It is often thought that one of the drawbacks of not having a car is that it is tricky, near impossible even, to access many days out, historic sites and attractions without one.
Providing a small contribution to combating this is one of the reasons why I established Walk Midlands. As someone who does not drive I wanted to show that with public transport and a willingness to walk, most of the Midlands best days out and attractions are easily reachable without a car.
Indeed, thanks to the government’s policy of introducing £2 single bus fares in England (any route, any distance, most major operators) which has now been extended until 30th June 2023, there has seldom been a better time to get out exploring without a car.
If any further encouragement is needed I have compiled Seven Tips for Day Walking With a Car. A set of advice which is just as applicable to any other form of daytripping in the Midlands or elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
For walking routes and public transport advice to visit some of the Midlands best days out and attractions without a car, through a combination of public transport and foot, scroll on.
Witley Court
Stourport on Severn – Great Witley
Walk in north west Worcestershire from Stourport-on-Severn across the countryside to the dramatic ruin of the 19th Century Witley Court. More
Kinver Edge
Walk from Stourbridge along canal towpaths and across fields to Kinver at the southern tip of Staffordshire known for Kinver Edge and rock houses. More
The Battle of Bosworth Field
Walk across the countryside of south west Leicestershire between the town of Hinckley and the large village of Market Bosworth. The walk goes via the site of where the Battle of Bosworth Field took place in 1485, as well as taking in a small section of the Ashby Canal. More
New Art Gallery Walsall
Black Country canal towpath walk from Black Lake Midlands Metro stop on the edge of West Bromwich town centre to the New Art Gallery beside the Walsall Canal wharf in Walsall town centre. More
Bennerley Viaduct
Walk to see and cross the world renown 443 metre long Bennerley Viaduct spanning the River Erewash between Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. More
Saltwells National Nature Reserve
Cradley Heath – Merry Hill Shopping Centre
Walk through green spaces in the Black Country metropolitan boroughs of Sandwell and Dudley to the Saltwells National Nature Reserve, a rich woodland environment shaped by a unique geology and centuries of extrative industry. More
Chasewater Railway
Walk across countrysde from Lichfield to the Chasewater Railway just south of Burntwood which specialises in preserving historic industrial trains. More
Compton Verney
Walk from Wellesbourne due west of Stratford-upon-Avon through the Warwickshire countryside to Compton Verney art gallery and parkland. More
British Camp
Circular walk from Colwall Railway Station
Circular walk from Colwall Station up onto the Malvern Hills range to the prominant striking British Camp hillfort on top of the Herefordshire Beacon. More
Newstead Abbey
Gentle walk from Hucknall Railway Station via the village of Linby to Newstead Abbey the ancestral seat of the romantic poet Lord Byron. More
Chatterley Whitfield
Stoke-on-Trent – Chatterley Whitfield
Walk to the derelict Chatterley Whitfield Colliery on the edge of Stoke-on-Trent. It is boarded up and crumbling but remains almost entirely intact. More
Kenilworth Castle
Walk across the Warwickshire countryside to the spectacular and famous ruins of Kenilworth Castle. Once home to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester a “favourite” of Elizabeth I. More
Chatsworth House
Short walk across the Peak District countryside from the market town of Bakewell to Chatsworth House and parkland – the inspiration for Mr. Darcy’s country home Pemberley? More
Retrace the Kinder Scout Mass Trespass
Walk up and around the western edge of the Kinder Scout plateau, retracing the route taken by Benny Rothman and several hundred other Manchester walker activists associated with the CPGB’s British Workers’ Sports Federation, as part of a defiant mass trespass asserting to right of walkers to access upland spaces. More
Wroxeter Roman City
Walk from the centre of Shrewsbury to Wroxeter Roman City, primarily along the River Severn Path. More
Baddesley Clinton
Walk from Dorridge Railway Station to the 16th Century moated manor house Baddesley Clinton. Baddesley Clinton has a colourful history associated with upper crust Warwickshire’s 16th and 17th Century history of recusancy and resistance to the post-Reformation Church of England. Walk is primarily across countryside and ends at Lapworth Railway Station. More
Southwell Minster
Short countryside walk between the railway station at Fiskerton and the historic little cathedral town of Southwell. More
The Crooked House, Himley
Walk from the centre of the Black Country town of Dudley to the famously slanted Crooked House pub on the edge of Himley. More
Croft Castle
Walk from Leominster north across rural northern Herefordshire, to the National Trust’s Croft Castle house and parkland near Yarpole. More
Long Mynd
Circular walk from Church Stretton
Circular walk from Church Stretton to the Long Mynd plateau, along the top via the sumitt at Pole Bank, then back to Church Stretton. More
Attingham Park
Walk from the centre of Shrewsbury to Attingham Park. Primarily along the River Severn Path. More
Earlswood Lakes
Circular walk from The Lakes Railway Station
Walk along the shore of the impressive and famously beautiful Earlswood Lakes canal feeder reservoirs on the border between West Midlands county and Warwickshire. More
Calke Abbey
Walk across the gentle rolling hills of southern Derbyshire and the National Forest to the National Trust’s “unstately home” Calke Abbey. More
Caer Caradoc
Circular walk from Church Stretton
Circular walk up Caer Caradoc a 459 metre tall hill topped with a impressive Iron Age hillfort in the Shropshire hills. Walk starts and ends from Church Stretton Railway Station. More
Coughton Court
Countryside walk across western Warwickshire from Henley-in-Arden Railway Station to Coughton Court, ancient seat of the Throckmorton family, and famously connected to 1605’s Gunpower Plot and other Early Modern era intrigues. More
Knypersley Reservoir
Varied urban, suburban and rural walk from central Stoke-on-Trent along the Caldon Canal to the Head of Trent Valley, then up to Knypersley Reservoir a large and very beautiful canal feeder reservoir and the only dam along the 185 mile length of the River Trent. More
Arkwright’s Cromford Mill
Walk along a preserved section of the Cromford Canal from Ambergate to Cromford. Part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. More
Boscobel House
Walk predominetly along quiet lanes across the rolling countryside of the Shropshire – Staffordshire borderlands to Boscobel House. This is where the future Charles II hid in the days after the Battle of Worcester in 1651, including for a time in an oak tree. Descendents of this tree still stand. More
Goodrich Castle
Rural walk in the Wye Valley through the southern fringes of Herefordshire to to Goodrich Castle described by William Wordsworth as the county’s “nobleist ruin”. More
Wollaton Deer Park and Hall
Short urban walk from the heart of Nottingham to Wollaton Deer Park and Hall on the city’s outskirts. The route is mostly along the Nottingham Canal and across the University of Nottingham campus. More
Spaghetti Junction
Walk from New Street Railway Station in Birmingham city centre, to the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, and on towards the Gravelley Hill Interchange aka Spaghetti Junction. More
Wightwick Manor
Walk from central Wolverhampton to the National Trust’s Wightwick Manor, primarily along the towpaths of the Birmingham Canal Navigation Main Line and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. More
