YHA’s Festival of Walking is back for another year this autumn, with guided walks for all abilities across the country. But you don’t need to wait until September to join in. YHA has made public a collection of more than 100 self-guided walks, complete with...
Daniel Neilson enjoys a walk around Borrowdale learning about its most interesting ex-resident, the cave-dwelling Millican Dalton. In September 1913, Millican Dalton, an ‘expert mountaineer and camper’, advertised a taste of ‘real adventures and experiences’ in a...
Bristol and Bath can be easily combined by bike, as Ben Lerwill discovers. If you go by their reputations alone, Bristol and Bath are poles apart. One’s synonymous with street art, docklands and the underground music scene; the other conjures up images of afternoon...
Our oldest National Park is a world-class playground for climbers, mountain bikers and hikers. It covers 555 square miles, encompasses a wildly diverse range of landscapes, and has more history than you can shake a stick (or perhaps a walking pole) at. Welcome to...
YHA is launching a £1 million appeal to give more children adventures they’ll remember forever. “School trips are a formative experience for pupils,” explains outdoor leader David. “They provide memories which last a lifetime. They inspire and motivate young people...
In this issue, we’re turning the spotlight on the wildly diverse landscapes of Wales. Here are just a few of the hostels best placed to showcase the country’s dramatic coastlines, mighty mountains and bustling towns.YHA Idwal CottageWant the Welsh mountains? Stay...
Exploring the UK doesn’t have to be restricted to the mainland. Some of the finest experiences in England and Wales are found offshore, on the multitude of different islands that scatter the fringes of the map. The UK as a whole has somewhere in the region of 6,000...
The walk between YHA Broad Haven and YHA St Davids is one of the most satisfying hostel-to-hostel walks in the UK, as Ben Lerwill discovers. Not all Saturdays are created equal. Some slip by in a blur of household chores and mugs of tea. Others begin slowly and...
The first YHA Festival of Walking will take place from 4th September to 20th October, with the aim of bringing together individuals, friends, families, walking groups and communities to explore the beautiful countryside of England and Wales. Walking. It’s a simple...
There’s nothing quite like the escapism of a multi-day (or even a long, single day) walk. Not only does it give the chance to unplug from the pressures of rolling news, social media and other attention drains, but it serves up something even more liberating: the...
Where there are glorious hiking routes, there are YHA hostels. No less than 16 National Trails wind across England and Wales, each of them waymarked, maintained, and leading through some of the UK’s most spectacular landscapes. Here are some of our favourite...
The wise old English oak trees are truly interesting trees. Here are eight amazing facts about oak trees that might surprise you!Do you recognise this leaf? It looks a little bit like it’s been cut out neatly with scissors. It comes from one of our most special...
