10 ideas for your Slow Ways challenge!
Choose your own Slow Ways adventure
Looking for ideas to complete your 50k, 100k, 250k or 500k Slow Ways Challenge?
Planning your challenge is great fun – imagining all the places you could go and what you could achieve! With over 9,000 routes to choose from you've got lots of good options.
On this page you'll find 10 ideas to inspire you.
Click for some top tips!
1. Route bagging
Simply collect routes you like the look of as you travel around the country, until you hit your goal. This great 13km (8 mile) route connects Malvern and Ledbury, both of which are on the same train line. Jump on the train to one and then walk back again, or keep going! Doing the 50k challenge? This route would get you 26% of the way towards your goal!
2. Connect routes
You can create longer trails by connecting two Slow Ways routes together. This 30km (18 mile) trail could be completed in one or two days. Regular trains connect Ledbury, Malvern and Worcester. This trail's "waylist" was made using the Slow Ways Journey Planner. You can watch Cristie explain how to use this here. Going for the 250km challenge? This trail would add 12% to your total.
3. Go further
Fancy Glasgow to Edinburgh by canal? This trail makes use of 11 Slow Ways routes and covers 99km! No doubt you'll hit 100K by the time you've popped to the shops. You can choose to use routes that are verified (in purple) or need checking (in green). If you know a better way, you can upload alternative routes too.
4. Complete a star
Challenge yourself to complete all the Slow Ways that connect to a town or city! This is a brilliant way to explore an area. This star shows route options connecting to Sheffield and totals 86km (54 miles). The purple routes have all been verified and the green ones still needs checking. A great way to complete this star would be to get the train or bus out and then travel back under your own steam.
5. Walk a web
Slow Ways stars (see above) connect a place to neighbouring places. A web goes further and connects all the neighbouring places to each other too. Bridgend's web is is 120km (75 miles) and uses 12 Slow Ways routes. Every place in the network automatically has a web, just search for a place page. Scroll down and click on the web banner and you'll get to a page like this. If you are logged into your Slow Way's account you can save the web as a waylist, like we've done here. You can then add or remove route options and see how much of the web you've completed.
6. Complete 500k!
Use our routing page to dream-up an epic 500k journey, like this one between Bangor and Brighton. The trail makes use of 34 routes that average 15km (9 miles) each. You could complete the journey in one big adventure or do it in chunks over a number of months. You can save your "routing" searches as a waylist to swap routes in your trail and keep track of your progress. Simply scroll to the bottom of your routing page and click on "Save Waylist". You can then view and edit a waylist like this one.
7. Go urban
Up for an urban adventure? Lots of Slow Ways are entirely in cities. This trail from north-west to south-east London includes 11 routes that average less than 5km each.
8. Go remote
There are a number of challenging and untested Slow Ways routes that go through remote and mountainous areas. These routes are for experienced trail walkers. This 167km (103 mile) trail is a good example. The route crosses the Cairngorms National Park and mountain range. It makes use of seven routes, including one which is nearly 40km. You can create your own Slow Ways challenge across any of the Britain's national landscapes.
This trail of Slow Ways routes is part of the monster Slow Ways National Parks Trail. Take a look!
9. Go by train!
Slow Ways connect towns and cities that are often connected by bus and train routes. This 102km (68 mile) trail goes between Shrewsbury and Hereford through the Shropshire Hills following the train line. The trails is made from five Slow Ways routes that connect to train stations in Shrewsbury, Church Stretton, Craven Arms, Ludlow, Leominster and Hereford. You could base yourself somewhere along the trail and complete it over 2-5 days. You could also complete it over a number of months, coming back and doing another section on different weekends. Complete this trail and you'll have completed your Slow Ways Challenge 100k. We'll send you an an exclusive Slow Ways 100k badge to celebrate your achievement!
10. Keep going and delight yourself
You'll probably be surprised and delighted by how much of Great Britain you are able to explore by foot. Start by doing the Slow Ways Challenge and doing a couple of routes... then do a couple more... and then, who knows how far you'll go, what you'll discover or what you'll achieve? Just give yourself time.
All of the maps above show routes that have been walked and reviewed by Slow Ways volunteers.