Parkland Walk

The lowdown

The Parkland Walk follows the route of a long-closed railway line through north London, and over the decades since the trains stopped nature has reclaimed it completely. The result is the longest nature reserve in the capital, a green leafy corridor running from Finsbury Park up to Highgate, and it is entirely free to walk or cycle.

It is a wonderfully strange experience, walking a flat railway cutting that is now a tunnel of trees, with old platforms slowly being swallowed by ivy and brambles. Look out for the famous spriggan, a goblin-like sculpture peering out from a bricked-up arch that has inspired ghost stories and even an Arthur Machen tale.

Birds, butterflies and wildflowers thrive along the line, and because it runs above the streets you get a quiet, almost rural ribbon cutting through the heart of the city. A free walk with a real sense of secret discovery.