Here’s your guide to the best student friendly spring walking routes around Liverpool

Deadline season is creeping up again, and my best advice for stress relief is to spend some time reconnecting with nature. It’s easy to go a bit crazy when you haven’t seen grass in a week and that pile of recommended reading seems to be getting even bigger than you thought.

Now that the sun is shining and every student around the city has got a new lease for life, it might be time to drag yourself out of that pub garden and hit the road, or path. Checking out some of the local hotspots like a full blown tourist is enough to bring you back to life, especially after a messy night out.

Surprisingly, Formby Beach isn’t the only nice day trip in and around the city.

This guide will outline to you some of the nicest loops and routes accessible to students around Liverpool, with options for walks a couple of miles long, and options for something longer, if you’re in the mood for it.

Even though we’ve dragged you out of The Brookhouse pub garden, there’s nothing stopping you from grabbing a pint or an iced coffee in the sunshine to top off a wholesome day out.

Sefton Park and the Mersey

Sefton Park is lovely all year round, that’s no big secret to anyone. It’s always worth a loop around and the path that follows the stream down from the Palm House, which is particularly good for pretending you’re much deeper in the wilderness than you actually are. A full walk around the lake from the middle of Smithdown is around three miles, or just over an hour at a moderate pace, if you fancy it.

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If you’re feeling adventurous, you can extend the walk by making your way down to the Mersey. If you’re adding it to your loop, you can nip out by Livingstone Drive and make your way straight down St Michael’s Road. Keep an eye out for one of my favourite Liverpudlian landmarks, St Michael’s pink church. It makes for a fun photo for your social medias, which is always a bonus.

Continue through the Festival Gardens, which are complete with miniature odes to Chinese and Japanese gardens, and from there the Mersey promenade is easily accessible. From this spot you have a couple of options. You can walk back up to Sefton via the Festival Gardens and then Lark Lane, or you can walk the couple of miles along the promenade to the Albert Docks. If you’re in Smithdown, looping around Sefton and down and back up from the promenade will be around six miles. When the sun is shining, it makes for the perfect wholesome walk, so grab your friends and housemates and head on out for a trek.

Crosby Beach

A very convenient walk is the stretch of beach between Waterloo and Hall Road stations. Merseyrail is a great way for students to get a bit further out, it’s cheap and easily accessible from town, or Edge Hill and Wavertree. Waterloo is a beautiful stop to get off at as you walk past the coast park lakes to the beach, then along Crosby for the couple of miles it is to Hall Road. At the end of the beach turn right through the car park, and the station is straight down Hall Road.

To extend this walk to nearly five miles, you can continue along the coast path after Crosby beach ends and walk up to the next station. The coast path is a bit harder to navigate than the beach but you can’t go too far wrong. The walk finishes through Hightown, along Blundell road, and you can get back by hopping back on the train at Waterloo station.

Bonus points if you grab yourself an ice cream or some fish and chips en route too.

Calderstones Park

This park route may be a little smaller and a little further out than Sefton, but it’s got a fabulous ice cream place and a sweet little gift shop. The shortest route to get there from Smithdown is about a mile and a half, straight out along Smithdown Road, then continuing down Menlove Avenue until your destination. I’d recommend getting an ice cream, looping around the park, and walking back via Allerton Road, which will deliver you back to Smithdown Road. This walk will be just over five miles.

If you fancy something a bit longer with less of a walk along Smithdown road, you can walk the full length of Greenbank Road, then Mossley Hill Road, pass through Sudley House Gardens and walk up to Calderstones via Booker Avenue.

This route is just over seven miles and takes you dangerously close to Rose Lane’s Black Cat Bottleshop, which everyone knows is a true student classic for anyone living in Smithdown. It’d be rude not to swing by for a pint, right?

New Brighton

Another seaside route, this walk requires a trip across the Mersey. It’s based around Merseyrail stations, so it’s super easy to hop on at Liverpool Central and spend a day wandering around to your heart’s content. It’s just over two miles to walk down the promenade then back to Wallasey Grove Road station. New Brighton isn’t quite as picturesque as Crosby, but as a bigger town, it’s got plenty of nice cafes and bars to make it worth your time. In completely unrelated news, Wallasey is also the birthplace of Paul Hollywood, so keep an eye out for him – he’ll have both on you.

To extend this walk to around five miles, you can carry on past the end of New Brighton promenade onto Wallasey beach, turning left before Leasowe Lighthouse to walk down Pasture Road to Moreton station. It’s not quite as sandy as our beloved Formby or Crosby, but makes for a lovely stroll.

Exploring Liverpool on foot is a lovely way to get outside some more, keeping you in the sun and out of the exam season slump. If you’re staying in the city over the holidays, it’s worth taking a day off and ignoring those deadlines, trust us. Happy hiking everyone!