Walking is a glorious, primal pastime – and far more radical than you think

Despite its reputation as a bourgeois hobby, walking has been a lifeline for millions past and present, says Guardian columnist John Harris

Rambling with Dolly Parton and meditative strolls: the best podcasts for walks

From a trip down memory lane with celebs to adventures in remote Scotland: if you’re looking for company on your next walk, there’s a podcast for that

Emma Beddington tries … being a mermaid: ‘I’m more beached seal than beguiling siren’

Being a beautiful watery creature is a challenge if you have no technique or breath control – and can’t hear a word beneath your floral swimming cap

Great walk with a great pub: the Neuadd Arms Hotel, Powys

A walk in the ‘belly button of Wales’, then a pint at an idiosyncratic hotel that hosts bog-snorkelling races

’You feel like a child again!’ Would exercising at 5am make you a happier person?

While 99% of us are still fast asleep, members of the Win the Morning, Win the Day movement are throwing themselves into a dawn walk or swim. We join them where it all started, on a beach in Hampshire

The wonder stuff: what I learned about happiness from a month of ‘awe walks’

Feeling down? You need to experience more awe, psychologists say. So I set off every day to explore my local area, leaving my phone behind

‘I haven’t looked back’: the women who discovered cycling in lockdown

Quieter lockdown roads inspired a 50% rise in women trying cycling in England. For some riders it turned into more than a new hobby

The power of puzzling: ‘When everything feels out of your control – piece A fits with piece B’

Absorbing, mindful and mercifully screen-free, the humble jigsaw puzzle acts as a balm in uncertain times

‘I was sliding towards the drop and couldn’t stop’ – the writer who fell from a mountain

It is every climber’s worst nightmare. In this extract from his thrilling book about the glorious – and treacherous – Cuillin Ridge on Skye, Simon Ingram recalls the day its wild peaks almost took his life

Six of the best British towns for walking holidays

Staying in a hub set up for walkers means you can concentrate on the hiking without the hassle of driving and lugging your gear