The walk to Coombe Hill and its views of the Chilterns

A nice walk that you can do even if you are particularly fit and that you can easily reach from London.  This is Coombe Hill in the Chilterns in Buckinghamshire. The walk goes around Coombe Hill and gives you beautiful views of the Aylesbury Valley.

In summer you will cross fields with grazing cattle, while in autumn you will have the opportunity to enjoy the rich colours of nature. Notice that these are chalk hills and under the ground you can see the unmistakable whiteness. This land and hill once belonged to the British Prime Minister’s summer home, Checkers. It is now managed by the National Trust. From the hill you can clearly see Checkers and its park.

A walk takes you to the top of Coombe Hill where there is a monument built in 1804 dedicated to the fallen of Buckinghamshire during the war in South Africa. The National Trust has all the details of this walk that are not difficult to follow. The walk takes about an hour and a half and is therefore doable even if you are not really fit. However, bring comfortable low shoes.

If you are coming from London and you don’t have a car,  you can take the train from Marylebone station in London, in fact there is a line called Chilterns Railways Line which serves the Chilterns area. Get off at Wendover and from there follow the signs for the Ridgeway to get to Coombe Hill. Or take the Metropolitan Line to Amersham and buy a ticket to Wendover here. Take the train to Aylesbury, it’s only two stops and 13 minutes by train. There are two trains per hour so quite frequent.

There are several ways to get there from Wendover, in any case when you leave the station you have to cross the bridge over the main road and one of the two paths starts right after the bridge. In fact you will find a small path on the left just below the trasmission towers.

Cross the field and reach the houses then you can follow the instructions you find here. There are also alternative walks that cover a longer route. There are no detailed signs to Coombe Hill so you must have the instructions with you.

Once you’re back in Wendover, you can try Rumsey’s Chocolatiere, a pastry and chocolate shop inspired by the film Chocolat. The hot chocolate, cakes and chocolates are great too. If you prefer something else, there are three pubs not far from the station that also have food.

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