Join our Festival of Walking
YHA and walking have been perfect partners since 1930. We celebrate with a walking festival in autumn so everyone gets the chance to discover the joy of walking.
Thank you to everyone who took part from 3rd September to 19th October 2023. Whether you joined a social walk, downloaded a map or used our discount, your support means so much.
Our Festival of Walking may be over, but you can still download a self-guided map and plan a walk at your own pace.
Sign up for festival updates
Be the first to hear about all our Festival of Walking news including special offers, social walks, new routes and more. Check out our Privacy Notice.
Our Festival of Walking may be over, but there are still ways to get out and explore.
Plan a self-guided walk
Download free maps and route instructions for walks across England and Wales. All our self-guided walks start and end at a YHA hostel.
Visit one of our hostels
YHA hostels are ready to welcome tentative trekkers and hardened hikers all year round. Where will you go?
Explore accessible routes
Accessible means different things to different people. We have identified a range of accessible routes from and near our hostels.
Prepare for your walk
Want to understand more about our maps or develop your walking skills?
We've created some useful guides to help you prepare for your chosen walk.
Festival partners
British Mountaineering Council
Cotswold Outdoor
Ordnance Survey
The Ramblers
Sport England
Outdoor Citizens opportunities
Thanks to support from The Pilgrim Trust, Cotswold Outdoor and Sport England, over 30 bursary funded walks were organised by members of our Outdoor Citizens community. Our festival partners support us so that we can support more outdoor groups working to break down barriers to the outdoors through this project.