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I am among the boring masses this year, participating in Dry January. I won’t lie to you; it’s dull, but I keep reminding myself it’s good for my mind, body, and soul. The big issue is, what do I now do with all this free time? And the answer, as it always is in England, is to go for a country walk.
Luckily, Bristol is near some of the UK’s most beautiful and popular walks, as the footwear brand Fitflop delves into the most monthly Googled places in the country for a winter’s walk. Topping that list is Dunham Massey in Cheshire, with 135,000 monthly Google searches, but there are plenty of places closer to Bristol than the 300-acre deer park.
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The fourth most popular walk in the UK is Cheddar Gorge in Somerset (60,500 Google searches). We’ve talked about Cheddar and it’s Gorge countless times before. Almost 400ft deep and 3 miles long, you can (and should) walk its craggy cliffs and pinnacles. The cliff-top walk leads up one side and down the other – with staggering views of Somerset and the Mendip Hills.
Even closer to Bristol, Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire received 49,500 Google searches, and is the UK’s ninth most popular walk. As The National Arboretum, you’ll discover a world-renowned tree collection with over 15,000 trees and shrubs to keep you occupied for hours – with 17 miles of marked paths to wander.
Credit: Johnny Hathaway
Both of these are under an hour from Bristol, but if you don’t mind a little longer drive, there are many more popular walks nearby. These include around the charming Cotswold village, Bibury in Gloucestershire (8th), and the thousand-year-old royal Corfe Castle in Dorset (15th). The pick of the bunch has to be Stourhead in Wiltshire (6th), however.
With walks through chalk downs, ancient woods, Iron Age hillforts and farmland, there’s an endless amount to see. Plus, one of the first grand Palladian-style villas to be built in England, a world-famous landscape garden, a building inspired by the Pantheon in Rome, and a 160ft-tall folly with panoramic views of the countryside. Phew!
What are the UK’s most popular walks?
Credit: National Trust
- Dunham Massey, Cheshire (135,000. Google searches)
- Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire (110,000 Google searches)
- Belton House, Lincolnshire (60,500 Google searches)
- Cheddar Gorge, Somerset (60,500 Google searches)
- Polesden Lacey, Surrey (60,500 Google searches)
- Stourhead, Wiltshire (60,500 Google searches)
- Tatton Park, Cheshire (60,500 Google searches)
- Bibury, Gloucestershire (49,500 Google searches)
- Westonbirt Arboretum, Gloucestershire (49,500 Google searches)
- Alderley Edge, Cheshire (40,500 Google searches)
- Wentworth Woodhouse, South Yorkshire (40,500 Google searches)
- Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire (40,500 Google searches)
- Calke Abbey, Derbyshire (33,100 Google searches)
- Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire (33,100 Google searches)
- Corfe Castle, Dorset (33,100 Google searches)