Hiking/walking tours lasting less than a week

For some visitors to Britain (and for some British residents) it can be just too hard to fit a full one-week hiking holiday into the time you have available. To help fill this need The Discerning Traveller offers a selection of shorter self-led walking and hiking tours. Extra nights can still be added in at the time of booking the tour. We provide baggage transfers, maps and route notes as for our longer tours.

Given that time may be short, we can point out that those tours nearest to and most easily accessible from Central London or Heathrow airport are Cotswold Villages, Seven Sisters (close to Gatwick Airport), Heritage Coast and Dorset Coast Path; while our Lake District Valleys tour is easily accessible from Manchester airport.

More details about each tour in the list can be found by clicking on the tour name to transfer to the page for that tour. Before booking any Discerning Traveller tour you should read the Factsheet for that tour. Our Factsheets are not currently available on this website but can be e-mailed, faxed or posted. See enquiry form.

5 nights (normally 4 full days of hiking):

Cornwall Coast - Lands End & St Ives - 5 nights. Code W5. Factsheet FSW.
Mousehole to St Ives (moderate to strenuous hiking, days can be shortened). Season April to mid-October. Train station Penzance. Best airports Bristol, London Heathrow. For more details see main Cornwall page.

Lake District Valleys - Duration 5 nights. Code V5. Factsheet FSV
Bowness-on-Windermere to Grasmere (easy or easy-to-moderate hiking, rough and stony trails). Season April to mid-October, start any day, but surcharge for Saturday start. Nearest train station (start and end of tour ): Windermere. Start of tour: walk or taxi from Windermere station to Bowness-on-Windermere. End of tour bus or taxi from Grasmere to Windermere station. Nearest international airport: Manchester. Easy train link from Manchester Airport train station to Windermere, approximately hourly service, some direct trains. See internet for train times. For more details see main Lake District Valleys page.

Seven Sisters and Rye - Duration 5 nights. Code X5. Factsheet FSX.
Lewes to Rye (moderate hiking). Season April to mid-October, start any day. Nearest train station for start Lewes - train hourly service from London Victoria (duration 1 hour) and Gatwick Airport (30 minutes). Return from Rye also hourly train service - change trains at Hastings and add one hour.

Heritage coast of Devon and Dorset - Duration 5 nights. Code J5. Factsheet FSE.
Exmouth to Lyme Regis (E5) Easy to moderate hiking, easy route-finding, steep gradients. Season April to mid-October, start any day. Nearest train stations Exmouth, Axminster (for Lyme Regis). Nearest airports: Heathrow, Exeter.

Offas Dyke Path - 5 nights, 4 days hiking. Code OA5. Factsheet FSO.
Chepstow to Hay-on-Wye. Moderate hiking, steep gradients. Routefinding moderate. Season April to mid-October, start any day. Nearest train stations: (start) Chepstow; (end) Hereford (bus from Hay-on-Wye). Airports: Cardiff, Manchester, Birmingham, Heathrow, Gatwick.

Top of page

4 nights (normally 3 full days of hiking)

Cornwall: Polperro & Fowey - Duration 4 nights, 3 days hiking. Code F4. Factsheet FSF.
Polperro to Fowey. Moderate hiking, steep gradients. Season April to mid-October, start any day. Nearest train station for start of tour Liskeard (4 hours direct from London Paddington, 2.5 hours from Bristol), then bus. Nearest train station for end of tour Par.

Offas Dyke Path - 4 nights, 3 days hiking. Code OB4. Factsheet FSO.
Hay-on-Wye to Knighton. Easy hiking, steep gradients. Routefinding easy. Season April to mid-October, start any day. Nearest train stations: (start) Hereford (bus to Hay-on-Wye; (end) Knighton or Ludlow (taxi from Knighton). Airports: Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Heathrow, Gatwick.

Offas Dyke Path - 4 nights, 3 days hiking. Code OC4. Factsheet FSO.
Knighton to Welshpool. Moderate hiking, steep gradients. Routefinding easy. Season April to mid-October, start any day. Nearest train stations: (start) Knighton or Ludlow (taxi to Knighton); (end) Welshpool. Airports: Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Heathrow, Gatwick.

Our postal address is The Discerning Traveller, 38 Canal Street, OXFORD OX2 6BQ, United Kingdom.
Telephone and fax 0(044) 1865 515618. E-mail:info@discerningtraveller.co.uk