Routes
Explore our collection of walking routes across the Chiltern Hills, selected and regularly led by Chiltern Young Walkers leaders. Each route has been tried and tested to offer reliable navigation and show the Chilterns at its best. The collection has a range of options; from shorter walks that start and finish at country pubs to longer, more strenuous routes that take in rolling hills, ridge-top views, and quieter, lesser-known corners.
The routes showcase the defining features of the Chilterns: sweeping open countryside, chalk grassland, and beech woodlands that change character with the seasons. Many routes pass through historic villages, follow ancient tracks and drovers’ paths, such as Grims Ditch, the Icknield Way and The Ridgeway, or connect well-known promoted routes such as Shakespeare's Way, offering variety and a sense of what makes the Chiltern Hills a National Landscape and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Whether you are looking for a short stroll, a relaxed half-day walk or a more challenging full-day outing, this collection will help you discover some of our favourite routes across the Chiltern Hills.
- Shape: circular
- Grade: Leisurely
- Distance (km): 7.8
- Ascent(m): 138
A 5-mile (8 km) circular walk from the Ashridge Monument, this route offers a shorter but rewarding introduction to the Chilterns’ spring highlights. It takes in the well-known bluebell displays of Aldbury Common, descends the steady slope of Tom’s Hill, and loops back via the quieter paths of Northchurch Common. Along the way, you will pass through Rail Copse, where dense carpets of bluebells create one of the standout woodland scenes on the route. With a mix of open common, beech woodland, and gently rolling terrain, with plenty of variety and bluebells in spring.
Read more: Ashridge Bluebells of Aldbury and Northchurch Common
- Shape: circular
- Grade: Moderate
- Distance (km): 11.4
- Ascent(m): 183
A 7-mile (11 km) moderate circular walk showcasing some of the finest spring displays in the Chilterns, this route combines classic ridge-top views, historic villages, and some of the most celebrated bluebell and wild garlic sites in the area. Starting from the Ashridge Monument, the walk forms a varied loop through Aldbury, along the Chiltern escarpment, and back through renowned woodland sites including Dockey Wood and the Coombe.