Shropshire Hills Self-Guided Walking Tour 2024

You’re welcome to check in from 4pm onwards.

Accommodation: Longmynd House (D)

Check out the Discovery Point Library at the country house – stocked with maps, walks and local area information. 

For stays of 3 nights, you will have 2 days at your choice.

For stays of 4 nights, you will have 3 days at your choice.

For stays of 7 nights, you will have 6 days at your choice.

Accommodation: Longmynd House (B, L, D)

Enjoy a leisurely breakfast before making your way home. (B)

Our easiest routes, allowing plenty of time to savour the magnificent Shropshire landscapes. All our walk notes suggest the best places to stop, great pubs, and tea rooms.

• Pole Bank – 1½ miles
• Exploring the Carding Mill Valley – 3 miles
• The Stiperstones – 3 miles
• The Gaerstones – 4 miles
• Welshpool & Powis Castle – 4 miles
• Bishop’s Castle – 4 miles
• Ironbridge Gorge – 4 miles

Some longer walks which start to venture onto the Shropshire Hills. Experience the beauty of this rural county as you walk through stunning scenery.

• Around Ragleth – 5 miles
• Stiperstones Circuit – 5 miles
• Slopes of Caer Caradoc – 6 miles
• Long Mynd & Carding Mill Valley – 6 miles
• Long Mynd & Ashes Hollow – 7 miles

For those who enjoy striding out. These walks include some of the hills within easy reach of Church Stretton.

• Ragleth & Hope Bowdler Hill – 8 miles
• Long Mynd & Minton Hill – 8 miles
• Caer Caradoc – 9 miles
• Bishop’s Moat – 9 miles
• Caer Caradoc & the Lawley – 11 miles
• Grand Long Mynd Circuit – 13 miles

The attractive small town of Church Stretton is around 10 minutes’ walk downhill from Longmynd House. After the arrival of the railway, the town grew in the Victorian and Edwardian eras and became known as ‘Little Switzerland’ due to the dramatic hills on both sides of the valley. Today the town retains its bygone charm and has a range of facilities including a variety of small shops, banks, cafés, pubs and a supermarket.

Easily reached by train, or around 20 minutes’ drive away, Ludlow is a particularly attractive market town. The historic centre retains many of its medieval buildings, and is towered over by its well-preserved castle. In recent years the town has developed as something of a gastronomic centre, being home to celebrated Michelinstarred restaurants and many acclaimed local food producers.

A little further afield, about 45 minutes’ drive from Church Stretton, are the many excellent museums of
Ironbridge Gorge. Known as the ‘birthplace of the Industrial Revolution’ it was here that Abraham Darby
perfected the manufacture of cast iron which was later used to build the area’s iconic iron bridge across the River Severn. Today there are 10 museums in the gorge including the Museum of Iron, the Coleport China Museum and the excellent Blists Hill Victorian town. 

The Severn Valley Railway is one of Britain’s premier steam railways. This lovingly recreated Great Western Railway branch line is now run largely by volunteers and is home to an impressive collection of locomotives. As its name suggests, the line follows the rural valley of the River Severn from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster. The nearest station at Bridgnorth is about 40 minutes’ drive from Church Stretton.

Situated just 10 minutes’ drive from Church Stretton, the Acton Scott Working Farm Museum is a living museum based around a restored Victorian farm. In recent years this has featured in the BBC2 series Victorian Farm and Escape in Time.

Also easily reached by train, or a 30-minute drive, Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire. The town centre is particularly attractive, featuring many black and white timber houses dating from the 15th and 16th centuries.

The small town of Much Wenlock, about 30 minutes’ drive from Church Stretton, is particularly attractive with many black and white timbered houses. Despite its small size, the town can claim to be the birthplace of the modern Olympic Games.

The cathedral city of Hereford, is just under an hour’s drive away, and can also be reached by direct train from Church Stretton. Hereford Cathedral houses a chained library and the famous Mappa Mundi, a 13th century map of the world.

Attingham Park is a grand 18th century house surrounded by an extensive deer park, located outside Shrewsbury, around 25 minutes’ drive away. Now managed by the National Trust you can visit the ornate
rooms and explore the walled garden and grounds.

This former medieval fortress has been re-modelled over more than 400 years – each generation adding to the magnificent collection of paintings, sculpture, furniture and tapestries. The world-famous garden is overhung with clipped yews, and shelters rare and tender plants. Powis Castle is owned by the National Trust and is located near Welshpool, about 45 minutes’ drive from Church Stretton.

Just under an hour’s drive north of Church Stretton, Chirk Castle is a fine medieval fortress completed in 1310. As well as military displays, the castle was also a domestic home for many centuries, and is surrounded by excellent gardens