Starting at Bewdley, the largest town in northern Worcestershire (mostly) west of the River Severn, the Worcestershire Way winds south in a remarkably straight line down to Great Malvern, the largest town in southern Worcestershire.
Clocking in at 31 miles, the Worcestershire Way is short as county walks go. Arguably it is actually the west Worcestershire Way. Part of a wider network of long distance paths running around the hilly edge of the county including the North Worcestershire Path, Wychavon Way and the Cotswolds Way which skirts a little chunk of south eastern Worcestershire near Broadway, giving the county a segment of National Trail.
What the Worcestershire Way’s relatively diminutive length provides is a long distance walk that is readily doable in two days. Though there are those who walk it over the course of one very long day. Because the Worcestershire Way runs through remote areas there are relatively few places to stay along the route although both Martley and Berrow Green, just over the halfway mark, have overnight accommodation attached to pubs.
The landscape that the Worcestershire Way traverses is hilly and often heavily wooded. It is a quintessential southern English Midlands rural landscape, though hillier than the majority of the region. For instance, from the peaks of the tallest hills on the route including the Abberley Hills, the first major band of hills encountered south of Bewdley there are views on clear days as far south as the Cotswolds and the Black Mountains dozens of miles away. Climbing the Abberleys there are views east across the River Severn to the Clent Hills and the Midlands Watershed Ridge on Worcestershire’s boundary with West Midlands county. The Malvern’s too, loom around every corner, getting steadily closer on the horizon, especially after Abberley.
The route which the Worcestershire Way takes runs south from Bewdley’s 18th Century heart, west of the River Severn, and through the little village of Ribbesford, into progressively more remote and hillier country approaching the Abberley Hills. The walk then runs up the eastern slope of the Abberley Hills and all the way along its ridge.
South of Abberley the Worcestershire Way runs below the base of Abberley Tower in the grounds of the former Abberley School, before running up onto the crest of a long ridge with commanding views north towards the Clee Hills in south Shropshire and east into the heart of Worcestershire. At the end of the ridge it passes the base of the enigmatic and historic twin peaked Woodbury Hill crowned with trees, before picking up another, slightly lower ridge on the approach to the large and rapidly growing village of Martley.
Just before Martley the route follows the course of the River Teme for a short distance before ascending to the village, crossing the (imperceptible) Malvern geological fault on the way. When I walked the Worcestershire Way in the spring of 2026 I opted to stay overnight at The Crown in Martley which has self-check-in rooms. The Admiral Rodney pub in Barrow Green around a mile further south up a gentle slope from Martley, and right on the route, is another option for an overnight stay just after the halfway point.
Below Berrow Green the full vista of the Malverns, 10 miles to the south, opens up. Around an hour’s walk from the village the route climbs through a woodland nature reserve to reach Ankerdine Hill. A commanding, steepsided viewpoint, at a bend in the River Teme. Descending into Knightwick the Worcestershire Way crosses the River Teme via a footbridge before crossing the narrow, low-lying Teme Valley to reach the Suckley Hills.
The Suckley Hills are a wooded upland area. Not tall compared to the Malverns or the Abberley Hills and Woodbury Hill to the north, but covering a lot of ground. The Worcestershire Way runs up onto a long ridge crossing pasture land and woodland alike, before reaching the Blackhouse Nature Reserve. From there the path descends into a long sloping valley, as if reaching the head of a pass before ascending to the top of another long wooded ridge.
At the end of the ridge the Worcestershire Way descends to the village of Longley Green before steadily ascending to the top of a 206 metre tall hill called The Beck which stands high above Old Storridge Common.
Descending The Beck down a fairly steep gradient, you reach the level of the River Severn plain. Emerging onto the flat lands beside an unusual 16th Century looking house. From here Worcestershire Way walkers turn right picking up a track leading through orchards.
Crossing a major road, the path passes through more orchards and runs uphill to reach the bottom of the Malvern Hills.
Here the route heads up steep flights of steps through the village of North Malvern to reach the start of the open hillside. From there the Worcestershire Way runs up and around North Hill approaching the place where it begins its final descent, just north of the Worcestershire Beacon, past St. Ann’s Well, to Great Malvern town centre.
This is where the Worcestershire Way ends.