Walking the coast by rail

We set up Railwalks.co.uk last year to encourage people to get to their walk by rail and publicise the wide range of walks available across Britain. We recently mapped the coastline, showing the 250 stations around the coast, and the distances between them on the coast path. We came up with the Coastal Railtrail to publicise those pages, and to join many other events celebrating the 200th anniversary of the railways this year.

I’m passionate about using public transport to walk long-distance paths. To showcase these walks, I’m doing a 600-mile walk around the British coast this summer (many Railwalks supporters will be joining me), including a 7-day stretch in Mid and North Wales. Join us at Aberdyfi station for a 09:45 start on Thursday 29 May 2025. We’ll be passing three stations, offering a choice of a short (5 miles), medium (8 miles) or long (13 miles) walk. If you would like to join us, just turn up.

I’ve always loved walking in the countryside. When we moved from rural Devon to Bristol 16 years ago, we gave up our car. I started taking trains and buses into the countryside surrounding Bristol, including the South Wales valleys. I’ve been astonished by how far I could get: from flat easy walks along rivers, to wild and challenging climbs over the Welsh mountains.

Before then, I had no idea how many walks in rural Britain you could reach by train - most of them, in fact. I discovered this by taking a map and heading out from Bristol Temple Meads. Later, I started to find websites with local information about walking by rail. Two of our steering group members, Andy Stevenson and Kieran Seale, had created websites for Worcestershire and the Chilterns, respectively. We decided to bring our information together on a national website.

The Coastal Railtrail will be the longest walk I’ve ever done. I’ll be leaving home on 6 May and not returning until late July. Over 30 Railwalks supporters have registered to join me for different stretches around the country. Two of the days will be open for anyone to turn up and join us: at the start in Essex and in Aberdyfi on 29 May. I hope to meet many of you there!

Steve Melia