Edale, a village in the Derbyshire Peak District, is officially the starting point of the Pennine Way — and it's about as small as a trailhead village can get. Two inns (including the Old Nag's Head, the traditional launch point for walkers), a church, a school, a campsite with a snack bar, a train station and a scattering of houses. If you're setting off on the 20-day-plus walk north to Kirk Yetholm in Scotland, this is where you'll sort out your last logistics.

One thing to know: the Edale post office only opens on Wednesdays. Anyone arriving on another day who needs to ship kit ahead — a common trick for long-distance walkers wanting a lighter pack — has to hop on the train to nearby Hope, six minutes away. Hope's post office lives inside the SPAR convenience store and opens on Sundays, which proved a lifesaver for one walker preparing to set off. Hope is roughly double the size of Edale and has everything you need for trail provisioning: instant oatmeal, soup, protein bars, trail mix and the all-important block of cheese.

The unplanned walk back turned into a bonus scenic loop. Skipping the return train, the walker took a road route through Castleton, a handsome little town full of tearooms, cafes and 18th-century-style architecture, and a hub for show cavern tours. Then came the catch: the road out of Castleton climbs around a thousand feet at a punishing gradient before a steep, muddy footpath drops 700 feet back into Edale — a two-hour slog replacing a six-minute train ride, shared with ultra-marathoners running the same trail. A useful lesson for anyone planning to arrive at the Pennine Way start by rail: check the timetable carefully, because Sunday off-peak services are sparse (though a same-day round-trip ticket costs the same as a one-way).

For hikers, this corner of the Peak District makes a genuinely pleasant prologue to the main event. The Edale–Hope–Castleton triangle is easy to reach by train from Manchester or Sheffield, and the villages offer everything a walker needs in miniature: campsites, hearty pub food at the Old Nag's Head, cafes like Café Adventure for a pre-hike espresso and cake, and short valley walks to stretch your legs before committing to 268 miles of national trail. Just don't assume the map's roads between villages are gentle — the hills here have a habit of hiding behind the train tunnels.