great walks

Cray-Buckden-Hubberholme loop, North Yorkshire, by Martin Wainwright

 The White Lion in Cray, Wharfedale, North Yorkshire. Photograph: Alamy

The triangular trail at the junction of upper Wharfedale and Langstrothdale is a prince among pub walks. As the name suggests, it takes in not just one Yorkshire inn, but three. Start from any of them, the White Lion (01756 760262,whitelioncray.com) at Cray (my favourite), the newly reopened Buck Inn (01756 761400, thebuckinnbuckden.co.uk) at Buckden or the George (01756 760223,thegeorge-inn.co.uk) at Hubberholme and follow a loop whose navigation is tricky only in bad mist, and even then only in a couple of places.

From Cray, you cross high-level sheep pasture on Buckden Pike before angling down to Buckden, then walk upriver along the Wharfe to the George and the resting place of JB Priestley, who called this "one of the smallest and pleasantest places in the world". Look for the tiny stained-glass tribute to George Hobson, designer of the Victoria Falls bridge, then across intake fields and up through woodland to limestone pavements which curve exhilarating back to Cray.
Martin Wainwright is the Guardian's northern editor

The New Forest, Hampshire, by Mike Carter

 The Beaulieu river near Buckler's Hard. Photograph: Alamy

One of my favourite walks is only a five-mile round trip, with a pub at the halfway point, but the scenery is so beautiful and seasonally changeable that I've found myself going back time and again. It starts and finishes in the Hampshire village of Beaulieu, as pretty as a cake tin, where wild ponies and donkeys roam the streets and nibble the wisteria. Take the footpath by Norris's shop, signposted Buckler's Hard. You soon find yourself on the Solent Way, getting fleeting glimpses of the nearby Beaulieu river through the oak, ash and beech trees of the New Forest. The pan-flat track – suitable for pushchairs most of the year – then winds through the North Solent nature reserve before splitting, with a choice of woodland or riverside path. You can take one going out, and the other on the way back.

Buckler's Hard was a centre of shipbuilding and built many of the vessels for Nelson's navy. These days it is a gloriously quintessential English village, with a large green flanked by two rows of redbrick cottages. Have a Sunday roast, or in summer a barbecue, at The Master Builder's (0844 815 3399,themasterbuilders.co.uk) – it gets pretty busy year-round, so best to book – before hitting the New Forest once more and heading for home.
Travel writer Mike Carter's latest book is One Man and His Bike (Ebury, £11.99)

St Ives to the Gurnard's Head, Treen, Cornwall, by Peter Beaumont

 Morning mist at Gurnard's Head, Cornwall. Photograph: Alamy

The Gurnard's Head (01736796 928, gurnardshead.co.uk) has always been in a great location, overlooking a magnificent headland and an iron age fort on cliffs a few minutes' walk away. These days it is owned by Charles Inkin's EatDrinkSleep, which has transformed the Gurnard's from a rather dour pub into a charming inn with seven bedrooms and an outstanding menu. You can walk to it along the coast from St Ives – six miles or so – or start your walk at the hotel. A good circular route takes in the headland and the fort then follows the coast path past Zawn Duel to Porthmeor Cove (a short and pleasant stroll featured in Rob Smith's Secret Beaches).

From here you can either head back up along the river from the cove and return across the fields for a pint of Tribute or locally produced Skreach cider, or continue towards St Just, Cape Cornwall and ultimately Land's End. Best of all it is dog-friendly. There are towels at the door for wet mutts and dog beds and snacks are provided for pets of guests staying overnight. One warning: its popularity means it is advisable to book if you want to eat.
Peter Beaumont is the Observer's foreign affairs editor

Glamorgan Heritage Coast, Wales

 Plough and Harrow pub, Monknash. Photograph: Alamy

Almost nobody has heard of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, possibly because it sounds like it was named by a municipal committee, but its dramatic cliffs are one of Britain's great unsung secrets – particularly on a brisk winter's afternoon, with views across the Severn to the sun setting over Exmoor beyond.

Park at the Plough and Harrow in Monknash (theploughmonknash.com), and walk down the lovely sheltered valley of Cwm Nash to the beach. If the tide is in, take the cliff path; if it's out, you can walk along the beach, with its striated rock formations stuffed with fossils. Stop at Nash Point, with its two lighthouses and where, if you're lucky, the tea-hut will be open. Then you have a choice: loop back inland to Monknash, or carry along the cliff path to the castle at St Donats – once owned by Randolph Hearst – and circle back from there.

Best of all, is the pub at the end. There's a dearth of great pubs in this part of Wales, but the Plough & Harrow, with its thick medieval walls – it was once a monastery – serving hatch, and roaring fires, is a proper country boozer of the very best sort.

Findhorn, Moray Coast,

 Findhorn village, Moray. Photograph: Alamy

Don't visit the Findhorn Foundation, Britain's best known hippy commune, if you can help it. I dropped by and bought an inviting ginger cake, only to find that all the joy had been sucked out of it. Bloody hippies.

Instead pass by and roll up at the Kimberley Inn, (01309 690492,kimberleyinn.com) a pub not far from the sea. The beach beyond is gorgeous and runs for miles. There are many astonishing beach walks in Scotland, but this one has long lodged in my mind. The Moray coast is so unvisited, yet full of treasures, a furious clustering of castles and distilleries seemingly known only by drunken, castle-loving Germans. The coast faces north, in its own glorious micro-climate.

The sea is lethal – our dog was almost swept to its death – but gives onto a steep pebble beach. Nature here is red in tooth and claw and the light is ethereal. It is extraordinary country. Keep walking until you have to turn back. Stay at Boath House (01667 454896, boath-house.com) if you can afford it (rooms from £230 B&B; or £345 with six-course table d'hote menu in the Michelin-starred restaurant).
Ruaridh Nicoll is editor of the Observer magazine

Burnham Overy Staithe to Wells, Norfolk,

 The Dutch sailing ketch Albatros moored at Wells next the Sea. Photograph: Alamy

Any civilised long-distance footpath needs a healthy quota of public houses along the way, and there is certainly an embarrassment of riches close to the Norfolk coast path. My favourite stretch starts at Burnham Overy Staithe – close to the Hero (01328 738334, theheroburnhamovery.co.uk – Horatio Nelson was born nearby and many pubs and ales commemorate him). Walk north-east on the elevated embankment across the marshes. The tide rushes along beside you and pink-footed geese rise from Holkham marshes. When you reach the coast, you can walk either walk along Holkham's famous sands or through the sheltered, scented pine woods. When you reach the beach huts of Wells-next-the-Sea, you follow the long tidal channel inland, heading for the small port of Wells.

In the 1990s, the great white sails of the Albatros, a 100-year-old Dutch sailing ketch, were a regular sight on the waters here, bringing soya bean meal from the continent. Its captain, Ton Brouwer, liked Wells so much he stayed, mooring his ship in the harbour and converting it into a warm and wonderfully eccentric bar. Enjoying a Dutch pancake and a pint of local Woodforde's Wherry ale on the Albatros (07979 087228, albatros.eu.com), looking out over the marshes, is something like paradise. Later on there is often live music and you can stay the night on the boat as well.
• nationaltrail.co.uk/peddarsway. Distances on the coast path are deceptively far – it is a four-hour stroll from Burnham Overy Staithe to Wells. The regular Coasthopper bus service (coasthopper.co.uk) can take you back to where you left your car. holkham.co.uk/naturereserve
wells-guide.co.uk 

Devizes Lock to Rowde, Wiltshire,

 Part of the flight of 29 locks at Caen Hill. Photograph: Alamy

I like a walk close to the stretch of water where your lunch lives. That usually tends to be a river, lake or the sea but at Rowde in Wiltshire you can walk beside the Kennet and Avon canal before strolling across the fields to the George and Dragon pub (01380 723053, thegeorgeanddragonrowde.co.uk) to sample crayfish caught in the green-grey water.

This is a stretch of the inland waterways beloved of canal enthusiasts. The flight of 29 locks over two miles up Caen Hill and into Devizes is one of the wonders of the canal world. It takes a boat between five and six hours to get through. On foot, the journey from Devizes wharf down to lock 23, from where you can strike off across country to the George and Dragon is a mere 40 minutes or so. And if canal crayfish (cooked in garlic and chilli the last time I visited) is not your bag, they also offer seafood delivered daily from St Mawes in Cornwall.

Dedham Vale, Essex,

 Walking by the River Stour at Dedham Vale. Photograph: Alamy

If the rolling farmland, forests and hazy riverside meadows of the Dedham Vale seem strangely familiar, it's because they have been framed and immortalised in countless paintings by John Constable, who lived and worked on the bucolic Essex-Suffolk border for much of his life. The attractive and lively village of Dedham is a great base for walkers, not least because it offers the chance to start or finish your hike at the Sun Inn (01206 323351, thesuninndedham.com), a half-timbered coaching inn with low-beamed ceilings, crooked floorboards, open fire, real ales and modern British dishes with a nod towards Italy.

Several circular walks from the pub take you across the water meadows, past grazing cattle and sheep, to Flatford – setting for paintings such as The Hay Wain and The Mill Stream – before looping back to the village. Non-drivers can opt for a seven-mile circuit that starts and finishes at Manningtree Station, (regular services from Liverpool Street) and takes in Flatford Mill with a lunch-stop in Dedham.

Carrickfergus to Larne, County Antrim, 

 Glenoe waterfall. Photograph: Alamy

Situated between the town of Carrickfergus on the east Antrim coast and the port of Larne, Billy Andys (028-2827 0648, billyandys.com) is well worth the stroll. Take the back road between the two towns and on a clear day you'll catch a glimpse of Scotland across the Irish Sea on one side, and the beautiful waterfalls at Glenoe on the other. The waterfalls are a perfect starting point to make your way to one of the oldest pubs in Ireland. The bar is an extended farmhouse which includes a roaring fireplace, wooden floors, old tin adverts and plates on the wall depicting old Massey Ferguson tractors to add to the rural feel.
If you're spending time taking in the landmarks of the north Antrim coast, such as the Giant's Causeway or the picturesque Glens of Antrim, Billy Andy's also runs a B&B. 

Although it can hold up to 100 guests, it is advisable to book for the restaurant, especially on Saturday afternoon when the traditional Irish music sessions kick off. After a walk in the Ulster countryside you can tuck into creamy pints of Guinness and local fayre such as Magheramore beef.