heavy rain or if the river is in flood.
Distance: 5.5 miles (9km)
Length: 2 hours 30 minutes
This walk has a bit of everything. The woodland is full of wild garlic at this time of year, wildflowers are blooming in the rough pastures, and when you reach the coast you’ll enjoy views of Puffin Island.
The walk also takes in a holy well and a dovecote that once housed 1,000 birds, and you can take a diversion to the ruins of Castell Aberlleiniog.
Distance: 4 miles (11km)
Length: three hours
A classic walk that features two commons, a nature reserve and the Chiltern landscape of beech woodlands, chalk grassland and rich wildlife.
This is a walk packed full of interest with plenty of wildlife and historical oddities. A large, bottle-shaped 17th-century kiln towers over a corner of the village – this once produced bricks from clay dug up on Nettlebed Common.
Distance: 3 miles (5km)
Length: one-and-a-half hours
This is a grand little walk over open moor and woodland. It takes in the area’s most spectacular rock features, a tower and a stone circle said to be the petrified remains of nine maidens turned to stone for dancing on the Sabbath. A tenth outlying stone is said to be the fiddler who accompanied them.
It’s an easy walk, but worth it for the views and the historical features as this landscape was one a hunting ground, workplace and cemetery, boasting old field patterns and numerous burial cairns.
Distance: 2.5 miles (4km)
Length: one hour
Another short walk which is best enjoyed in spring. It takes in footpaths, bridleways and permissive routes through stunning tree tunnels to a Suffolk Wildlife Trust site, blossom-filled hedgerows and open countryside.
Mickfield Meadow itself is a flower-rich hay meadow, which has never been fertilised. It’s full of wildflowers, including ragged robin, meadowsweet and snake’s head fritillaries.
Distance: 2 miles (3km)
Length: one hour
Inchcailloch is a tranquil island within Loch Lomond. It’s full of wildlife, and in late spring it’s woodland is full of bluebells.
This short, circular walk takes you around the whole island and up to the viewpoint (81m), where you can enjoy spectacular views across the loch. You’ll also pass a 13th-century church dedicated to St Kentigerna and an ancient burial ground.
There are regular waterbuses from Balmaha, Balloch and Luss, or you can take a short ride on the Inchailloch Ferry from Balmaha to the North Pier on the island.
Distance: 4 miles (7km)
Length: two-and-a-half miles
Looming over northern Belfast, the craggy, 368 metre-high Cave Hill is arguably one of the city’s most recognisable sights. This walk takes in this hill and the surrounding park.
Spring is a great time to enjoy a walk on the lower slopes of the hill, when the woods are full of bluebells and cow parsley. You’ll enjoy views across the rolling countryside towards Divis and the Black Mountain, and at the end of your walk pay a visit to Belfast Castle with its formal garden and café.
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