How Walkable is the UK?
Posted by Cooking_with_MREs@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 303 comments
This may be a silly question, but I'm not from the UK and my wife and I are thinking of moving.
How walkable is the UK? Of course London or Birmingham being cities are, but if we were to live in a smaller town could I walk to most places or is a car a necessity?
And of course, obligatory acknowledgement that not every town is the same.
ImpressiveSound7257@reddit
Most workable place I have ever been
Ok_Monitor_7897@reddit
Most places are walkable. In the countryside it's less likely roads will have pavements.
Dancinglemming@reddit
But there will almost always be a public footpath through some fields.
Meowskiiii@reddit
Not really.
Fluid_Speaker6518@reddit
Not always, where I live there is a bus stop half a mile down the road, but the road has no path and the grass banks at the sides are overgrown
MisterrTickle@reddit
Or you have to walk down a twisting B road with no pavement and no lights.
Oldgit3@reddit
Walk towards the flow of traffic. Wear a high Viz and use a torch. Been doing it all my life. Not dead.
Granted, it can be shit scary.
Whoisthehypocrite@reddit
I did it and am dead
Wouldn't advise...
Mudeford_minis@reddit
Not dead yet but one day you will be! 🤣
slimboyslim9@reddit
The people that did it and died aren’t posting on Reddit tho innit. Survivorship fallacy.
Ok-Blackberry-3534@reddit
woooOOOOOOOOooooo!
waddlingNinja@reddit
I second this advice and am also not dead 👍
MD564@reddit
Or all the surrounding area is owned by the MOD/ Military
Informal_Drawing@reddit
To be fair you live almost as far away from a city as Narnia in that case.
Just buy some walking boots youth!
royalblue1982@reddit
What is the bus stop for then if there is no where to walk?
Fluid_Speaker6518@reddit
The bus goes to my local town using a long B road
JourneyThiefer@reddit
Public footpaths basically aren’t a thing in Northern Ireland
ImpressNice299@reddit
No, there won't.
commissarcainrecaff@reddit
Also: unlike in the US: pedestrians have the right of way and a driver is required to stop for them.
And you can cross a non-motorway road legally anywhere.
Whoisthehypocrite@reddit
Pedestrians only have right of way at recognised crossings?
commissarcainrecaff@reddit
Nope.
Highway Code got updated in the last couple of years- duty of care is on the driver.
Pedestrian in the road has the right of way under the concept of Driving with due course consideration (Highway Code rules 204, 205 and 206)
Examples abound: but the recent Extinction Rebellion protestors who were simply nudged out of the way at 0.5mph? The driver was prosecuted for driving without due care and attention. No-one injured but striking a pedestrian made an automatic crime unless you can show it was utterly impossible to have prevented the accident- and even then it's 50:50 in court.
Whoisthehypocrite@reddit
The new right of way is only at a junction. A pedestrian at the side of the road has no right of way that you have to stop for. Clearly a pedestrian already in the road would have to be stopped for but a driver doesnt have to assume the pedestrian is going to step into the road?
dwair@reddit
In the countryside it's also likely that there is absolutely no public transport so a car is a necessity. Where I live it's a 7 mile walk to the nearest bus stop - and it's not even very remote.
wildOldcheesecake@reddit
I’d wager that whilst not the safest sometimes, those areas are still plenty walkable. When I’m as in the US, I literally had no means of getting to a strip of shops opposite our letting without driving.
Norman_debris@reddit
This is key. When walking is difficult or inconvenient, we might call it unwalkable. But in the US, so much of it is truly inaccessible without a car. Not awkward or dangerous, but almost literally impossible.
ImpressNice299@reddit
True in towns and cities, but large parts of the countryside are almost literally impossible to navigate on foot.
HeartyBeast@reddit
https://beta.slowways.org/ May be of interest
ImpressNice299@reddit
Love it - thanks.
The problem is getting to a footpath from wherever you are. If you’re in the countryside, there’s a decent chance your property has one exit - onto a country lane with hedges both sides and no pavements.
ldn-ldn@reddit
In the UK you have the right and priority to walk on any road apart from motorways, so you have a "footpath" everywhere.
ImpressNice299@reddit
It might well be legal. It’s also incredibly dangerous.
ldn-ldn@reddit
Not really.
miemcc@reddit
A colleague and I were working in South Caroline (we are Brits, though). We chose to walk down the hill to a local sports bar. On the way, a cop car pulls up and the cop asks us what we are doing, so we explained. He asked why we didn't drive. 'Errrm, because we are off to a BAR!'.
27106_4life@reddit
Why couldn't you walk there
Ok_Monitor_7897@reddit
I went to New Orleans for a wedding somewhere years ago and there was a bar we went to for drinks that was directly next door to the apartment we were staying at. The only way to get there was to drive. Cue three drunk British girls wading through knee high swampy brush to get back to our apartment to avoid a) getting in car with a drunk relative b) walking along a three lane road with no space for pedestrians.
Most_Imagination8480@reddit
I've had the same with work and a hotel. Directly opposite each other over the road. Tried walking once. Nearly caused a road accident. When i got back to the hotel, I was 'the guy that walked to his office!' as per the incredulous staff. Word had gotten round, they had never heard anything like it.
America is fucking weird
Serious_Escape_5438@reddit
Yeah I remember staying in a hotel in the US and we had to drive to a restaurant on the next block because there was no way at all to walk. You couldn't even cross the road because there was a fence.
Jezbod@reddit
I live in a small North Yorkshire market town, where the road is the pavement once you get out of the built up area.
invincible-zebra@reddit
Also North Yorkshire - I find walking is often quicker than the bus due to the meandering routes they seem to take around here!
Lady-of-Shivershale@reddit
My American husband was astounded that in my town in Scotland we can get from my parents' house to the supermarket without crossing any roads. It is faster to cross a really quiet one that leads to a cul de sac, although only by three minutes or so. It's faster to walk to the supermarket than to take a car, too.
We can also get to my primary school and high school without crossing roads, although you do need to go out of your way for the high school. That road is a main one, and today's snowflakes have an actual crossing with a green man. We had to bomb it across in front of speeding cars!
It is hard to get round to various sites without a car, though. This was my first visit where I rented a car. My parents are getting on in age so can't do much and my dad shouldn't have a licence any more. So we rented a car for when we all went north.
amboandy@reddit
Absolutely this, but to add that unlike some countries, pedestrians always have right of way.
wombatking888@reddit
I live a Market town in North Staffordshire, everything in terms of shopping and local amenities is walkable and there is gorgeous countryside in all directions 5 mins outside town.ake the move...you won't regret it.
nfurnoh@reddit
It really DOES depend where you are and where you’re going. I live in a former village that’s was conglomerated into a city. That means within a 10 minute walk from my house I have a thrice weekly market, two great butcher’s, a green grocer, a Sainsbury’s local, and a bus depot. I need a car for my doctor and dentist, mainly because I didn’t switch when I moved. Most other places I could get to by bus but choose to drive.
mikepartdeux@reddit
Depends how remote you are really, cities and towns are fine, good public transport between them and within, and they're easily walkable. Once you get down to villages in remote country it's not.
areallyshitusername@reddit
It’s mostly walkable, but most of the pavements are never level - almost every pavement in the country has raised flags and tree roots growing through them. It makes having a casual walk tricky, especially at night time, and even more so when councils refuse to put street lighting on to save money.
Drive-like-Jehu@reddit
There are networks of public footpaths across the countryside and the UK is generally much more walkable
spammmmmmmmy@reddit
You would never be able to walk from Ventnor to Orkney.
Real answer: it's a hyper-regional thing. If you were in the centre of Oxford or Cambridge, life would be more difficult with a car. If you lived in Stevenage, you wouldn't survive.
London; most anywhere a car is optional but most people in zone 2 outwards prefer one for groceries. I lived here (zone 1-2-3) for 15 years without a car. Bought one in the pandemic and now I'm hooked.
themcsame@reddit
Entirely depends on the area, transport links and where you are relative to everything.
Even when we're talking rural villages, one in the Midlands isn't like one in the South East of England, neither of which are even comparable to the likes of rural villages up in the Scottish Highlands.
Villages with a mining history are often well linked, despite what their (often) officially rural status would imply. Not London levels of well-linked, but you may well find some well-linked enough that they're batting against smaller cities, courtesy of their mining heritage as many of the links would've been established decades ago.
Some towns can be well-connected, but rather lacking in terms of stores or other amenities. Some towns have it all
In essence? It's a fucking mess to look at from the outside looking in. One town could be reasonable, the town basically joint at its hip could be a pain to work with. It can vary wildly over a short distance.
Adam-West@reddit
You can walk anywhere pretty much. If a road doesn’t have a pavement it’s likely there is an alternative route via footpath. That said, there are places where you probably would want a car. Cities and large towns are all fine without, but certain villages in the countryside aren’t great for public transport.
hannah3186@reddit
I have walked Hunstanton to Lowestoft uk full of footpaths
Yuiiski@reddit
Very... It's only when you go the countryside that things get a bit trickier because most roads don't have pavements but even then there are footpaths everywhere that you can easily follow on apps like Komoot.
Illustrious-Engine23@reddit
More than america, less than the most of western europe.
JustUseDuckTape@reddit
Pick a large town and you'll likely have everything you need day to day within a reasonable walking distance. Couple of supermarkets, doctor, dentist, schools etc. Pick one with a train station and you've got easy access to cities for specific trips.
Even large villages will often have a convenience store and a post office; do your shopping online and you can get by without a car reasonably well but will be limited.
Fabulous_Main4339@reddit
Very walkable. I've walked coast to coast across england, scotland and wales. Whilst I can afford and am capable of getting one, I don't have a driving license and it's not been an issue with jobs or anything else.
I've read books and seen videos where people are baffled by US city designs where you must have a car to travel short distances because the walking routes are exponentially longer due to car centric layouts and assuming that no one would even want to walk the 5 mins from the new housing development to the nearby shops. The UK is nothing like that. Having a barrier near roundabouts that make you walk 1min more than just crossing the road is the height of inconvenience.
ZedsDeadB4by@reddit
You can walk from London to Glasgow if you fancy
ImJustARunawaay@reddit
It's fairly good, in most places, but realistically unless you're going for city living I think you need a car in the UK.
tobotic@reddit
I've lived in moderate sized towns without a car. It's fine until you get down to pretty small villages. If you're in a village too small to have a pub and a corner shop, then it gets a bit bleak without a car.
ImpressNice299@reddit
It's fine until you want to go literally anywhere in a reasonable amount of time and comfort.
tobotic@reddit
I have comfortable shoes.
Winged_Diva_850209@reddit
If you live in London, no car is required
Luna259@reddit
Larkymalarky@reddit
Massively depends on where, where I live now is totally walkable, 3 supermarkets within 5 minutes, a major university, a massive park, 3 museums and essentially everything else you could need within 10-15 minutes, I literally only go into the city centre, which is also walkable usually (takes 45-60 mins) for therapy and uni (which isn’t the uni I live closest to)
However, growing up I lived 3.5 miles from a street light in a tiny village that had an extremely expensive, few and far between, generally shit bus service, 5 miles from a train station (well a platform kinda, calling it a station is a stretch 😅) you had to request the train tos top at (which also had 0 street lights between my house and the station), 7 miles from a slightly more train station-y train station and small supermarkets, 20 miles from a big Tesco and 120 miles from a real hospital… so… not that walkable
wildskipper@reddit
Worth noting that one of the main reasons for driving, getting shopping from a supermarket, can nowadays be easily avoided because of how easy home delivery of groceries is now (an actual benefit of covid).
ZroFksGvn69@reddit
Seriously hard pressed to think of a country which is more "walkable".
Logicdon@reddit
The majority is walkable and has reasonable public transport.
Small villages in the countryside would be a struggle though.
IllCommunication3242@reddit
We don't have a car so walk or take public transport everywhere - it's generally very walkable unless you're planning to be somewhere rural, in my opinion
darwinxp@reddit
You can walk from top to bottom in a few hours mate
Catmanx@reddit
Most roads near houses will have footpaths.It's not the best website but in the countryside you can see all the footpaths and rights of way across farmland etc if you want to go off road. Have a look at the red and purple lines. https://footpathmap.co.uk/map/?zoom=12.3&lng=-1.90737&lat=52.81634
Tbh a couple of cheap peddle bikes and a coat and you'll be sorted.
Cold94DFA@reddit
You can practically walk anywhere and most of the country is developed to allow it.
Bladders_@reddit
If you have legs, very walkable indeed.
SRJ342@reddit
We don’t want you. STAY where you are. We are loading up Immigrants onto boats and sending them off. Bloody Invaders.
SingerFirm1090@reddit
Again, not universal, but these days the bigger shops (supermarkets etc.) often tend to be in out-of-town retail parks around the edges, with the town centre a desert of empty shops, charity shops and nail bars. Some are well-served by public transport, others are not.
Thepeterborian@reddit
We walk everywhere, Britain is a walkers paradise.
By walking do you mean purposeful A to B walking? In the UK we often walk for no reason.
ComprehensiveSet6293@reddit
Use www.walkscore.com!
t90fan@reddit
Depends on the place.
In towns/cities like Edinburgh, Cambridge, London, Dundee, Glasgow, etc... no need (I've never had a car living there)
but if you live in the sticks, yes.
Sirico@reddit
You can get across it
https://www.walkingenglishman.com/coast2coast.htm
Strong_Mushroom_6593@reddit
Very walkable. No car is necessary if you don’t want one.
Thesunismexico@reddit
It is very walkable, but to say no car is necessary is wrong, unless they plan on living in a city.
glasgowgeg@reddit
I've lived in villages and towns in the central belt of Scotland, and now Glasgow, I've never felt a car is necessary.
There's always been adequate buses or trains available for me, or things within walking distance.
Dogtag@reddit
Yeah but that's the central belt where most of us live so there's naturally more infrastructure.
glasgowgeg@reddit
It still directly contradicts their claim that only people in cities don't need cars.
Dogtag@reddit
I think it depends tbh. If you're on a main bus route or near a train station then great. If you're not then it's possible but much more difficult depending how good the connections in your town are.
glasgowgeg@reddit
Which is still evidence against the original claim that only people in cities don't need cars.
There are millions of people in this country who manage without a car.
Dogtag@reddit
I think that's they key point in your comment above. Not everyone has the same level of service that you have.
Yes, they do have a service but it can be such a hassle or so utterly impracticle that a car is all but required.
If you want to argue technicalities then sure, but I'm coming from a practicality angle
glasgowgeg@reddit
I never claimed they did, so this is completely irrelevant.
You're going on about things that aren't relevant to what I said, there are millions of people in this country, even outside cities, that manage fine without a car.
The original claim that it's only close in cities that don't need one isn't true.
862657@reddit
I've lived in Kent for 30 years without a car. It's fine.
Strong_Mushroom_6593@reddit
How do people who already live outside a city with no car cope? They’ll be fine without one.
Thesunismexico@reddit
I live in Berlin, I don’t have a car. But I grew up on a farm in Carmarthenshire, there was no way to get anywhere without being driven by my parents.
I’m guessing you’ve not lived in a real countryside setting. Because if you had you’d realise that there is no way to live a normal life if you don’t have a car. I wish there was, I’m absolutely not a fan of cars. But it’s just not feasible for quite a lot of the country.
clutchnorris123@reddit
I grew up in a village of less than 1000 in he middle of nowhere Scotland and there were buses in the village every hour to the nearest towns from 6am to midnight so it depends on where you are as your rural experience is obviously way different from mine.
Thesunismexico@reddit
We had three buses a day. I wish I’d had your experience when I was younger. But absolutely you’re right, rural locations can be so very different depending on where you are.
geeered@reddit
Bikes and now ebikes can get you decent distances easily. It wasn't too long ago that a lot less people had cars and they still managed.
I just took a random location in the middle of nowhere - Gilfach Wen Barn. Nearest small shop is 1.5 miles away. Nearest Tesco Extra is 12 miles away, just over an hour's cycle away google maps says, so probably a bit quicker than that and even quicker on ebike - a little slower going the other way.
Then there's deliveries, with most goods being easy to order online now.
Serious_Escape_5438@reddit
The biggest issue tends to be for families (hard to transport kids plus their stuff), and also because these days our lives are more complicated, people work and go to school further from home. Also, we had no car when I was a young child and when we got one our quality of life massively improved. My mum used to have to push a double buggy for miles to go shopping and we never went anywhere fun because three kids on public transport was slow and annoying. We had a bus nearby but it only went one place, into town, so you had to get two buses just to go swimming or something.
geeered@reddit
My boomer parents did have a car for all the time I can remember.
But they often chose to cycle - there's pictures from when I was 1 sitting on the bike back of a bike.
Modern cargo bikes and ebikes makes this even easier.
I appreciate I did benefit from the option of a car which was still used plenty.
But there's also something to having healthy parents and introducing children to an active lifestyle.
Serious_Escape_5438@reddit
A cargo or ebike is great for some uses but there are difficulties. The biggest one is safe storage. You need a large, secure and accessible place to keep it both at home and wherever you go. They're expensive and take up space. Basically you need an empty garage at home and honestly I don't know how you deal with storage when out. Also you'd need a huge amount of battery power to transport several children including hills. And realistically once past toddler stage you probably can't fit two or three children in, yet 6-7 year olds can't exactly cycle on main roads. Obviously it depends where you live but one thing is cycling for leisure which I do a lot with my kid, and another is depending on it as a way to get to school then work and back in all weathers. Mine is seven now and we're working on safe cycling so we can go to school sometimes but the complication is that she then has the bike at school so needs to cycle home. Some days we go straight from school to sports so not possible, and other days my partner picks her up on the way home from work by car (it's a 45 minute drive, he's not cycling). These days there are a lot of cars on the roads and we all live busy lives.
Strong_Mushroom_6593@reddit
“If we were to live in a smaller town”
Obviously farms in the middle of nowhere are different but they’re talking about a town, they’ll be fine.
peekachou@reddit
There is a lot of the country between big city, and farm in Carmarthenshire.
geeered@reddit
A bike makes things a lot easier, but if you're fine walking, a lot of places you can still survive just walking too - ie walking 4 miles to the supermarket in the next town at a decent pace will get you there in an hour. Often it'll easily take over 15 minutes for the same driving including parking etc. And you get those steps in which are great for general health.
somekidfromtheuk@reddit
small towns with like 50k people are still fine it doesn't need to be a city
hungryhed@reddit
Think most of those commenting must live in towns and cities because none of the places I've lived in during this century would be ideal without a car. Even with a bike they're tricky and you'd be lucky if there's a bus service running more than a couple of times a week.
Lots of rural places no longer have shops, let alone all the other stuff you need to live in and maintain a house.
starduest@reddit
I'm extremely surprised by the responses saying that the UK is walkable.
I live in Cambridge and I think your quality of life is hugely compromised if you're relying on walking or public transport. If I didn't cycle, I'd take 45 to 55min to get to work/hobbies through a mixture of walking or public transport instead of a 15 to 20min cycle.
Without a car, I'd also have to forgo a few other hobbies that are further out in nearby villages. It also takes much more effort to visit friends on Sundays when some buses are much less frequent (or don't run at all)
Good-Gur-7742@reddit
It depends where you live. I grew up in the Cotswolds, with the nearest shop a 40 minute drive away. It was walkable as we used to do it when we got snowed in, but there was no public transport in our area, no pub, no shop. If you didn’t drive you were a bit buggered.
However, this isn’t the norm. Generally the UK is infinitely more walkable than the states. Plenty of people get by without a car.
wickedwix@reddit
So I live in Greater London, my family used to frequent the East and Southern coastal towns a lot. We never had a car growing up, and we were able to get everywhere locally, we obviously had the privilege of living in a place with great public transport while at home, but the coastal places we'd go to (Clacton, Folkestone, Southend, Hastings, Margate, Swanage, Bournemouth, Eastbourne to give some examples) were generally walkable if you were just looking for a shop, cafe, pub. You'd usually need a car if you went to a big supermarket to do like a weekly shop. Saying that, I've not been to most of those places in about 10 years.
_DoogieLion@reddit
Honestly it really varies. Compared to the US the UK is infinitely more walkable but compared to the Netherlands less so
Teestow21@reddit
People used to walk it more before there were cars. If you could afford a horse that was good. The horse walked too.
spik0rwill@reddit
Very
LobsterMountain4036@reddit
What is bringing you to the UK? Are you moving for family, career or something?
If you’re coming because of politics then I don’t see this being something that will build roots for you.
Aromatic-Data-6052@reddit
First off I’d probably want to run right past Birmingham not walk !
KatVanWall@reddit
Most towns of any size are 'walkable' if you mean 'can walk to a place where I can buy milk and bread'. However, if you're doing a week's worth of grocery shopping for yourself and your family, you might want to invest in a big wheeled granny-bag and a fitness regime.
Philip250@reddit
Choose where you live carefully and it makes life easier. I live in a medium sized town where I'm 10 mins walk from the nearest supermarket and 10 mins from the town centre which, as round trips are a nice bit of exercise. I haven't had a car for over a year and I get on fine.
Fantastic_Deer_3772@reddit
Where are you from? (So we can get an idea of your baseline)
Anywhere that's not super rural should be walkable enough, if its got shops etc you should be fine. You can always do google streetview for specific locations you're considering.
DrZomboo@reddit
I'm medical unable to drive and never had a problem; am 38 now.
Most towns and cities have good pedestrian and transport links built into the infrastructure and for all the problems we have with the rail system at the moment it is still workable (you just have to be VERY patient sometimes haha) if you want to travel around further a field.
I'd just avoid more remote locations and try to be not too far away from a big central transport 'hub' (like London, Manchester, Birmingham, etc.) as it increases your options for those day trips.
blueskybel@reddit
In my experience the only time you'd need a car really is if you're out in the sticks, or to carry heavy shopping.
Willeth@reddit
Even rural towns are very walkable if you're just staying within them. The problem comes when you need to travel between towns, which in some places you may need to for the supermarket or doctors. Public transport can be spotty and country roads don't have pavements (sidewalks) and not every driver is aware people could be walking on those roads.
Elastichedgehog@reddit
'Walkable' meaning you can get to shops and ammenities within a reasonable amount of time (\~15 minutes). As someone who grew up rural, this is not the case in a lot of places.
Willeth@reddit
I mean we're always going to run into questions of definitions. Yeah, if you're on Arran you're not nipping to the local Tesco. But there's plenty of, say, villages in the Yorkshire Dales where you can get to the pub, the shop, etc without trouble.
Wd91@reddit
Emphasis on the shop, and the pub.
Willeth@reddit
Well, yeah. If you want variety then don't go rural. That doesn't mean small villages aren't walkable.
newfor2023@reddit
Yeh even 5 minutes away I've got most of what I could need. Post office/newsagent, shop/bakery/grocer, pre school, nursery, primary school, bus for secondary or college. Butchers, fishmongers hairdressers, cafe, pub, tennis court, basketball court, park, few football/rugby pitches and loads of walks and river access for boats/canoes. Can even canoe round a mile or so and pull up on the pontoon for a beer/whatever.
Then there's like 4 supermarkets that'll deliver and of course amazon which covers about everything together. Going out anywhere is a pain tho as a taxi is a fortune and takeaway options are 1 Chinese, one Indian/Nepalese and a kebab place. Right pain to go out anyway unless someone wants to specifically be the driver and variety isn't huge even in the nearest few towns. So if you want anything you will be ordering it online. Not like when I was in a city and could go round a Polish supermarket, Chinese, Indian, Syrian etc etc and find a big variety. Things to go out and do without needing to plan ahead past let's go see what places have what nights on that night.
Except the education buses tho it's fairly poor public transport to try and get anywhere for work and a 45min walk to the train station with no lights or pavements on a 60mph road. Definitely more a raising kids place than a being in your 20s wanting to be out place (not that it's affordable now anyway). Which is why I moved away from that sort of place to a city in the first place at that age and came back to have kids. One of which has now moved to somewhere with more going on for that reason and more work opportunities they can get to easier.
Wd91@reddit
You can have variety, just buy a car.
This is where the definition of walkable comes in. To you it just seems to mean you can literally walk around, to others it means you can live a decent quality fulfilling life without a car.
Personally I'd lean toward the latter definition, and I would say small villages are not "walkable" in that sense. But if we're just talking about having a corner shop in walkable distance then yeah, all but the smallest hamlets up to the biggest cities are walkable, for sure.
Codders94@reddit
Careful you might trigger all of the “15 minute cities, they’re trying to control us” dingbats.
Brief-Caregiver-2062@reddit
i guess there's a difference between the rurality of 'living in a village' and 'living on a back country road'. i doubt this applies to OP. ironically for me living very much inside the limits of a small-medium city my walk to the closest shop that sells any kind of food is about 25 minutes lol, forgot to check before we moved here but it makes a decent excuse to get some exercise
luala@reddit
It really depends on where you are. I’m very into walk ability and it’s never been a problem for me unless I’m out in small villages which don’t have any services. Some rural areas don’t have pavements either. Small towns should generally be fine unless you are in the outskirts. Most towns are connected by public transport.
cgknight1@reddit
If you are really really out in the middle of nowhere it can be tricky and if you have kids that adds to the complexity.
However... as someone who is 48 and has done professional jobs in towns, cities and now lives semi-rural, I've never owned a car. Things take a bit more planning but the trade off is the money I invested means I don't need to eat shit until 67.
clodiusmetellus@reddit
I'm getting rid of my car at the end of this year, when my lease is up.
Even with the cost of occasional car hire (for festivals) car clubs (for seeing my nan) and taxis (along with more frequent buses and trains) I've worked out I'm going to be £300 a month better off. £300! I can't wait.
Teembeau@reddit
I ditched my car during Covid. I had a £2000 quote to fix a £600 car. I was working remote and hardly driving it. I thought I'd give it a go and if it didn't work get a car. And I didn't. We still have 1 car between us, which my wife drives and we do need that.
I have a load of tips about this, like:-
It does help that I live on a reasonable bus route to a town with a good railway connection.
Other perks: 1) you get more exercise. Even if it's just walking to a bus. 2) you can read a book or play a game while traveling 3) you can have a drink.
royalblue1982@reddit
In theory - the UK is fully walkabout as there will always be some kind of right-of-way footpath that goes to every location.
StubbleWombat@reddit
Really depends on what you mean by walkable. All cities, towns and most villages you can walk anywhere you want within them. If you mean do tiny places have everything you need within walking distance then no - but you should be able to get away with public transport in most circumstances.
I'd say in the UK the default mode of transport is our feet. Certainly in contrast to the US where it's the car.
Negative-Jelly-556@reddit
London is fine , everywhere else needs a car.
Crunchie2020@reddit
Friend decided he had enough of the trip to London and walked home. To Newcastle upon Tyne by following the train tracks.
Mad man
NoImpression335@reddit
Check out the Ordnance Survey maps app, the free version is great and you'll find recommended walks with ratings, difficulties etc. Ordnance Survey are the OG map creators in the UK
Walking between places is great but its best done with minimal walking by the side of the road and maximum Public footpath usage both for safety and for the views/experience.
Novel_Individual_143@reddit
Where are you currently and where are you moving to?
Riddles_7@reddit
If you’re a fit human who actually likes to walk then literally every town is walkable. Less convenient and sometimes a little dangerous with narrow/ fast roads and no path but they never last long and you’re rarely more than 20 minutes from a pub by foot power.
No-Traffic7912@reddit
Obviously the smaller it is, the harder it'll be. But most towns are pretty concentrated with a town centre.
spectrumero@reddit
Most of the smaller cities and towns are perfectly walkable. For example, Worcester where I lived for quite a while (and frequently visit) has a population of about 100k and is very walkable, with large parts of the city centre off limits to cars and fully pedestrianised. Most of its residential housing is within a short bike ride.
ImpressNice299@reddit
Plus trains all day going to Birmingham and London. The big problem with a lot of walkable towns is you can't leave them without a car.
Rectal_Scattergun@reddit
In most cities and towns it's very walkable.
I'm 37 and never got my licence, never had an issue getting where I want to go.
As others have said though, if you live out in the sticks that would be a bit more difficult.
dunneetiger@reddit
For me the car became only a thing when I had child
theModge@reddit
I think it's fair to say that whilst if you live in the sticks it is walkable, there is less public transport available.
We as a family in a city have one car, which we mostly use at weekends: my commute is an easy cycle. Where my parents live however (a fairly representative commuter town in the south east) not having a car would be a disadvantage. A surmountable problem for sure, but some trips would take a lot longer, to the extent they wouldn't be worth doing. That said you could certainly work, shop and exist, you'd just have fewer options. In a city the only options it removes are outside the city.
Upbeat-Metal-5087@reddit
Kinda the same. I lost my licence over a decade ago and tbh don't need it. Everything is walkable or within a bus ride. It works out cheaper using the bus than it does owning and maintaining a car.
Thrasy3@reddit
Similar situation. Might have to be a bit more discerning about where I lived, but not having a car has just never been an issue for regular travel, and even for irregular travel, there are still taxis.
Rectal_Scattergun@reddit
Exactly. Far cheaper to walk, use public transport and the occasional cab to get somewhere than it is to buy and maintain a car.
turbosprouts@reddit
Uk towns and cities are (with few exceptions) walkable, if by that you mean that you can go to nearby shops without having to drive from parking lot to parking lot, as is the case in some us locations. Obviously that depends somewhat on exactly where you live in a town and how far you’re prepared to walk — but most towns have bus services (some cities have additional public transport options within the city too) which can get you to the centre if you live in a suburb. Travel from city to city can generally happen by train or bus, and you can hire a car (assuming g you drive) for specific requirements.
If you live in a rural town or want to live in a rural village, then it will be difficult to manage without a car - public transport links can be very limited and taxis are generally expensive in my experience, and many rural areas have limited amenities. Getting groceries and goods generally isn’t a problem (all UK supermarkets have extensive delivery services and ofc Amazon exists ;)) but it would be very isolating without a car. I live in a village with 1 pub, 1 farm shop (which is a 30min walk across the fields) and … nothing else. Nearest towns are 90mins+ on foot; there are 3 buses per day to the nearby towns. The service finishes at 4pm.
P
Hot_Guard7840@reddit
Where are you from now. Compared to the US it is a dream in the UK. Compared to suburban Sweden, a nightmare.
lord_dicely@reddit
I grew up in a village, and have lived in pretty much every size of area from village to London, and owned a car in some and not others, so I judge myself reasonably qualified to answer this. By "walkable" I presume you mean "car ownership is unnecessary".
As you would expect, you realistically need a car in rural areas. There will be some bus services, but not enough to really provide transport to necessities when you need them.
Small-to-medium sized towns are in the "maybe" zone; if you live in the centre, near a train station, you can do without a car, but once you get to outer residential areas you will realistically want a car. There will be buses, but probably not enough to sustain a full, flexible lifestyle.
Once you get into the larger towns and cities, you can generally do without a car. As you know it's unnecessary in London; where I live now (a smaller city of around 200k people) it's also unnecessary, but from personal experience I wouldn't go much smaller than this and still expect a walkable lifestyle (unless, as above, you really live in the centre).
That said, pretty much anywhere is walkable if you try hard enough (barring individual, remote farmsteads). There are a lot more pavements in general here (not along country roads, but there people still walk and just retreat to the verge as necessary). Jaywalking does not exist as a concept. There will be at least some bus services, so you can get to places if you plan ahead well enough (as every teenager who grew up in the country can tell you). It's just not recommended.
Lympwing2@reddit
You can walk across the bulk of cities like Newcastle in less than an hour, and if you've got a couple more hours to spare, you can walk along the river to the coast.
pumaofshadow@reddit
Reasonably so, but I'd stay away from the truly rural areas if its a concern.
I'd also check the googlemaps for transport / walking and distance from the places you are looking at to the next major supermarket, hospital, and where buses are.
Andover, Hampshire was annoying because the trading estates were like a mile from any bus stop so despite being "local" were unacheievable for work for me when I lived near the town centre for example. I could get to Salisbury, and to the estate easier than I could just getting a job in Andover! (Train then bus).
ctesibius@reddit
“MRE” suggests you are American. In contrast with the USA, there are few places where there is no provision for pedestrians. Motorways [freeways] would be the main example. Towns universally have pavements [sidewalks], and often have pedestrian crossings, bridges, and underpasses. There is no concept of jaywalking: cross where you want, at your own responsibility. There are also cut-throughs to give shortcuts in many residential and town centre areas.
As to the countryside, we have about 200k miles of roads and about 100k miles of public footpaths/bridleways/byways, and walking is the dominant form of outdoor recreation. That figure is misleadingly low, btw, because Scotland has few public paths because there is a general right to roam. You will be a bit restricted in getting to them without a car, but in some areas busses and trains are a practical way of getting to and from them. At the weekend you find everything from great-grandmothers out for the afternoon to teenagers on one of the long-distance paths that go hundreds of miles.
PomegranateStill3166@reddit
Really depends where you're moving. I've lived in a village in the countryside and found not being able to drive a massive problem.
TheNathanNS@reddit
Put it this way, last year I walked 971 miles and only had to use a car 3 times.
Plenty walkable.
I'm in the West Midlands so I can't speak for anywhere else though
commissarcainrecaff@reddit
I live in the suburban very edge of a mid sized city in the UK (Wolverhampton- but I'm right on the western edge and there's nothing in one direction but fields for 15 miles to Bridgnorth)
It's a very quiet bit of the city.
I can walk in 10 minutes to 1 big supermarket and 4 small ones, 5 pubs, 4 dentists, 4 pharmacies, 2 doctors offices and a handful of charity shops, betting shops and probably 8 or 9 fast food places.
Bantock park and museum is walking distance. But there's green spaces everywhere.
I can get a bus every 15 minutes into the city centre then a train anywhere.
Other_Exercise@reddit
Exceedingly walkable. To the extent that I live next to a large walking trail (The Transpennine walking trail) and frequently see people on it.
PKblaze@reddit
You can walk but there might not be paving.
In my city we can walk from the main city to the nearby towns that surround in every direction. After that you probably need to walk through fields. Buses and trains are better for longer distances anyway.
FireLadcouk@reddit
One of the most walkable places. Its safe. Lots of space. Half a day walk from a village pub in most cases
ImpressNice299@reddit
You'll be fine without a car in London. You can get by without one in most cities and towns. In a town with fewer than \~100k people, you might want to do some more specific research - check public transport, rail, Uber coverage, etc.
bisikletci@reddit
It really depends where you are, but lots of smaller cities towns are (also) very walkable, at least in and around their central areas.
There are however increasingly often new housing developments that are build far from anything on the edges or slightly beyond towns, making life for the residents quite unwalkable. But if you have the resources to rent or buy somewhere actually in a town proper, chances are you will be able to do lots on foot.
Btw Birmingham is probably reasonably walkable (I haven't spent enough time there to say), but it is famously one of the, if not the, most car-brained cities in the country.
ShadowLickerrr@reddit
Very
lapodufnal@reddit
In general very walkable. I got my first car at about 25 and had moved away from home for uni at 18. I had my license just wasn’t worth the money on the car until I took a job that needed travel.
As you’re considering moving to the UK I would base your choice of home around your plans. If you don’t want to be in a city you could follow some train routes out and look to live walking distance to a train station. We like to complain about trains but really they are well-connected as long as you can get to one of the decent hub stations. In the north this works quite well, eg living close to a station that feeds into Manchester or Leeds can get you anywhere in the country really. Around London might be a bit harder to find affordable nice towns on the train routes
espionage64@reddit
Very walkable generally, esp cities and towns. I live rurally and there’s no pavements and all narrow country lanes. Lots of public footpaths. But I couldn’t walk to the nearest town (8 min drive) as no pavement and A road.
Menyana@reddit
Very walkable. Cities like Oxford promote walking and bikes and operate park and ride schemes.
We walk around shops, between shops. We go for country walks, sea front walks, visit zoos, manor houses and castles and walk around the grounds. There are lots of national parks, hills and mountains.
ProfessorYaffle1@reddit
Most places are reasonably walkable. Newer estates (usually on the edges of towns) built after mass car ownership became common may be less so - they will normally have pavements (sidewalks) but often don't have much in the way of amenities, whereas areas that have grown up more organically are more likely to include local facilities such as pubs, doctors surgeries, schools, and shops / smaller shopping areas.
Although I have a car, all of the towns where I have lived I would have been able to get around fairly easily on foot for pretty much everything.
I think the key would be to check out the specifc town, and reas of it, where you were thinking of moving .
WE do have areas where there is very little in walking distance - often in more rdeprived or run down areas where there is a tendancy for things like local shops and pubs to have closed , or where it's not very cost effective for larger supermarkets etc to open , so you can cn areas with very few amenities. Mostly even there you can manage without a car but it would mbe more likely to mena you would need to get a bus or taxi (or be prepared for a long walk)
MarkinW8@reddit
Be aware when reading responses that many UK people have no idea how insanely unwalkable most US cities and towns are. Many of those who have visited will have been in NY, LA, SF, Miami, Chicago, NOLA, etc. which are all outliers. As a US/UK person (half life in each) I can tell you most UK cities and towns are very very walkable and manageable by public transport compared to the US. Many cities in the mid-west and south of the US have whole sections of road with no sidewalks at all even in highly populated areas and that would just be plain weird in the UK. BUT, re UK, once you leave cities/towns/villages, it’s a different story and you have plenty of roads without siidewalks or adequate space to walk safely.
Bertie-Marigold@reddit
I know a guy who walked from Cornwall to Cape Wrath, so it is definitely quite walkable.
CicadaSlight7603@reddit
Most cities will have reasonable public transport although not to the level of say a Swiss city. Smaller cities and large towns can often be walked if you’re fit enough. Sometimes quite hilly! I’ve lived in 4 well known British cities, 2 small, 2 larger, and also worked in london. I only needed a car in the most recent - and that’s more due to having kids to ferry around and being disabled now. My husband and children walk or take public transport most places in the city and there is always the taxi option. My brother lives in a medium sized town and uses his bike or walks everywhere.
I grew up in the country though and there you DO need a car. Both for living in a village and living in the local market town. Public transport is poor - maybe two buses a day into the local town, not even every day. It’s also expensive. Taxis are almost non existent and booked weeks in advance and deliveroo isn’t a thing in most country areas.
However you would be somewhat saved by the excellent supermarket online hopping provision: there are at least 6 big supermarket chains with generally excellent online/delivery services and this is quite a normal thing for many families. Most people I know get a weekly large supermarket order and then top up with trips to the local shop.
tomelwoody@reddit
Bot!
G30fff@reddit
Very much depends on the town and where in the town you live and what you want to do.
In a smaller town, if you live near the town centre, then yes it probably will be walkable in the town itself but the transport links will be worse and getting out of town will be harder to do
Basically if you don't live in a city, not having a car can be a pain in the arse.
Jacktheforkie@reddit
Some areas are ok some are fucking shit, Dover has hills galore
rivieradog@reddit
I live in a town where, within 10 mins walk, I have a three food shops, two post offices, three news agents, loads of takeaways, seven restaurants, 2 pubs, a big field, park, nature reserve, cricket grounds, doctors, dentists… the list goes on. To walk there, there are multiple ways I can go - on the street on pavements, through a park/ woodlands, up a hidden passage. I cannot think of a place within 20/30 mins drive that I couldn’t walk to if I really wanted to
rivieradog@reddit
On top of this, they are really focussing on making everything better accessible by bike (new bike lanes) and there is public transport that is very regular and goes nearly everywhere
Ruadhan2300@reddit
If you're within a reasonable distance, then yes, walkable.
There are walking trails everywhere in the country, and public footpaths and sidewalks mean it's possible to get more or less anywhere on foot if you have the shoes and endurance for it.
I live in Denton, a small town in Greater Manchester, and all the shops and amenities are an easy 10 - 15 minute walk from me.
If I need to get to Stockport or Manchester itself, typically I'll take the bus, but Stockport is actually walking distance as well.
It's a 45 minute walk along various public footpaths and through Reddish Vale Park.
It's a nice walk in summer, though I'll preferentially get the bus home afterwards.
The buses are generally very useful, despite grumbling. You can get more or less anywhere via public transit in Greater Manchester for a reasonable price, even if it's not always the fastest or most reliably on time.
I think this broadly holds true for large parts of the UK.
If you're within 4 or 5 km, there will be footpaths to get there and you can feasibly walk there in under an hour.
Otherwise, the UK has a big culture of public transport and there's usually something available to take you where you need to be. Even if you have to look up the times online and it's 20 minutes late for some reason.
I don't own a car, and by and large don't need one.
Nipso@reddit
Reopen Stockport to Stalybridge line when?
Zanki@reddit
I have a car now and it's so much easier to get stuff done and go to places. I'm currently staying at my boyfriends and the closest bus stop is over a mile away. The closest supermarket was five miles away until Aldi opened around the corner. New build estates are essentially dead zones for years. I expect the bus stops that aren't in use that were built along the road coming in might get a couple of buses a day once the school and new shops have been built. You needed a car to do pretty much anything here because there's nothing to do. There's no cinema, no clubs or anything really. Well there's clubs but they absolutely suck. I gave up very quickly on finding a martial arts class here. That was a mess. To go bouldering it's a 50 min drive to the closest city. Same for the cinema. I won't drive that far just to go climbing so I don't go unless my boyfriend wants to.
When I lived in the city, it sucked not having a car but it wasn't impossible. Getting to the good cinema was a pain, so was getting to a supermarket that wasn't the local. Buses were never on time and even if you bought a ticket for one journey, if the timer ran out you couldn't get your connection without buying another ticket. Even though it's a single journey. Frustrating when every bus made you change at the bus terminal to go to the other side of the city. I could cycle to places faster than the bus could get me there. It was horrible when I couldn't cycle for ages and had to rely on public transport (I wouldn't have been able to drive either).
Otherwise yeah, it's fine. It just depends on where you are, how good the transport is. Some places are great, others not so much. Cars make life a lot easier but you don't need one to survive. I tend to walk/cycle before I take my car out. I hate car parks.
Ill-Basil2863@reddit
The UK was designed for walking.
ClevelandWomble@reddit
In a lot of places parking is either so awkward or expensive that walking is easier. I can stroll to three major supermarkets in ten minutes from home, and the main shopping street is even closer. We use the car for weekly shops or if it's raining. Otherwise, I prefer to walk.
There's also thousands of miles of country paths in England and Wales, and Scotland has a right to roam. Walking is what we do.
In cities like Cambridge, Durham and York, walking is so much more relaxing than driving that we just park outside and use the shuttle buses.
horseypie@reddit
Interesting - we moved to the UK 2 years ago, into a pretty big town in Cheshire, and I would counter things are not as walkable as the locals may think. Eg my wife doesn't drive and we made the decision to buy a house near our kids school, on the outer edge of this town. Yes, we can walk 15 minutes to the Lidl, the pub, or the chip shop... But this is like visiting a strip mall in the US - not typically the place you are walking for a coffee, lunch out, pharmacy, etc... Nearest town is 45 minute walk (5 minute drive), or an hourly bus that probably takes about 30 minutes to also get you into town.
So - if you find a place in or close to a town centre, it can be very walkable; but you can still find yourself within a "town" but a 45 minute walk to a town square.
Also - not sure if you're coming from somewhere with limited winter daylight, but something my wife struggles with is safety and walking at night. The UK is a pretty safe place in all reality but a lot of people aren't the most comfortable walking those distances at night.
I'll probably get hammered over this comment!
Easy-Equal@reddit
I think it's very walkable worst case me sister lives in the middle of nowhere and got a electric bike and gets everywhere
TheWorstRowan@reddit
If I were you I'd recommend checking the areas you are considering and look up bus connections. In comparison to the US or Canada the UK is very walkable. That is true of most places you'll find.
However, getting out of a small town or village can be awkward.
Illustrious-Care-991@reddit
I really don't understand all the people saying it's walkable. Yes if you live in the middle of a town and you don't mind the expense of using smaller supermarkets, it's kind of walkable as long as you don't need to leave the town centre. If you want to be able to get to larger affordable shops and just generally if you want to be able to get out and about, you're going to need a car. Even in a lot of cities I'd say you can do without a car but it's pretty inconvenient.
Brief-Caregiver-2062@reddit
far more walkable than the US and nations with similar urban planning to the US. varies a lot. an important factor is simply how close you live to town centres or one of the smaller hubs of shops you get outside town centres. my current house we didn't do enough due diligence before moving and there's pretty much nothing but houses for 15 minutes walk in either direction
orange_assburger@reddit
I'm in my mid 30s now and some friends who have only lived in the cities have literally never taken a driving lesson and have no plans to. City life is very compatible with public transport.
I live in the country and we need a car, so it all depends on where you want to live but you can do without easily.
Bitter_Register505@reddit
Slightly off-topic but if in and around the outskirts of London, try 'Saturday walkers club' for instructions for countryside walks on footpaths. I believe there's an actual group, but you can do the walks on your own if you like. They always have a great pub stop and there's like 500 of them, they're awesome
Dull-Job-3383@reddit
In a UK town, literally everywhere is walkable.
Graeme151@reddit
for your daily life, any town with about 10k will be perfectly walkable for about 90% of what you need to do
2epicpanda@reddit
location dependent. I live in a town of 20000 people and walking is fine, but without a car its a lot more inconvenient. Buses are a bit naff. Not like many cities, where there are actually fully functional public transport networks.
Willing_Ad_375@reddit
Fairly so
PerformerOk450@reddit
I would say the whole of the U.K. is walkable unless it's private or secured land,
LuxInteriorLux@reddit
It would take you a while to walk all of it
jeminar@reddit
Live in village of about 5000 in South East. Walking is an option but bike brings a lot lot more into range.
annabiancamaria@reddit
It depends on what you mean for walkable. I live in a town of 25K-30K people. According to Google maps, I could go from one side to the other in one hour. Some places like gyms and big supermarkets are often at the edge of towns. From my house to the council gym (if I ever dreamed to go there) is 40-45 minutes on foot, while to go to the big Tesco I need around 30 minutes. Would I want to do this every day or 3 times a week? I have another supermarket I can get to in 10 minutes, so I go to the big Tesco only occasionally in the summer.
Public transport is limited and not frequent. I have a train station nearby, so I can get to many places very easily, but I cannot get to smaller towns or villages in the area I live in as they are on very infrequent bus routes (mostly around school hours) or not accessible by public transport.
So, if you live near the town centre and the station, your will survive. But your life will be somewhat limited or inconvenient. You can also choose to live near the places you need to go more often as well, but this could limit the accessibility to other places.
Artistic_Data9398@reddit
If you're american, no. If you're from anywhere else in the world. Yes, very.
SkullKid888@reddit
Really broad question to answer for such a huge life decision and it really depends on your definition of “walkable”.
Some towns could have you a 10 minute walk away from the local high street, chain stores and transport hub. Others, well you could be a 2hr walk away from the closest local shop (for local people).
Not_Peanutt_@reddit
i walk everywere i dont have a car
Ok_Raspberry5383@reddit
Where do you live though. Many parts of the UK differ drastically in public transport and availability of amenities...
Ok_Raspberry5383@reddit
Public transport is great in the south east. Rest of the UK realistically you need a car.
ShortGuitar7207@reddit
Paradoxically, in smaller towns often in rural areas a car is more required because supermarkets may be out of town and therefore you need a car to get there. Also public transport tends to be very infrequent. You most definitely don't need a car in large cities like London because public transport is excellent and you can walk most places, depending on distance. If you have kids and they make friends some of these might live out of town in surrounding villages which makes it difficult to visit and socialise if you can't actually get there. Small towns also don't tend to have a lot going on, sure there will be some pubs maybe even good ones but sooner or later you're going to want to explore further afield. My recommendation would be to do your research and make sure that the supermarket is in the town centre and preferably that the town is on a train line to somewhere bigger so you can explore that easily.
Xaphios@reddit
We're in a mid-size town and can definitely manage without a car for the basics - particularly now all the supermarkets deliver.
Travel between towns takes a while if you're on a train or bus, but the links are there - we can easily get to wherever. As it happens we do run a car for the things we do that just don't work without one (hobbies in the countryside, and lots of family visits with dog in tow) so we drive places most of the time, we do walk or cycle into town a fair amount though.
Sad_Cardiologist5388@reddit
While you can walk in London, the thing is it's far from walkable. Everything you might want is so far apart, it's vast.
QOTAPOTA@reddit
Pretty much most places are made for walking. In the countryside it’s a bit different until you get into the villages.
Don’t have an idea of a town?
katie-kaboom@reddit
Cities are walkable or public transportable. On the day to day, most towns and villages are walkable enough. However, they may not have great bus service, so if you want to go to other towns, for example for work or shopping, you might need a car anyway.
CrepuscularNemophile@reddit
There are tens of thousands of 'rights of way' here. Many are footpaths that have been used for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. These were created when travel by foot was the only means of transport for the masses and when getting to the nearest market meant walking between villages. Most originate from three time periods:
Ancient trackways were established as early as 5,000 BC, linking Neolithic, Bronze or Iron Age encampments. Some called green ways, follow the natural contours of the landscape;
Roman roads and tracks date from 43 AD to 410 AD and were built to move men and supplies quickly around the country. Although existing tracks were sometimes upgraded, the Romans established the first proper roads; and
*Anglo-Saxon footpaths link the thousands of villages and towns established between 400 AD to 800 AD.
Footpath rights are rooted in English Common Law, which gives a legally protected right to walk on public rights of way such as public footpaths. Walkers can also use 'permissive paths', where there is no legal right but the landowner has granted permission.
Access has been strengthened over the years by legislation such as the National Parks and Access to The Countryside Act 1949, the Countryside Act 1968 and the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. The latter also introduced a 'right to roam' on certain upland and uncultivated areas. New rights are also still formed now where people use a defined route over a period of time, or documentary evidence for an ancient route is found (i.e. based on historical documents such as Enclosure Awards and/or other old maps. We have a long established and increasingly popular Ramblers Association that does a lot of research to find old forgotten routes and bring them back into use.
Suspicious_Dot9658@reddit
Unless you live in a major city, you need a car. Public transport does exist in most places but it's not great. Of course you can walk places, but it will take ages. Public transport isn't that cheap either.
Apsalar28@reddit
Generally if you're in a town big enough to have it's own supermarket and/or train station then you can manage just fine without a car.
Smaller than that or in places off the train routes then you can manage if you're working very locally or remote and getting groceries delivered, but you'll be planning life around not very reliable rural bus services.
stuaxo@reddit
Yeah, it's pretty walkable. People with cars organise their life around them, people without organise accordingly.
I've never lived in a place further than 10 minutes from a train station for instance, and prefer to live in towns rather than suburbia or villages (where bus services were decimated in the 80s).
One of the things this government is doing should improve bus services in the country over the next few years, but that's a while to wait.
Generally towns will have decent bus services and be walkable, the suburbs not so much and villages without train stations will be pretty isolated without a car.
X4ulZ4n@reddit
I don't have a car, use my work van through the day yet once I'm done for a day that's secured in a yard as its residential parking near myself and would take up a lot of room, also security.
I've 2 supermarkets less than a 10 min walk from my house, same with a gym. Football stadium 5 mins from my house aswell as a train station, loads of pubs and great public transport links close by. I walk most places and don't see any need to get a car any time soon. If I did, my missus would have me driving to IKEA every other weekend, and galavanting her around none stop.
rubber_galaxy@reddit
Load of rubbish people saying the UK is walkable - it's really not unless you are in a big city. Even if you live in the suburbs, everything is geared towards driving to places. Public transport is pretty poor in this country and expensive, unless you're in London. If you don't have a car a lot of things that you might want to do will not really be feasible, especially if you are in a small town. there will probably be a shop or a pub you can walk too but you'll really want a car still.
infieldcookie@reddit
I’m not in a big city and I’ve never had an issue with not having a car. I’ve always had a supermarket, doctor, dentist, train station, shops in walking distance. I don’t have kids but there are a bunch of schools in walking distance too. I could walk to two neighbouring villages in an hour if I wanted to.
Buses are max £3 for a single journey and I can get to other towns on them if I need to. Everywhere I lived has had a bus stop right outside my house but maybe I’ve just been lucky there.
Elastichedgehog@reddit
Completely agree. Also a very England-centric viewpoint (unsurprisingly, given the population). You'd be hard-pressed to get around in Wales without a car unless you live in Cardiff or one of the bigger towns.
Similar_Quiet@reddit
I live in a large town. I can and usually do walk everywhere I need to, I sometimes ride my bike for speed and I used to commute fifteen miles by train for work.
I have multiple pubs, coffee shops, supermarkets, restaurants and a whole town centre within a fifteen minute walk each way.
When I lived in the suburbs 1.5 miles from the town centre, i still had 3 small-mid size co-ops, two pubs, various takeaways etc within a thirty minute walk each way.
I use the car for leisure - to visit family, to get out into the Peak District with my family etc.
tobotic@reddit
I've lived in various places in the UK including a village (Blockley, Gloucestershire), a moderate sized town (Lewes), a larger town (Darlington), a moderate sized city (Nottingham), central London (Russell Square) and the suburbs (South Ealing and West Ealing) and have found them all absolutely fine without a car. I don't even have a bike.
If you lived in a very small village or in the middle of nowhere, I grant you, you'd be hard pressed to survive without a powered vehicle But that's a pretty small percentage of the population.
alphahydra@reddit
It depends on your point of reference.
Compared to some countries, like the US — where in a lot of cities you can be looking out of your hotel window at a pharmacy or restaurant two doors along the same busy thoroughfare, but there's no way of physically getting there on foot without jaywalking or hopping over fences — the UK is extremely walkable.
Compared to a lot of EU countries, of course, it's shit.
I live in the suburbs in a UK city. It's definitely geared towards driving everywhere, and most people do. But there are still pavements on every street, I can still slog it to a shop or a bus stop or train station (to wait for a delayed train usually). It's inconvenient to do so, but doable. Non-drivers here are playing on a harder difficulty, but not completely trapped (or reliant on rideshare) like they are in some places.
I'd say the UK is mediocre in terms of walkability. It's definitely nowhere near the bottom of the pack.
Ysbrydion@reddit
Yup. They've never been to a Southern small town built solely so people can commute into London, but apparently don't need a corner shop.
quick_justice@reddit
I moved in some time too. Decent sized towns are very walkable. Smaller villages will have places with no pavement where you are expected to share road with cars but the drivers here aren’t crazy and expect walkers so it’s fine.
In a countryside good pair of wellies or tracker boots is a must of course, but then you can go out of human habitat and enjoy some nature by foot.
All in all there are more walkable places in the world but on a balance it’s quite fine, and definitely nowhere near US urban nightmare.
stronglikebear80@reddit
Birmingham city centre is easily walkable and I often cover it in my hour lunch break at work. The outskirts take longer but the network of canals mean you can walk the towpaths making it more reasonable. I come from Dudley which is a small town close to Birmingham and grew up in a family without a car so walked absolutely everywhere, maybe that skews my perception but I can walk to quite a few places within an hour. We are also well served by public transport although punctuality isn't its strong point lol.
becca413g@reddit
I live in a large town and if you're within the town boundary the bus service isn't too bad so far as towns go. I'd not say it's very walkable unless you're in the centre as you can be up to 2 miles from a supermarket but nothing a bus or bike can't sort out. Smaller shops are spaced about a mile or so apart and you're probably within 2 miles of a GP or the main hospital regardless of where you are in the town.
With those distances I'd not really say it's walkable to most but add in a bus ticket or a bike and it's easy to get about. I'm visually impaired and use a cane and have no issues.
Getting anywhere outside the town is more tricky. We have a train station where the nearest city is 1h, 3h by bus. Public transport to surrounding villages is either a few times a day or nothing at all and some of those don't even have a shop anymore.
I'd say it's going to vary hugely by location but if you choose any major town or city you'll be fine without access to a car.
Polz34@reddit
Totally depends. When I lived in Derby I was near the town centre so no car needed as trains/buses could get me to anywhere I might want to go outside Derby. Now I live in Wiltshire and I think I would be very isolated without a car, there is a train station in my town but only 2 platforms and maybe 3 trains an hour either going towards Bristol, London or another local town (like Swindon.)
If I wanted to go down to the Jurrasic coast it would be 3 trains approx. 4.5 hours and a lot of money! But only 2/2.5 hours to drive.
infieldcookie@reddit
Three trains an hour is still pretty decent for a smaller town tbf.
throw4455away@reddit
Yeah I think your location within the city/town makes a big difference to how walkable things are. My town is 50k people and I live a 12 min walk from the town centre. But they’re building new estates on the outskirts of the town, there is no public transport and it would be a 25+ minutes walk to most amenities, although there are supermarkets a little closer
tobotic@reddit
Ah, but most of that 4.5 hours could be spent reading a book on identifying dinosaur fossils. Can't read while you're driving.
aghzombies@reddit
I lived in Northern Wisconsin for 3 years and uhhhh, a LOT more walkable than that. I've lived in smaller and bigger towns, it will depend on the local geography (lived in a very hilly place at one point) and mobility (I am now a wheelchair user) but in addition to being much more walkable than the majority of the US, there are also often reasonably robust public transport systems (again though, fewer buses the further you are from a city).
My recommendation is to come visit some places you're thinking about, and see what you think. It's hard to draw a direct comparison, because what's walkable to one isn't to another. If you go live in North Wales you might find it's harder due to the nature of the roads and how spread out everything is; if you move to where I am you'll find I can get a bus into town every 5 minutes if I so choose.
No_Breadfruit_4901@reddit
Very walkable which is what makes this country great!
Bertybassett99@reddit
When I can walk from.my house to the offi and back.
North_Tip3952@reddit
Most places are Walkable in the UK.
Snaggl3t00t4@reddit
I mean..you can't realky walk to Birmingham from London...but we have paths /pavements...sidewalks all over the place. Pedestrianised zones or my favourite German word ...fussgaengerzone are pretty common.
Side note..Birmingham isn't great.
Magpie_Mind@reddit
It’s immensely walkable in urban areas in the sense of pavements etc. I understand this is a marked difference to the US if that’s where you’re from.
Whether the amenities you need are in walking distance is an entirely different question and will vary on a neighbourhood by neighbourhood basis.
Don’t forget public transport either, those the usefulness of this varies.
kraftymiles@reddit
It depends i guess, both on the type of walking you're on about and the location. I live ina city in the south West and haven't used my car in ages. Bakers, butchers, fruit amd veg and importantly pub and restaurants are all within half a mile of my house. The village I grew up in outside the city, less so.
I-like-IT-Things@reddit
UK is a big place.
sooperz@reddit
yea just depends where you are, any decent town will be walkable, you might need to commute out to work depending on where you live as jobs are tight at the moment
Ok_Willingness_1020@reddit
Depends on where you live and where you are going eg work , shops etc Google maps and research , if just going for a dander most places are walkable
fussyfella@reddit
It is very place dependent. As a general rule, towns and cities are walkable but as you get into the country you mostly need your own transport.
The devil is also in the detail of exactly where in a given town you live. For instance, one I know well, Cambridge, it is quite a long walk from where most people can afford to live to the city centre and the most common form of transport is cycling. If you cannot/do not want to use a bike, the bus service is okay but patchy. Of course if you can afford somewhere in or very close to the historic centre, or you are lucky enough to get university accomodation it is very walkable. I am sure similar sort of details apply in many towns.
anguslolz@reddit
If you're coming from the USA it's extremely walkable in comparison especially in the built up areas. A car is only really a necessity if you live in the middle of nowhere.
I didn't realise how walkable the UK is until I first visited my fiancé who's American.
coffeewalnut05@reddit
It is very walkable
Careful_Adeptness799@reddit
A lot more walkable than say America. We actually go for a walk for the enjoyment of it here.
CaterpillarLake@reddit
Oh the uk is very walkable - whether you want to walk or not very much depends on your fitness level, mobility, clothing choice and location.
I’ve walked all over the uk. I’ve walked to work (9 miles on boring polluted concrete streets), walked to woodland via footpaths through fields full of cows, walked the entire Pembrokeshire coastal path for fun (camping along the way). You can walk pretty much anywhere you want. Whether you want to is another matter.
The weather is extremely changeable. Choosing to walk to work will likely mean you have to carry a raincoat and layers because you will get hot, cold and wet in the space of an hour.
Walking to work will very much limit your employment options. People do tend to commute long distances in order to have both an affordable home plus a decent paying job. If you have a particularly high paid job then you could probably live in the centre of the city of your choice and be able to walk to work. For most people this isn’t possible. Lots of people commute to another town or city via train or car. Personally I’ve only ever worked within a 10 mile radius of where I live because I don’t want a long commute (traffic is awful in most places so you could spend many hours a day travelling on top of your 8-10 hours working).
Every area of the UK is different though. Vastly different. So to really answer your question you need to narrow down where you’re thinking of moving to.
fleaArmy@reddit
Everywhere is walkable. Ignore every other mid informed comment mate. The majority are city dwellers commenting cos they "once visited the Yorkshire Dales and it was so easy to get about".
The whole country is walkable.
Every city.
Every town.
Every village.
I've lived Lancaster, Nottingham, London, Manchester, York, Morecambe, Grange, Oxford, Keswick, Levenshulme, Tynemouth, Sunderland.
Listen to me. Not some fool who has lived in two places.
The entire country is safe and walkable.
We are the most free country in the world buddy.
Independent-Wish-725@reddit
It's about 300hours if you can can keep going that long
ffordeffanatic@reddit
The UK can be very walkable, the only roads that don't really have footpaths are very small rural roads or motorways. Even in those cases, we have ramblers rights and generally there will be a path that runs nearby.
07ufarooq@reddit
It depends. It’s walkable in cities/town centres. But if you live in a village countryside then no.
37362628@reddit
I didn't get a driving licence til 25 - not because I'm a dickhead but because I literally never needed it
RiotSloth@reddit
Very walkable, completely different to most of the places in the US I’ve been to. When I went to walk to the shops over there people looked at me as if I was nuts. When I got back to the hotel I understood why 😄. Totally not designed for walking anywhere. UK is.
Phil_Oop_North@reddit
Mostly, yes.
It partly comes down to what you mean by a smaller town. Most decent sized towns will have some sort of public transport that would make walking easier, but if you're talking really, really small villages of a few hundred people or a couple of thousand then you would likely struggle without a car, especially if in a particular sparsely populated area (Highlands of Scotland, Exmoor, etc).
Obviously, it would also depend on your personal level of fitness, age, any injuries, disabilities, etc, and maybe even concerns for personal safety depending on where you would be.
JaBe68@reddit
I live in a small market town - 3000 people - ans work remotely. As long as you don't live in one of the outlying farms, there is a walkable pavement everywhere. We have a bus to the nearest bigger town every hour and from there you can go anywhere else in the UK by train. I have not driven a car for two years.
Dennyisthepisslord@reddit
Depends completely from town to town, social and work needs, shopping options etc.
Personally outside of London I think you need a car in this country even if it's just a cheap one for certain occasions.
Let's say I was going to visit friends on the other side of town. It's a hour walk which is perfectly fine with paths etc or about the same via bus as it's more than one bus and connections are not timed perfectly. Or it's 10 minutes in the car.
Public transport ( buses) will get you to the town center reasonably well enough but if you want to go off that path then car is still well ahead.
Twidogs@reddit
Never owned a car but never lived far from a town or city. Fortunately the country was built before the car and it shows when driving anywhere. Victorian infrastructure everywhere which fortunately makes most places walkable in theory. ( it’s more about feeling uncomfortable in certain city areas as our wildlife is rarely dangerous)
_a_m_s_m@reddit
City centres will be ok. But if you go out to the the suburbs/countryside, good luck.
Big_Poppa_T@reddit
As a general rule, yeah pretty walkable
peekachou@reddit
Grew up in a village of about 8,000, everything I needed was within walking distance and anything else was fairly easy to get to on the bus even with our shitty bus time table. That decreases further into the countryside you get. Unless you live out in the sticks every day life is definitely walkable in the majority of places
GammaPhonic@reddit
Not quite Netherlands level, but very far from US style car dystopia.
I’ve never owned a car and get by walking and cycling just fine.
sjw_7@reddit
All towns and cities in the UK are very walkable. You are almost certain to be in easy walking distance of any amenities you need. Its very geared up for the pedestrian, there are pavements everywhere and many town centres are becoming car free. Our roads are easy to cross and you don't run the risk of getting arrested for doing it.
That does not mean you wont need a car though as they are still incredibly useful and if you live in a village its possibly the only practical way you have of getting to the nearest large town.
We like to complain about public transport but overall its good. Towns and cities will have bus services and taxis to get you around if you don't want to walk. A few places have trams and London has the underground.
Getting between towns and cities is where you have options that you don't necessarily have in the states. Trains can be expensive and not run on time but can be the easiest and most convenient way to get somewhere.
Overall I think you will be surprised at how easy it is to live here without having to drive everywhere.
MahatmaAndhi@reddit
Depends where you are. Lots of places are easily livable without a car (and a bike will open up all sorts of possibilities). But if you're in a small town then the buses come whenever they feel like it and you're making a 3hr round trip for a pint of milk.
PetersMapProject@reddit
I'd call somewhere with a population of 2000 a village not a town, but anyway.
I picked a random village - Chew Magna, Somerset.
Population 1,149.
Google maps shows a Co-op (small grocery store), pet shop, primary school, four pubs and restaurants, a coffee shop, a florist, a dentist and probably some other things I've missed.
Now, the public transport looks crap, but you could certainly meet most of your needs (including that pint of milk) without a car.
Impossible_Theme_148@reddit
To add to that I live in a village of about a thousand and we have a small shop/post office
We have neighbouring villages of a few hundred people - but it only takes them a 30 minute walk or a 5 minute drive to get here and pick up their basics.
ie a 3 hour round trip for milk seems wildly excessive.
benjymous@reddit
Spalding had a population of ~30k at the last census. 20k for Stamford.
If you're looking for somewhere with a population more around 2k, that's an average village size, like Deeping St Nicholas outside Spalding, if you need a size comparison.
justanothersideacc@reddit
Someone on YouTube walked from London to Cambridge in 3 days if that's what you mean 😉
WeRW2020@reddit
London is one of the most walkable cities in the world, and the public transport is good enough to get you everywhere you need to go in town.
messedup73@reddit
If you are fit and healthy most places are walkable and even the smallest of villages often have a basic shop.Public transport depends on the area l live 45 minutes walk away from the town centre but live on an estate with buses every 20 minutes we have a home bargains a Chinese chippy and Indian plus doctors a small Morrisons with post office and hairdressers ten minutes walk away.Ive noticed when on holiday around the country have managed getting to places by walking plus Google maps give you short cuts .
just_some_guy65@reddit
Very, there is not a culture of driving somewhere 400 yards away. We have pavements for the purpose of walking or running on.
Spirited_Praline637@reddit
It varies massively and depending on where in the city you live. Generally the older (ie pre-cars) towns and cities are very walkable, but the further out you go from their centres, the less walkable they get. Also those with better public transport are better.
A lot of the country however is not as walkable as it could be because: (A) Lack of facilities in smaller town centres (so requiring travel to other towns or cities) (B) Most development from the 70s onwards was built around the private car; (C) Most areas have very poor or quite expensive bus services, and trains are often not to the right places and are also expensive. Metro rail or trams are restricted to just the big cities.
I would add by the way that, from my experience Birmingham is NOT a walkable city in general.
YetAnotherInterneter@reddit
More walkabout than North America. Less walkable than mainland Europe.
Appropriate_Gur_2164@reddit
Hugely depends on what you’re hoping to walk to/why you’re walking
High street shopping? Typically walkable
School/Hospital/similar public amenity? Typically walkable
Fancy scaling the nearest hillside/mountain? Less walkable but if it’s a popular spot there will be a path/route
hybrid37@reddit
Live on the edge of a 30k population town. I could live life without a car, but it would be a lot less convenient. E.g. walking to town is easy, walking to the next town is not
box_frenzy@reddit
https://beta.slowways.org/
This organisation are building a map of all the walkable routes connecting towns, cities, and villages across the whole UK.
It’s in beta so needs everyone to contribute!
Lynex_Lineker_Smith@reddit
🤦🏻♂️
CamKi79@reddit
I’m 45 & have lived in Cities (Derby , York) I’ve lived in a village (Kiveton Park ) I’ve also lived in Uplowman with a population of a few hundred , and Bickleigh where there were a few other houses and a few pubs. I’ve never driven.If I couldn’t walk it , there was public transport to other towns/cities.
In Bickleigh , in the middle of the countryside ,I could walk down my hill and take a bus and be in Tiverton Town centre within 20mins.
SeatSnifferJeff@reddit
I lived in a small-ish town. Schools, supermarkets, the gym, pubs, cafes, restaurants were all within walking distance of my house. However, if I wanted to do anything else, then it was 40 mins on a bus to the nearest mid-sized town and 90 minutes to the nearest city. A car certainly wasn't a necessity, but it would have made my quality of life much better.
Complete_Sherbert_41@reddit
I'm in Bristol and it's easy enough to get about without a car (I do have a car, but rarely exceed 3000 miles a year), I generally use busses, trains and uber.
evenstevens280@reddit
I live in a mid-sized town and my car mileage lasst year was under 1000 miles. Most of that was carting big music equipment to gigs.
Personally, very walkable.
Bodkinmcmullet@reddit
Very very walkable
Used to work for the Ramblers and the footpath network in this country is incredible and on the whole very well maintained
knight-under-stars@reddit
You can walk to just about anywhere in any town in the UK, it's more a matter of is it practical than is it possible.
For example in my local town everywhere is accessible on foot but it might take an hour to walk to the hospital from the centre of town.
Ordinary-Break2327@reddit
We have an amazing transportation system. I've never needed a car.
Lemonsweets25@reddit
I feel that the UK is somewhere that it’s an inconvenience not to have a car out of the cities but it’s also completely doable if you pick the right location. I’m 26 and grew up in suburbs just out of the city, I got around fine walking, taking buses and trains but the transport was particularly good where I grew up, then I moved into the city and have been fine, soon I’ll be moving to semi rural countryside (a village just out of a market town). I’m going to make do with a bike and walking until I get my license but I know if I really want to get to neighbouring towns and things like that it’s going to be difficult so I’m going to learn to drive. But you’re definitely likely to find a house with all your amenities that are local to you.
Emotional-Ebb8321@reddit
You'll probably need a car to get from one end to the other.
benjymous@reddit
I live in a fairly small town - I'd say there isn't anywhere within the town that I can't reach on foot from my front door (safely walking on footpaths). There's a small convenience store about five minutes walk away, and I've got a choice of three bigger supermarkets about ten to fifteen minutes walk away.
The nearest bus stop is a couple of minutes away, which will take me into the town centre, and to the nearest city in about 30-40 minutes (depending on the time of day and traffic)
Breaking-Dad-@reddit
Yes and no.
I live in a very small city (population c. 16k) and theoretically it is walkable. I am a fifteen minute walk from the town centre. There are a couple of small supermarkets in the centre and there's even a city bus to take me home with my shopping if needs be, although it is a very limited route. There's also a good bus service to the next big town and even on to the next very big city. I work from home, the local schools are within walking distance.
However.
If I lived in one of the surrounding villages or even another half mile out of town I would be completely lost without a car. Buses are so infrequent as to be almost pointless. If I wanted to work anywhere but home or in town the bus and connections would take me so long my commute would be unbearable. If I wanted to go to the cinema or theatre I'd struggle and might have to resort to a taxi home at great expense. If I could even find one. If I needed to go further afield I would have to plan my route very carefully to avoid spending the whole day missing buses and trains and walking around.
Wizzpig25@reddit
It really depends on where you live, and where you want to walk to, and how far you want to walk. A lot of places are walkable, but not all of them for all of your needs.
seklas1@reddit
Generally it’s very walkable. However if you need to get between cities, you’d have to use questionable public transport. I walk everywhere generally, even if it’s like 2 miles away, I’ll walk it no problem. However recently I’ve moved to a smaller town and even though plenty of pedestrian and bike paths around, I’m generally the only one walking and everyone else is in a car.
HH93@reddit
In Lincolnshire the EU funded miles and miles of cyclepaths that are at the side of the roads heading to the villages. Also there well established walking routes.
Example is around my area you can just about walk from Lincoln centre to Grantham on cycle paths and the Viking Way.
AbramKedge@reddit
The biggest problem is finding a town that still has an active high Street. Out of town retail parks have gutted town centres.
When I moved back to the UK, I spent a couple of days in each of six different towns and small cities, just getting a feel for the location and transport connections. I also made side trips to another four or five places.
I found a beautiful area in Scotland with great bus and train connections. We're a very short walk into the town centre with multiple restaurant and takeaway options, and a large Tesco just across the road. We manage fine without a car.
Larnak1@reddit
If you're living fairly central, most towns are also very walkable. If you're a bit outside, you want to make sure you get a good public transport connection to the centre close by, then you're fine.
Bike infrastructure is horrible compared to a lot of other European countries, just in case you're planning to rely on a bike (I made that mistake when I moved here).
Laescha@reddit
Bike infrastructure is very variable, there are some local authorities which are doing a great job of creating safe, connected routes and some which are doing basically nothing.
schminanina@reddit
Depends on the town, and depends on what you need. The town my mum lives in for example, has a co-op, a post office, a pharmacy, a vet, two takeaways, an Indian restaurant and a pub. So for leisure you wouldn't need a car at all. Could walk to all of them easily and have most of your needs met. However, unless you work in any of those establishments, you'd need to use public transport to get to work. The nearest 'big' town is about 15 minutes drive away, and the nearest town centre with offices, hospital etc ... is about 30 minutes drive away. You could get the bus but it comes once an hour starting at 9am. Last bus back is around 5pm. So it doesn't fit in with most work schedules.
If you wanted to go to the cinema or the theatre you'd be looking at driving, or taking a bus for 90 minutes to get there. For the theatre, you'd be paying for a taxi back as the bus doesn't run that late.
It's worth looking at what you want to do. If you never want to or need to, leave the area around your house then in most places you'd be grand. Normally it's once you start factoring in getting to a workplace, needing bigger supermarkets or shops, and wanting to do things in the evening, that a car becomes more of a need.
Ysbrydion@reddit
Big cities, yes. Some suburbs are, but this is very variable. I live in an older town with homes and shops in very close proximity. We have good (well, by British standards) public transport.
My in laws live on a massive housing estate plonked in the middle of nowhere on some ex-farmland. It has a main road. That's it. No shops, no park. It is a half hour walk to reach anything resembling civilisation and there is no public transport. Everyone drives. They think I am very weird for not driving and don't understand how I live.
dinkidoo7693@reddit
Depends i guess it takes just over an hour to walk to the nearest town centre from my house, the route is quite hilly though and there not much shelter if it starts raining.
Impetuous_doormouse@reddit
Most towns are walkable and depending on where you go, it might actually be *easier* to walk than drive. I live near Manchester and it's so much easier to get a bus in and then walk around than it is to drive most of the time.
I guess what "walkable" means, too. For example, apart from when I lived in the deep countryside, I've never lived more than a half hour walk to a decent shop/ amenities and in the summer, I often do the 50 mins walk to work just to see more of the neighbourhood that I miss when I'm driving. We, mostly, have ample footpaths and pedestrian crossings in UK towns.
For more leisure walking, most places are fairly close to decent sceneries and there's quite the tradition of rambling in the UK.
Stunning-Wave7305@reddit
Depends. Towns and cities are, typically, pretty walkable. Less built-up areas are less so.
That said, there are lots of places which 1960s and 70s planners built around the car - and they are a nightmare. There are also plenty of modern housing developments which have little in the way of amenities close by. And town planners are still creating stupid road layouts that are hostile to pedestrians.
Generally, in my experience, affluent towns and areas of cities tend to be more walkable. Probably because the middle classes favour places (and have the budget for) the places that didn't get a giant dual carriageway run though it in 1971.
Future_mrseurope151@reddit
You can cope without a car in many towns if you pick where you live and work carefully. Many people commute to work by train or bus. Many supermarkets will deliver groceries. Personally if I didn't have a car I would make sure I live by a train station with more than one train an hour in each direction.
When we moved to our current house I couldn't drive. I had a job that was close to a train station. So we made sure we were close to a train station with regular trains to work. I'm also in walking distance of supermarkets, general shops, hairdressers, butcher, clothes shop, pharmacy, doctors etc.
Silver-Appointment77@reddit
It all depeneds. If its a small town, you need a car because most dont have supermarkets, and most the bus services are terrible. If its a town, then its all walkable. Like mine. its 25 minutes into town, same for the railway station, 20 minutes to supermarkets, 5 minutes to the local shops which has a Heron (a cheap shop which I love) and go the other way 15 minutes and your in countryside. with load of fields.
tmstms@reddit
For survival i.e. necessary things like getting food, most towns and cities are easily walkable.
For quality of life, leisure outside specifically nice towns and cities is much much better with a car.
HMS_Hexapuma@reddit
In general the UK is very walkable. After all, a lot of it assumed its current shape before the advent of affordable cars. Cities are obviously walkable, as are the major and minor towns. Once you get down to villages you may want a car just so that you can go to supermarkets.
woodseatswanker@reddit
Very walkable on the whole, but if you were to live somewhere like Dundee, Bristol or Sheffield for example the hills may give you some massive calf muscles
CoffeeIgnoramus@reddit
I'd say you can walk or use public transport in almost all towns. Villages need cars a lot more.
Sidebottle@reddit
It's pretty walkable. In theory if you're within a Town limit you should be able to walk to everything you need to survive, like a doctors, pharmacy, hair dressers, food shop etc.
You will still need public transport though otherwise your options will be limited. No one wants to get all their food from a small corner shop.
Glass-Evidence-7296@reddit
What does Smaller town mean? Commuter towns near London are walkable, many parts of greater manchester and brum are walkable. But if you go rural or really small town, then you need a car
Mission_Escape_8832@reddit
You will be fine in any city and most 'market' towns.
If you opt for a very small rural village, then you might struggle without a car due to a lack of public transport. My mum until recently lived in a tiny village in Devon with no facilities and one bus service a week. She moved to a market town and now can walk to access everything she needs. There is also a frequent bus service to the nearest large towns and cities.
Melodic-Guitar192@reddit
Really depends on where. Went to Durham for university and lived relatively close to the city centre (=30 mins walk) so everything was certainly within walkable distance. Buses were very accessible too. Cities like London and Manchester are also walkable but it always depends on where you decide to live and where your destinations are
BreqsCousin@reddit
This might help you consider different places
Number of cars or vans - Census Maps, ONS https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/maps/choropleth/housing/number-of-cars-or-vans/number-of-cars-3a/no-cars-or-vans-in-household
The_Real_Macnabbs@reddit
Depends where you move to. Generally, if you live in the centre of a busy city, a car is not desirable. But if you are in the suburbs, you may want to consider at least a small car just in case you need to 'pop to the shops'. Thanks to on-line shopping, you can get groceries delivered and just about anything else, but a car does give you freedom. I hate to say it, but you cannot rely on public transport, if a visit is vital, you need to be mobile. A compromise might be an ebike. You can rent a car for long haul journeys.
iamabigtree@reddit
Walkability only really works in the big cities. For the majority of the UK living somewhere affordable means needing a car.
BackgroundGate3@reddit
Towns and cities are walkable. There are pavements everywhere. Only country roads don't have pavements.
Itallachesnow@reddit
Very! Towns and cities are mostly walkable unless there is an urban motorway (autoroute or freeway) where everything except motor vehicles are prohibited. In the rural areas there are signed footpaths across open country and special, usually named and signed, long distance footpaths.
In smaller towns and villages there may be a lack of pavement to walk on where roads are narrow, the general rule is to walk facing oncoming traffic.
The worst places to walk around are the huge out of town shopping centres which assume everyone has a car, but they will be connected to public transport services .
Valuable-Wallaby-167@reddit
There are two different things here.
The UK has a lot of public footpaths and not a lot of extreme terrain, so it is very walkable. In Scotland people have the right to roam so you don't even need to stick to paths all the time. Given enough time you can get between most places on foot.
However, that doesn't mean a lot of people don't need a car. The public transport in a lot of more rural areas is bad to non-existent and plenty of people in those areas won't be in walking distance of shops/work/schools etc.
Key-Original-225@reddit
As always, it depends on where, but generally you can walk wherever you need to get to
PetersMapProject@reddit
Outside of very rural areas, where services are far away and there may not be pavements (note: in British English, a sidewalk is a pavement) then yes it's walkable. We have public transport too.
If you're in a small town, you'll have pavements and shops within walking distance, though you may have to get the bus or train, or cycle, to a bigger city if you want a huge range of things. Grocery delivery is common too, if you don't want to carry lots of heavy stuff home, for a small delivery fee.
I'd suggest going on street view, picking a random house, and clicking through the route to the nearest shop.
JamJarre@reddit
Towns and cities are generally fine without a car. Countryside you will absolutely need one as local public transport is pretty infrequent and unreliable.
That being said, it's worth learning to drive as there are some amazing parts of the UK that are easier to visit via car
MajorTurbo@reddit
Everything and everywhere is walkable. You might need a car to make some things easier, but you'll be alright without one.
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