The Chiltern Hills is beautiful part of the UK and offer some fantastic day-walking with it’s gentle hills and flat grasslands that many walkers visit especially in the Summer Months. The area cover off 300 Square miles of countryside and is approximately 11 miles in width and 40 miles in length in a southwest to northeast diagonal from Goring-on-Thames to Hitchin in Hertfordshire.
The boundaries are clearly defined given that to the North being the Scarp Slope and the South being the Thames River.
The countryside is not designated as a National Park, but a large portion of this area has been designated officially as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1965. The countryside in this area is simple amazing with gentle rolling hills combined with swathes of Woodland and small very pretty villages.
The area also contains two National Trails and over 1,000 Miles of footpaths allowing those who simply want to get out into the countryside for a brisk walk, but don’t want to take any specialist equipment with them, the opportunity to get into the countryside. If you want to use the pathways in this area, they’re very easy to follow either by the printed guides or rights of way makers that allow you to choose walks from 2 miles up to 10 miles which even the most novice of walkers can enjoy. If you’re based in one of major cities nearby to this area, many of the routes start and finish near the train station meaning that you can easily enjoy a day out without even needing to touch your car.
If you want to spend longer in the area, and either plan to camp out or stay in one of the local hotels in the region, then a longer hike might be more suitable for you and offer you a real challenge. There are two great long distance walks in the area, The Ridgeway and the Thames Path National Trail, with the ridgeway following the hills ending at Ivinghoe Beacon, whilst the Thames Path follows the Thames River in the South of the Chilterns Region.
The wildlife in this area is one of the high points of this region and includes some of the best wildlife in the area. You will see Red Kites which has been introduced to the area in the late 90’s and now with a blossoming population of this amazing bird of prey will been seen flying overhead. One point to make, given that the Chilterns are only a few miles from the border of London, on a hot summer’s day, the area get’s very busy with walkers enjoying a day out from their busy lives in London.
