Walking

Walking is one of the easiest and most accessible ways to improve your health and wellbeing. Walking has a whole range of benefits for your health. It helps prevent heart disease, diabetes and cancer. It improves wellbeing and is linked to better sleep, improved cognitive function and an overall better quality of life. Every step counts and even modest amounts of walking (around 4,000 steps a day) makes a positive impact on your health (information from Walking Scotland) 

 

Group Walking - Health Walks

Are you currently physically active? Do you need a little bit of motivation to get walking? Would you like to meet new people and perhaps make new friendships? NHS Grampian would recommend that you consider joining a Health Walk. Health Walks are short (between 10 minutes and 1 hour), free to join, local (so usually no transport required) and are led by trained volunteers. The routes are also risk-assessed and often can include a cuppa at the end if you wish (though this is not normally free of charge). If you feel that you are fit, and don’t think a Health Walk is for you there are organisations operating in Grampian that offer more advanced group walks.
 

Organisations that offer Health Walks in Grampian 

Health Walks are defined and monitored by Walking Scotland. In Grampian they work with the following organisations to offer them: 

Though a great resource to find a Health Walk local to you is via Walking Scotland’s website  

It is a good idea to follow any groups you are interested in on their social media channels. Unavoidably some sessions are sometimes cancelled and keeping an eye on their Facebook, X, Instagram, etc, posts could save you a wasted trip. You may feel a bit apprehensive before joining an existing group walk. However, the groups are very welcoming of new people. You could always join with a friend! 

 

Parkwalk

Did you know you can also walk at a Parkrun? Not surprisingly it is called Parkwalk. Everyone’s welcome at parkwalk. Everyone starts at the same time and walks the same 5k parkrun route, alongside runners and volunteers. It’s free, fun, and a great way to stay active at your own pace. parkwalk | parkrun UK

 

Group Walking – More advanced 

Capable of walking for more than an hour? These two organisations offer more advanced walking opportunities: 

So you’ll see that the Grampian 50+ network offers both Health Walks and longer walks. The longer walks often involve organised transport which may incur a fee. Even the longer walks are rarely more than 2 hours in length. 

Ramblers Scotland offer more advanced walks still. There is a fee to join the Ramblers and there may be a significant amount of travel involved to get to a walk.  The walks are graded in 6 styles from ‘easy access’ all the way through to ‘technical’. 

 

Solo Walking 

Of course group walking might not be for you. Perhaps you are interested in walking to work or school? In that case Living Streets Scotland might be of interest. They advocate for pedestrians and campaign for improved road safety. 

Here are some other solo walking options: 

Aberdeen City 

Aberdeenshire 

 Moray 

The above are official Local Authority supported walking trails but you’ll find a lot of useful independent information on social media.

 

And finally..... 

If you like a bit of competition Walking Scotland has regular national step count competitions. Gather 4 of your friends and assemble a team! Find out more here. 

Published: 02/07/2026 10:56