But the middle is really very pleasant, I even managed to find the 'missing path' mentioned by previous reviewers (forewarned is forearmed)....

Strider

The route was accurate, accessible and easy to navigate. Very easy going on paved paths. Mainly along the disused railway - The Alban Way, which is shaded by trees and very peaceful....

Hannah

The Welwyn half was fairly dull, with walking essentially one main road for a long time (Broadwater / Chequers). However, once you get to Chequers, if you walk on the other side of the road than the route, it does become pleasanter (map pictured below). Though if I wanted a slightly longer but nicer walk to Hatfield, I would walk down Parkway in WGC to Stanborugh Lakes and use the route from there....

Callum

Most of this route is on quiet tarmac or very wide byways/bridleways that are quite active from horses, motorbikes, walkers and mountain bikers....

Heather S.

Unsurprisingly for the time of year there was mud but most was very easy to walk through outside of a few short deeper bits and puddles including large one just before you get to the candlestick pub where I ended up having to skip over stones and cling to the hedgerow to get across....

Heather S.

For what this path is - a direct route between two reasonably populated towns - it is fine. Most of it is on easy to navigate cycle paths near the roadside with only one small stretch through the countryside. As mentioned the path directly across the field shown on maps is not visible, but a detour is easy....

Heather S.

This was my first Slow Ways walk on a snowy December afternoon....

Heather S.

Once we had crossed over the duel carriageway the walk took us alongside fields and used public pathways for most of the way....

Lara

This route is the same as Hather two at the beginning and end, but goes further south for the middle section in order to avoid the hairy B158 Lower Hatfield Road 500m section. This adds 3km, but it worth it - the north-south section either side of Essendon is really nice, with wooded bits and open fields, and it's a relief to be further from the A-road....

Hannah

In general the route is fine and more direct than Hather three, however I feel the road walking 500m stretch on the B158 is too dangerous. There is no pavement and blind corners (with no way of stepping off the road) on the B158 between Holwell Lane and the road to Letty Green....

Slow Ways Darren

There's a 1km walk along the A414 early on, and although there's a wide pavement/cycle path so it's not dangerous, it's still walking alongside a fast, busy road....

Hannah

From the back of the station a path takes you alongside the railway before ducking left down steps, through woods and fields to Waters End before the residential streets of Welham Green....

Strider

Easy to navigate, green, flat, good quality paths, shady, suitable for all types of wheels, interesting features, benches to rest, no cars....

Strider

But fortified by a good lunch from the cafe next to the Pub I walked along a residential road that morphed into a farm track alongside open fields. There a short section walking on a quiet road before turning onto a wooded path, Hornbeam Lane. The path turns into a track, and past a stud farm, into a paved road....

Strider

This route is good, but I followed the plotted line religiously and it led me astray at the Hatfield end! You can't get from Branch Close onto the railway path. It could also be slightly more precise throughout....

mtormey

It follows the Albans Way almost the entire route, which is paved, wide, flat, and separated from motor vehicle traffic....

mtormey

A walk through the village of Welham Green takes you past a delightful pub (Sibthorpe Arms) and then through lots of alleyways until you reach a cycle path that takes you to the edge of Hatfield....

Simon

The walk north out of Hatfield was a little tricky to follow, and the busy road just north of Hatfield was not that great....

Derick Rethans

The natural route for walking from Hertford to Hatfield is unfortunately obstructed by the huge estate of Hatfield House. No one wants to walk along the verge of the busy A414, so walking routes have to go way to the south, or - as 'Hather One' does - to the north. Coming out of Hertford along West Street, I would recommend staying on West Street rather than following the path behind the back of the houses as the 'Hather One' route shows. The portion of the 'Hather One' route between the A414 and Howlands road in Welwyn Garden City is not clearly defined and was very muddy for most of the way. At the junction of the Cole Green Way with the A414, the route as currently shown follows the south side of the A414 for 400m, the asphalt footpath turning into a verge after 300m....

Colin Rice

It can be very muddy in places (especially between Coleman Green and Symondshyde Farm via Titnol's Wood, where the route chosen is impassible currently due to deep mud....

BigDog

I found it a direct, easy-to-follow, overall accessible route following the Alban Way almost the entire distance (only diverting at the very beginning and end)....

lwatson

It is also flat, except for the occasional walk down to a road and back up again as the original railway bridge has gone....

Derick Rethans

Lovely rural route but spoilt by the first mile or so out of Hatfield which is alongside a really noisy dual carriageway. I'm guessing there's no other choice as there is no free access through the Hatfield Estate?...

Judith Grieves

There are many relics of the railway line including some raised platforms, bridges, a station house in St Albans and information boards....

Elizabeth E