St Albans to Ivinghoe Beacon

Rating: 4.3 / 5

Distance: 23 miles

Another great countryside hike! Starting at St Albans Abbey, I hiked up to St Albans High Street and visited the Cathedral while I was in the city. After this I followed the Hertfordshire way (which went next to the River Ver). At Redbourne I joined the Chiltern Way.

I then reached Flamstead, and unexpectedly there was a scarecrow festival taking place in this village!

The route went past Gaddesden Place (a nice mansion next to the Chiltern Way path).

The route visited the River Gade briefly, then went to the Ashridge Estate via a really picturesque footpath across a crop field.

I then made my way to Ivinghoe Beacon via Steps Hill.

I entered the Chilterns National Landscape after Flamstead, and I thought the later part of the hike after Flamstead was more interesting. The River Ver was still a great hike though.

I actually got a lift home from Ivinghoe Beacon car park. However St Albans has two train stations and lots of buses so it's quite easy to get to the start for many around London. However, getting home via public transport could be quite tricky. Google says there is a 61 and x61 bus that goes towards Tring and Luton from Ivinghoe Beacon's bus stop but that's just from a google search. Last bus seems to be around 7.20pm so would have to watch out for that as this is a long hike!