The UK is quietly brilliant at turning dead railways into car-free routes for walkers, cyclists and riders — flat, well-surfaced paths that thread through tunnels, over viaducts and past stations turned cafés. The Guardian has rounded up eight of the best, and together they cover an impressive spread of the country, from Kent to the Scottish Highlands.
The shortest and arguably most rewarding is Kent's Crab and Winkle Way, 7.5 miles from Canterbury West to Whitstable Harbour along one of the world's earliest railway lines (1830). It runs through the ancient Blean woodland, where bison have roamed free since a 2022 rewilding project, and finishes at Whitstable beach — where the Oyster Company will happily trade you oysters and fizz for your efforts. Bring a picnic, though; there's nowhere to eat en route.
Several trails double as industrial heritage tours. The 8.5-mile Monsal Trail in Derbyshire crosses the Headstone Viaduct with big views over the River Wye, passes 18th-century cotton mills and runs through lit tunnels, with bike hire at Hassop Station Cafe. The Wirral Way, one of England's first conversions, follows the Dee estuary clifftops from West Kirby to Hooton, with a 1950s-preserved station museum at Hadlow Road and a famously photogenic sunset over the Clwydian Hills. Somerset's 10.7-mile Strawberry Line — named for the fruit once shipped to London — links Yatton to Cheddar via cider orchards, wetlands and the medieval square at Axbridge.
For wildlife and ease of access, the 9.5-mile Mawddach Trail in Gwynedd hugs its estuary the whole way, with peregrines and buzzards overhead and a wide surface suitable for wheelchairs and mobility scooters; the George III pub at Penmaenpool does good pies with a view. Families are well served too: the 14-mile Cuckoo Trail from Heathfield to Eastbourne has five QR-code 'story stops' where kids scan and interact with animated wildlife, plus sculptures carved from oaks felled in the 1987 storm. The 15-mile Flitch Way in Essex skirts Hatfield Forest's deer and ancient oaks, with a railway carriage museum at Rayne.
The long-haul option is Scotland's 24-mile Dava Way from Forres to Grantown-on-Spey, which — unusually for a rail trail — involves a real climb to Dava Summit at 320 metres, repaid with views to Sutherland and the Cairngorms before a freewheeling descent past the 1863 Divie Viaduct.
Who are these for? Honestly, almost anyone. The routes are largely flat and traffic-free, so they suit families, casual cyclists, wheelchair users and dogs. Bike hire is available at several trailheads, cafés and pubs are rarely far away, and because each trail is point-to-point you can walk or ride as little or as much as you fancy.