Reading Walks Festival
11-19 May 2024
Welcome to the Reading Walks Festival 2024. We are delighted to share nearly 50 walks with you over the nine days of the festival, bringing alive the stories, heritage and landscapes of Reading and the surrounding countryside through a series of guided walks.
Our emphasis for the Reading Walks Festival is as much about telling the stories of Reading as walking for its own pleasure, so you’ll find that our volunteer guides have lots to share with you along the way. Our walks range from one-hour short walks to a 2-day pilgrimage. The majority of the programme of walks cost just £3.
See What's On Events (for a full list of the walks), FAQs, About Us, Getting There, Accessibility and other links below for full information about the Festival and each walk.
Explore
Getting there
Reading is an excellently connected place to hold a walks festival and is of a scale that makes it easy to get around on foot.
The Reading Walks Festival is committed to sustainable transport and all of our walks' start/finish points are reachable by public transport. We are delighted that GWR are our Official Travel Partner for the Festival in 2024 and a number of our walks start or finish at Reading Station.
The railway station is in the heart of the town, with easy access on foot to The Thames, the Kennet & Avon Canal, the Abbey Quarter and the rest of the town centre. London is only 23 minutes on the train from Reading with GWR services. And trains are very frequent, so you'll likely not have to wait long at all, but please check your journey at gwr.com before you travel. And don't forget that contactless payments are now accepted from Reading and into Central London, so you can just tap on and off using a debit or credit card.
Most bus services come through or end their routes in the heart of Reading. Reading boasts one of the UK's leading bus operators, Reading Buses. Nearly all of our walks link into their routes. Check each walk listing for travel information.
With GWR trains serving Reading from London, the Thames Valley and the south west and Reading being the western terminus of the new Elizabeth Line, it is so easy to get here by train.
Please make every effort to reach the start point of our walks by public transport. Last year, 70% of festival walkers reached the start point without using the car.
You can find out more transport information at:-
