The 12 Walks of Christmas
One of the wonderful traditions of many families all around the UK is to head out on a walk over Christmas and the New Year. These festive walks have been selected by our OS Champions from all across the UK. These 12 inspiring routes each have a link to OS Maps where you will find more detailed interactive route information and additional images from our OS Champions.
How Can I Find Christmas Walk Ideas Near Me?
If you are looking for Christmas walk ideas in your local area it’s easy to find them on OS maps, we have 1000’s of walking routes all around the UK including lots of ideas in our most popular National Parks, with walks rated by difficulty from easy to severe.
Simply open up the app and click on ‘find popular routes near you‘ or type a location into the search bar. If you are new to our fantastic walking app, then you can find some tips on using OS Maps here – OS Maps Video Guides.
Christmas Walk Ideas Chosen by OS Champions
1. Friars Crag and Centenary Stone – from OS Champion Tasmin Travis
A lovely short and accessible walk for Christmas, suitable for prams and wheelchairs, great in literally any weather and starts right from Keswick launch lakeshore. Keswick is beautiful over the festive period, and Cafe Hope (at the end of the walk) is open on Boxing Day, so this is one of our favourite little ambles for a post-Christmas wander.
🚶♂️4.57km
⏱️ 1.5hrs
🗺️ OS Explorer OL4
🥾 Technicality – Easy
The OS Christmas Brochure is out!
Lots of exciting ideas for all your Christmas Gifts with Ordnance Survey
2. UFO Trail, Rendlesham Forest – from OS Champion Natasha Sones
Rendlesham Forest is situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is perfect for a Christmas stroll as there is festive holly and beautiful trees to wander amongst. It is a great place for families and dogs to walk, as there are children’s play areas, cycle trails, sculptures to discover in Tangham Wood and different routes to walk along. The UFO trail is particularly interesting as you can discover all about the famous UFO sighting in December 1980.
🚶♂️5.5km
⏱️ 1.5hrs
🗺️ OS Explorer 212
🥾 Technicality – Easy
3. Loch Morlich Circuit – from OS Champion Lisa Drew
A walk through the snow-draped wonderland of Loch Morlich and Glenmore is pure Christmas magic. Choose the gentle circuit around Britain’s highest beach on Loch Morlich, surrounded by snow-capped pines, mountain views, and a welcoming reindeer center, or venture into the rugged uplands and through the enchanting ravine of Eag a’ Chait, passing the reindeer enclosure and Utsi Hut, named after Mikel Utsi, the Swedish herder who introduced reindeer to these hills.
Wander past magical pine forests to open moorland, where reindeer often graze, with sweeping views of the Cairngorms, Glenmore Forest, and Rothiemurchus. Near Glenmore, enjoy seasonal fun, from sled dog rides to reindeer visits, before cosying up with a mug of hot chocolate at the legendary Pinemarten Café, completing this enchanting winter experience.
🚶♂️13.5km
⏱️ 4hrs
🗺️ OS Explorer OL57
🥾 Technicality – Moderate
4. Not Your Usual Malham Loop – from OS Champion Tom Troughton
Snowy sweeping dales, frosted dry stone walls and a classic cosy Yorkshire pub for mulled wine – these are a few of my favourite things!
Malham Cove is a Yorkshire Dales favourite for good reason. On this ‘not so normal’ Malham Cove walk, you’ll go a little more ‘off piste’ to explore and discover new landscapes and tracks that you may not have visited before. The walk does of course pay a visit to some of the crowning jewels of the Yorkshire Dales such as Malham Cove, Gordale Scar and Janet’s Foss. However, unlike the summer, Malham in the winter is a lot more peaceful and less visited, so now’s the perfect time to visit those hot (or cold) spots.
Finish off in one of Malham’s cosy pubs to warm yourself up by the fire whilst sipping on some delicious mulled wine. You simply can’t beat it!
🚶♂️12.25km
⏱️ 4hrs
🗺️ OS Explorer OL2
🥾 Technicality – Moderate
5. Llyn Padarn Circular from OS Champion Elizabeth Asad
Llyn Padarn is one of my favourite circular walks to do at Christmas purely because it is suitable for the whole family. It’s tranquil whilst keeping that element of adventure with enough to keep the younger ones engaged. You will come across Dolbadarn Castle, the famous Lone tree and lots of heritage. You can always add a little cold water swim at the end.
🚶♂️9km
⏱️ 2.5hrs
🗺️ OS Explorer OL17
🥾 Technicality – Easy
6. Blorenge Christmas Walk from OS Champion Phillipa Cherryson
The Blorenge is a perfect Christmas walk for almost all abilities among your friends and family. The car park is almost at the trig point – so you get the views without the hard climb. But this walk is so much more, it takes in a glacial lake, ancient woodland, 19th century history and cracking views. It’s even a good option when the weather isn’t perfect.
At just under 10km its far enough to walk off the Christmas pudding, but can easily be completed in a morning or afternoon. And don’t forget to pay your respects at the grave of a legendary showjumper on your return to the car park.
Blorenge Christmas Walk
🚶♂️9.5km
⏱️ 3hrs
🗺️ OS Explorer OL13
🥾 Technicality – Moderate
7. Runswick Bay Beach Walk from OS Champion Jo Mosley
A Boxing Day walk along the Yorkshire coast is a firm favourite for so many. This walk along Runswick Bay beach is great for all ages – long enough to get your cheeks rosy and your heart beating with gratitude and sea air, and also not too for littler ones. It is part of the Cleveland Way and for those of you with more time and energy, is the perfect start for a hike along the cliff tops to Kettleness, Sandsend and onto Whitby. Park in the visitor car park at the bottom of the very steep bank and it is a two minute walk to the beach. Parking is free during the winter.
Do check the state of the tides to decide what time is best to go. A high tide can cut you off so be aware if it’s coming in! You can check the tide times online well in advance to plan your day. The views are stunning out to sea and you’ll also see the beautiful thatched cottage. You’ll pass the Hob Holes just after the Sailing Club but I’d very much advise not going into them for safety. Keep away from the base of the cliffs too.
Runswick Bay is a pretty village and the beach was voted Sunday Times Best Beach of the Year. Some of you may enjoy a dip in the sea or if conditions are right it’s a great spot for a paddle in your kayak or on your paddleboard. I’ve only shown you the walk to the end of the sandy area. This then turns into a rocky walk towards Kettleness. It can become slippery and means more careful planning with the tides etc.
🚶♂️2.67km
⏱️ 1hrs
🗺️ OS Explorer OL26
🥾 Technicality – Easy
8. Arnside to Carnforth Station from OS Champion Finty Royle
I love this route because it isn’t quite in the lakes meaning you can escape the crowds while still having views of the snow-capped mountains. I love the fact that it is a linear route too – it feels like a real adventure and race against time to get the train!
🚶♂️16km
⏱️ 5hrs
🗺️ OS Explorer OL7
🥾 Technicality – Moderate
9. Waldringfield Festive Walk from OS Champion Tom Wake
This is a lovely short walk by the River Deben in Suffolk. Starting and finishing from a public car park in picturesque Waldringfield, this walk loops around the village and takes in the river, beach, farm tracks and woodland. Time it right and you might even see Barn Owls hunting by the river.
🚶♂️5.5km
⏱️ 1hrs
🗺️ OS Explorer 212
🥾 Technicality – Easy
10. Mortlich from Aboyne from OS Champion Katie May
A lovely varied 10km walk from Aboyne with incredible views over Royal Deeside. This walk passes through the castle grounds, over the golf course, alongside the Loch of Aboyne, and winds its way up steeply on stunning singletrack through pine forests. Look behind as you head up the hill for the views, and finish with a short scramble up the rocks to the top.
Mortlich from Aboyne
🚶♂️10km
⏱️ 3hrs
🗺️ OS Explorer 406
🥾 Technicality – Moderate
11. Side Pike from OS Champion Suze Haworth
This walk up to Side Pike in the Langdales is a great Christmas hike, a perfect length and height to walk off the turkey and mince pies. If you’re lucky they’ll also be some snow dusting the nearby peaks, adding to the Christmassy views. It might not be a Wainwright, but it provides some of the best views of the Langdale valley that you’ll find!
🚶♂️8km
⏱️ 2.5hrs
🗺️ OS Explorer OL6
🥾 Technicality – Moderate
12. The Garth Circular from OS Champion Carys Rees
“I love The Garth all year round but there’s something about those winter sunrises that just hits differently, especially with a sprinkling of snow.
If you’ve ever seen the film starring Hugh Grant “The Englishman who went up a hill and came down a mountain”, then it is supposedly based on Garth Mountain. It was written and directed by Christopher Monger who is from neighbouring Taffs Well. In the film, the hill in question is in the fictional town of Ffynnon Garw and basically the hill comes up just short of mountain status so the locals build a mound on the top to give it the extra height.
When you get to the top, you will see where the inspiration comes from as there are 4 ancient burial mounds which date from the Early-Middle Bronze Age about 2,000BC.
Also, another fun fact, did you know that Taffs Well is the only place in Wales with a thermal spring? The water is approximately 21.6°C and was visited by people for thousands of years for its healing properties.”
The Garth Circular
🚶♂️8km
⏱️ 2.5hrs
🗺️ OS Explorer 151
🥾 Technicality – Moderate
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By Hilary Pullen
Meet Hilary, Editor of Get Outside – the Ordnance Survey Blog. Hilary is based in North Wales and loves hiking with her dogs in the mountains of Eryri and Bryniau Clwyd, you can find her on Instagram @nearlyuphill and read her guides to walking in North Wales on her blog. Drop her an email hilary.pullen@os.uk if you are interested in posting an article on Get Outside.
