Britain's Most Beautiful Autumn Walks

Autumn brings beautiful changes in the colours of nature and the feel of the air, making it one of the best times to enjoy Britain’s countryside on a walk. We’ve picked some of the best and most beautiful walks in the UK that are perfect for a crisp autumn day.  

Ashridge Estate, Hertfordshire

The Ashridge Estate is a 5,000-acre National Trust property situated in the Chiltern Hills. With beech and oak woodlands, commons, and chalk downlands, Ashridge Estate offers a truly stunning palette of autumnal colours, making it the perfect place for a stroll. 

Ashridge Estate also has a special Autumn Colour Trail, a route that leads you through some of the most spectacular woodland and parkland the estate has to offer. The route is close to six miles long, with multiple hills to climb and corners to turn, each of which gives you more breath-taking views of autumnal colour than the turn before. The stretch of the trail offers a beautiful palette of colours provided by the smattering of beech, oak and lime trees, and the views only get better as you climb the monument. Lucky visitors may even spot a fallow deer through the trees as well! 

Hertfordshire is a beautiful county that blends vibrant towns and picturesque villages with the rolling countryside.

Winkworth Arboretum, Surrey

Winkworth Arboretum is a two-and-a-half-mile walk that truly comes alive during the autumn season. The rich, blazing colour that the Japanese, American and Norwegian maples provide add to the autumnal brightness, and the trail weaves a path through the woodland to the top of Hydon’s Ball, where you can enjoy stunning views across the Surrey landscape. 

The route then carries on to the charming village of Hambledon where you can find Oakhurst Cottage, a delightful 16th-century labourer’s home which has remained mostly unchanged for the past hundred years or so.

Surrey is the most wooded county in the UK that is full of beautiful views and wonderful walks.  

Emmetts Garden, Kent

The Weardale walk from Emmetts Garden in Kent is a beautiful circular walk that links to Chartwell, which was formerly home to Winston Churchill. The trail passes through the woodland areas of Toys Hill and Hosey Common, providing a gorgeous display of vibrant autumn colour with its variety of exotic trees and shrubs and the surrounding acres of wild native woodland. 

Teign Gorge, Devon

The Teign Gorge is one of the most famous walks in England, and takes you through a truly stunning valley on the northern fringes of Dartmoor National Park. The trail begins at Drogo Castle, the last castle to be built in England, and follows a waterway under the gnarled branches of crooked oaks and beeches. You’ll discover ancient woodland along the path that is slowly being brought back to life after centuries of logging. 

Teign Gorge is undoubtedly at its best in the autumn season, where the woods are aglow with orange and brown hues and an ethereal mist that hangs over the valleys. The return journey through the woodlands follows the river’s path through dense oak woodland where the foliage turns to vibrant shades of yellow and orange. 

Devil’s Dyke, West Sussex

Five miles north of Brighton lies Devil’s Dyke in West Sussex, a walk that includes a panorama that the romantic painter John Constable once described as the “grandest view in the world”. 

From a working farm nestled in the rolling hills to the historic remains from the Iron Age, there are plenty of sights to take in when you stroll through the downland landscape. There’s a colourful habitat all year round, but the autumn season truly brings out the vibrancy and colour as the walk is transformed into a haze of purple: the autumn equivalent of bluebells carpeting the woods. 

West Sussex is one half of the historic county of Sussex and represents a calmer approach to life with many delightful villages and towns. 

Rhinefield Forest, Hampshire 

This pine-scented route sweeps through the heart of the New Forest National Park, and takes you through the majestic redwoods and firs that were planted by the Victorians in the late 1850s to create the Rhinefield Ornamental Drive for the nearby Rhinefield House. 

The route is particularly stunning in the autumn season, with the oak, ash, and beech trees lining the park casting a striking, colourful glow across the path. 

Possessing a perfect blend of coastal delights, urban intrigue, and country charm, Hampshire is one of the most charming counties in the UK.