Chiltern Way

Recreational Route: Southern/Eastern England

Circular via Hemel Hempstead with alternative routes

275km/172 miles total

Meandering, varied and largely rural trail stretching from north to south across the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and offering a good cross-section of the characteristic Chiltern scenery.

The original circular route of 200km/133 miles runs from Hemel via Chalfont St Giles, the edge of Marlow, Hambleden, Bix Bottom, Ewelme, the Ridgeway, Stokenchurch, Great Hampden, Aldbury, the Dunstable Downs, Sharpenhoe Clappers and Harpenden. A southern extension adds a loop from Bix Bottom via Mapledurham on the Thames, while a northern extension adds a loop from Sharpenhoe Clappers via the Icknield Way and the outskirts of Hitchin. A short cut from Bix Bottom creates a 16km/10-mile loop via Ewelme.

Based on an earlier unofficial route, the Chiltern Hundred, the Way was established by the Chiltern Society as a millennium project in 2000, with the extensions following in 2003.

Connects with

• Chess Valley Walk
• Grand Union Canal Walk
• Icknield Way
• Lea Valley Path
• Midshires Way
• Nicky Line
• Oxfordshire Way
• Ridgeway
• South Bucks Way (see Midshires Way)
• Thames Path

Local authorities

• Bedfordshire
• Buckinghamshire
• Hertfordshire
• Oxfordshire

Public transport

For more on public transport in the Chilterns, see Public Transport: Southern England

Accomodation

Click here to find bed & breakfast accommodation on this path.

Maps

The Way is marked on recent editions of these maps.

Publications

• The Chiltern Way & Chiltern Way Extensions by Nick Moon (2nd edition), ISBN 1 903747 33 3. Book Castle £9.99. Order here!
  Background information, sketch maps, route description, dividing the Way into several sections. [2004]
• Circular walks along the Chiltern Way: Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire by Nick Moon, ISBN 1 903747 48 1. Book Castle £7.99. [2004].
  20 circular walks using sections of the southwest part of the Way, 7km/4.5 miles to 14km/9 miles, some of which can be combined to create longer walks. Detailed route descriptions, background information, clear sketch maps.
• Circular walks along the Chiltern Way: Hertfordshire & Bedfordshire by Nick Moon, ISBN 1 903747 49 X. Book Castle £7.99.
  20 circular walks using sections of the northeast part of the Way, 9km/5.5 miles to 15km/9.5 miles, some of which can be combined to create longer walks. Detailed route descriptions, background information, clear sketch maps. [2005]

Contacts

• Chilterns AONB