St Albans Evening Walk (4.5 miles / 7 km - Leisurely, Booking Required)

This walk is for up to 25 people, including the leader.

This walk around St Albans city centre takes in some of the famous historic areas of the city - Roman, medieval and beyond, using a lot of urban green spaces along the way. We'll also walk along the River Ver and through a Victorian landscaped park.

We begin by walking from an active mainline railway to a former railway. The popular mixed use path between St Albans town centre and Hatfield, now known as the Alban Way, was once a steam railway. We follow a section of this route southwest until we reach the River Ver, leaving to follow the riverbank path west past the Sopwell Nunnery ruins and on into Verulamium Park.

Here we will see the remains of various parts of the town wall that surrounded the Roman settlement of Verulamium. Following the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire, much of the walls and structures were deconstructed by Britons and Anglo Saxons for materials to build houses. Middle Ages folk later did the same to build the Abbey buildings that would become the St Albans Cathedral complex. We continue west through the park, through the centre of the site of the Roman town with views of the lake built by the Victorians by diverting water from the Ver.

We then turn northwest to pass Verulamium Museum before turning southeast to follow one of the city’s most famous roads. Fishpool Street was so named as it was originally a track used by the monks of St Albans Monastery (later St Albans Cathedral) to access fishing ponds along the River Ver to procure food. It is now a residential street with a range of houses and pubs from different periods, many of them over 500 years old.

We then walk past St Albans Cathedral, and will have a chance to spot the peregrine falcons currently nesting in the tower. We cross Holywell Hill and take a footpath through the coach entrance of a Tudor Inn called the White Hart.

Finally we follow roads across the east part of town back to the start point. For those who wish for a post walk drink, we can visit the Horn pub opposite the station.

Dogs are welcome on a lead. 

For information about walking with the group, including our dog policy, please visit the Stag Walkers website.

Booking your place: Please book your place using the free Meetup website/app. Join the Stag Walkers Meetup group and click the 'Attend' button on the event page.

Please do not turn up for a walk without booking, as places are limited.

If the walk is fully booked, click 'join waitlist' to get a place if one becomes available and please check back regularly as you will likely get a place. The waitlist gives priority to single bookings so if you wish to bring a guest, we recommend booking separately.

Unless you opt in to further communications, we will only use contact information you provide to get in touch about the walk.