Who We Are

Meet the publisher and search engine for sustainable walking holidays and outdoor adventures across the UK and Europe.

Self Guided Travel was created with a simple belief: adventure should enrich the places it touches.

For too long, mainstream travel has treated destinations as products to consume rather than places to care for. The speed and scale of mass tourism often leave behind worn landscapes, displaced communities, and hollowed-out culture. We wanted to do things differently.

Self Guided Travel exists to show that travel can be slower, lighter, and more meaningful. We are part publisher and part search engine, built to inspire and support a new kind of adventure: one rooted in connection, not consumption.

We believe that walking, hiking, cycling, and other low-impact activities are more than just hobbies or holidays. They are ways of moving through the world that give back more than they take. They allow time to notice small details, to understand the character of a place, and to meet people on their own terms.

Our content celebrates this approach. We publish stories, guides, and features about journeys that move at human speed, linking landscapes, heritage, and community. We explore the footpaths that wind between villages, the cycling routes that reveal hidden valleys, and the quiet trails that bring travellers closer to nature.

Alongside our editorial work, we have built a dedicated platform to help people plan their own adventures. Through our search engine, travellers can find walking and hiking holidays, cycling routes, paddleboarding and kayaking experiences, and other nature-based activities that work with the landscape rather than against it.

We also showcase locally owned places to stay that are rooted in their surroundings. These are small inns, guesthouses, and cottages that exist in harmony with the places around them, often found on long-distance trails, within National Parks, or near National Landscapes. Every listing is chosen for its care for place, people, and planet. We do not feature mass tourism, chain hotels, motorised sports, or high-impact activities.

Our guiding principle is simple: low-impact travel. This means journeys that leave little trace, active travel once you arrive, and experiences that support local communities instead of exploiting them.

The need for this approach has never been greater. Modern travel has made the world smaller, but it has also placed immense pressure on the very places we seek out. Overtourism erodes landscapes, displaces local culture, and pushes small businesses aside. Communities become backdrops for fleeting visits rather than living places.

We stand for the opposite. We believe that adventure can sustain the places it touches. When travellers walk from village to village, cycle from coast to hills, or stay in family-run inns, they keep traditions alive and local economies strong. They experience places as they truly are, not as curated spectacles.

Our mission is to help make this kind of travel more visible, accessible, and trusted. We aim to inspire travellers to explore at their own pace, to promote local businesses that care about people, place, and planet, and to build a platform that supports a better way to travel.

This is why Self Guided Travel is more than just a travel site. It is a movement away from speed and scale, and toward presence, care, and connection. It is about proving that meaningful travel can also be sustainable, and that curiosity and responsibility can go hand in hand.

We are building the first dedicated platform for sustainable walking holidays and outdoor adventures in the UK and Europe. Part publisher, part search engine, powered by stories, shaped by landscapes, and rooted in trust.

The world does not need more travel. It needs better travel.
And this is the path we choose to walk.