Exeter Walking Festival: 12-20 Sept, walks and how to book

Exeter’s first walking festival runs from Saturday 12 September to Sunday 20 September, and most of the programme is already open for booking.

It is organised by Wellbeing Exeter, with more than a dozen local groups running individual walks. Paul Mouland of Wellbeing Exeter said the week would show “how easy it is to get active through walking”, and described it as “a wonderful opportunity to connect with so many incredible organisations”. (Exeter City Council, 20 August 2026)

The full programme is on the Nature in Exeter festival page. Several walks book through a single Google form; a few use Eventbrite; the finale has its own ticket.

Seven to put in the diary

• Maritime Meander, Monday 14 September, 10.30am. A roughly two-mile quay history walk on level paved paths, from Piazza Terracina, run by the Friends of Exeter Ship Canal and Heritage Harbour. Book on Eventbrite.
• Bat walk, Monday 14 September, 7.30pm. Led by a local bat expert, on hunting, echolocation and why bats matter. Booked through the festival’s Google form.
• Exeter photo walk challenge, Tuesday 15 September, 5.30pm to 7pm. Exeter City Community Trust and Photo Club Devon, phones welcome. Free, with the start point and booking still listed as to be confirmed.
• Exeter sound walk, Tuesday 15 September, 6pm. From Exeter Library, Castle Street, EX4 3PQ, through Northernhay and Rougemont Gardens, led by the musician Emma Welton. Google form.
• Rambo Rambles, women only, Thursday 17 September, 10am to noon. About 6.5km through the Hoopern Valley from the Sunset Society Cafe, 5 Old Tiverton Road, EX4 6LD. Woodland, tarmac and muddy climbs, so sturdy shoes.
• Mills and orchards walk, Friday 18 September, 10.30am. One mile with uphill and unpaved sections, from Exwick Parish Hall, 66 Station Road, EX4 2AB, with the Exwick Local History Group. Hot drinks and cake included. Book on Eventbrite.
• Mindfully Wild conservation walk, Friday 18 September, 10.30am. About 3.5 miles from St Thomas Methodist Church car park, Cowick Street, EX4 1JE, taking in water sampling for the Great UK WaterBlitz. Book on Eventbrite.

The rest of the programme, day by day

• Saturday 12 September, 9am: Exeter Riverside parkrun, a 5k walk with a tail walker so nobody finishes last. Free, and every Saturday after.
• Sunday 13 September, 9.30am and noon: FLOW Project heritage guided walks, from Custom House and Piazza Terracina on the quay. Also junior parkrun, 9am, 2k, for ages 4 to 14.
• Tuesday 15 September: Walking The Story with organicARTS at West Town Farm, Ide, in three slots, 2pm, 4pm and 7pm.
• Every Wednesday, 10.45am for an 11am start: Step One wellbeing walks, about three miles along the Exe from the X Centre on the quay. Free, 18 and over, Devon residents.
• Friday 18 September, noon: The Joy Collective women’s walking series round the Green Circle from St David’s station, capped at 20 walkers.
• Saturday 19 September, 10am: social walking group, a six-mile route over the Woodbury Pebblebed Heaths from Four Firs car park. Uneven open heathland, so boots.

Westbank Community and Health Care runs free health walks through the week from Monday 14 September, and organicARTS has its own wellbeing walks on the Wednesday and Friday.

The one with a distance attached

The festival finishes with the Great West Walk on Sunday 20 September, run by Exeter City Community Trust. It starts and finishes at St James Park, Stadium Way, EX4 6PX, at 9am, and follows the whole 14-mile Green Circle: valley parks, nature reserves, woodland, residential streets and viewpoints.

Entry is £10 and walkers are asked to raise at least £35. Hot drinks and snacks at checkpoints, walk leaders, marshals and a finish celebration are included. Bring a packed lunch and water. Groups walk at different paces and the trust says alternative routes are available after a pre-event check. (Exeter City Community Trust)

Walking sports, which run beyond the week

Three of the sports sessions in the programme are regular fixtures rather than one-offs, so the festival is a way in rather than the only chance:

• Walking netball, Thursdays 11am to noon at Wonford Leisure Centre, Rifford Road, EX2 6NF, £6 a session.
• Walking basketball, Sundays 7pm to 8pm at Exeter College Sports Hall, Victoria Yard, EX4 3SR, 18 and over, £3 to £4 with the first session free.
• Walking rugby with Topsham RFC’s Fossils, Tuesdays and Thursdays 6pm to 7pm at Bonfire Field, Topsham, EX3 0LY, for over 50s.

Walking football runs at Wonford Sports Centre, King George V Playing Field and Exeter City’s Cliff Hill ground, for men over 50 and women over 40. That is the same King George V site where the city council’s pitch and drainage work began on 17 August.

And the weekend after

The Exeter Chiefs Foundation charity walk follows on Saturday 26 September. It is a 12km route over sections of the Green Circle, finishing at Sandy Park, where entrants get a pasty, a pint and a free ticket to that afternoon’s opening Premiership game.

St Petrocks is the main charity sponsor for the first time. The council’s release explains the distance: 12km is how far the average homeless person walks in a day.

What it means for you

• Book now for the guided walks. Most are free, but several have caps, and the two Eventbrite history walks are the sort that fill.
• Read the terrain line before you pick. The programme is honest about it: the mills and orchards walk is one mile but has unpaved uphill sections, while the quay walk is two miles on level paved paths.
• Check the start point twice. Two walks start at 10.30am on Friday 18 September, at opposite ends of the city, in Exwick and St Thomas.
• Heritage Open Days overlaps. Free tours, talks and special openings run 11 to 20 September in Exeter, including Tuckers Hall, the Guildhall, the Underground Passages and the City Wall, and the festival programme lists it alongside the walks. (Exeter City Council, 25 August 2026)
• If you want the big one, allow the day. Fourteen miles from a 9am start is not an afternoon stroll, and the £10 entry is separate from the £35 sponsorship the trust asks for.

More on getting round the city is on our parking in Exeter page and the Exeter roadworks and travel page. Other things to do are listed on our things to do in Exeter page.

Details here are taken from the organisers’ own pages as published on 26 August 2026. The photo walk’s start point and booking link had not been published at that point.