The new issue of Britain’s best-selling outdoors magazine is dedicated to one of the world’s most beautiful countries – that packs a continent’s-worth of walking into 30,981 enthralling square miles.
It’s big, beautiful and you're free to roam it – a freedom which in itself can be intimidating. Where do you walk in a country where only a fraction of the paths are marked on the maps? Yet it would be a tragedy if you missed out on this magnificent country for want of a friendly, expert guide to make sense of it all.
Scotland is a vast storehouse of walking treasures stacked ceiling-high. It should awe, but it need not intimidate. Come with us on a grand tour from the Southern Uplands to the Shetland Isles...
Plus features from Wales, Shropshire, Kent and 27 walks just right for summer days – to say we are thrilled with this issue would be an understatement!
DOING ANYTHING INCREDIBLE THIS SUMMER?
The best time to start walking is when you’re 9 months old; the second best time is now. Why? Walking is time and again revealed by scientific study to be the best all-round exercise you can do – strengthening bones, boosting energy and mental function, keeping the most annoying and the most serious ailments at bay, and just bringing out the happiest, healthiest, glowingest version of you. It feeds your mind and starves your insecurities, fills your head with memories and turns back the clock the moment you start doing it.
And the great thing is the sportsfield starts right outside your door and you don’t even need to get changed – any kind of mile is a good mile and you can start once you’ve finished that cup of tea.
It’s brilliant because repays you in the short-term (‘I feel better for that walk’) and cumulatively (‘I never used to be able to do that!’), because it’s free, fun and flexible and you were lucky enough to live in a country with the best public footpath network in the world. In fact the only thing that could make it any better in fact would be a readymade friend-group and a spur to motivate you even when the sofa’s exerting an extra-powerful gravitational pull. And that’s where our 500-mile challenge comes in – and whether you want a summer to remember, you’re new to our challenges and want to take the rest of the year, or you’re doing #walk1000miles and your campaign needs a turbo-boost we urge you to grab the new issue – complete with your Progress Tracker chart – and take part.
