What Is Self Guided Travel?
A New Search Engine and Publication for Low Impact Walking Holidays, Cycling Holidays, Outdoor Adventures, and Independent Stays
Self Guided Travel is building something unusual in the world of adventure tourism: a dedicated search engine and publication designed to help people explore the countryside at their own pace — through walking holidays, outdoor adventures, and independent places to stay rooted in the landscapes of the UK and Europe.
While many travel platforms are built around booking systems, commission models, and large-scale tourism, Self Guided Travel takes a different approach. Our focus is on discovery, not transactions; local character, not mass tourism; and creating a simple, reliable way for travellers to find experiences in the places that matter most — along National Trails and major walking routes, within National Landscapes and National Parks, across UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and throughout the regions, counties, and destinations that give these areas their identity.
We’re building a search engine that works the way people explore the outdoors:
slowly, meaningfully, and with curiosity leading the way.
Mapping the Outdoors — One Region at a Time
Over the past year, we’ve been quietly developing a country-wide index of the UK and Ireland’s most important outdoor regions. This includes:
- All National Trails and major long-distance walking routes
- All National Landscapes (formerly AONBs) and National Parks
- All UNESCO World Heritage Sites
- Every region and county across the UK and Ireland
- And the local destinations connected to these landscapes — from villages and market towns to coastal paths and countryside stays
This is more than a directory.
It’s the foundation of a niche search engine purpose-built for adventure tourism.
When a traveller searches for a place to walk, a trail to follow, an adventure to try, or somewhere meaningful to stay, they land directly on pages dedicated to those landscapes — with businesses discoverable within them.
We're already seeing visitors from across the UK, Europe, and further afield using Self Guided Travel to browse trails, plan trips, and explore destinations. Even at this early stage, the interest is clear: people want a simple, dedicated way to explore the outdoors.
A Platform Built for Sustainable, Self-Guided Exploration
The outdoors is full of independent businesses — inns, guesthouses, local experience providers, walking holiday specialists, kayaking and canoeing operators, cycle hire, guiding companies, and more — but they are often hidden beneath layers of generic tourism websites.
Self Guided Travel exists to help travellers find them.
We focus on experiences that work with the landscape, not against it:
- Walking holidays and self-guided routes
- Cycling holidays and regional cycleways
- Kayaking, canoeing, paddleboarding, and water-based adventures
- Local guiding companies, nature-focused experiences, foraging, dark-sky walks
- Independent places to stay — always rooted in place, never part of mass tourism chains
Every business listed on the platform sits naturally within this network of trails, landscapes, and destinations. They appear because of where they are — not because of how much they spend.
And because we’re a publisher as well as a search engine, they live permanently on the pages travellers explore most: the National Trails and Routes, National Landscapes, and local destinations themselves.
No commissions.
No hosted booking systems.
Just direct, evergreen paths that lead travellers straight to the businesses that bring these landscapes to life.
Recent Work: Dedham Vale and the Stour Valley
Our latest focus has been mapping the Dedham Vale National Landscape — an area shaped by ancient footpaths, riverside villages, and England’s most celebrated pastoral scenery.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve:
- Added Stoke-by-Nayland, Nayland, and Bures as key destinations
- Connected them to the Manningtree–Bures route, the Stour Valley Path, and St Edmund’s Way
- Indexed water-based adventure providers operating along the River Stour
- Begun integrating regional cycle routes, including the South Suffolk Cycle Route, which passes directly through the Vale
- Prepared the print-ready guidebook for The Dedham Vale Experience, a gentle introductory walking journey designed for people new to self-guided exploration
This work reflects our broader mission:
to map the landscape thoughtfully, with respect for local character, and in a way that helps both visitors and businesses find their place within it.
Why This Matters for Local Businesses
As our index grows, Self Guided Travel becomes a powerful entry point for travellers — and for the businesses that serve them.
Every page we publish becomes a discoverable route into the outdoors.
Every region becomes a doorway.
Every destination becomes a link between people and place.
When businesses choose to list with us — whether they run a countryside inn, offer guided walks, or operate water-based adventures — they don’t appear on a generic directory. They appear where travellers are already looking:
- On National Trail pages
- On National Landscape pages
- On UNESCO and National Park pages
- On county and destination pages
- Within curated search categories across walking holidays, cycling holidays, outdoor adventures, and independent stays
This structure allows even the smallest local business to be found in meaningful ways — through multiple pathways — all aligned with the landscapes in which they operate.
It’s a new model for discovery:
purpose-built for the outdoors, free from corporate commissions, and created to help independent tourism thrive.
Looking Ahead
Self Guided Travel is still growing — steadily, deliberately, and with the long view in mind.
We’re expanding into Europe trail-by-trail and region-by-region, beginning with France.
We’re continuing our UK-wide indexing of National Trails, cycle routes, and National Landscapes.
And we’re building out The Guide — our news and editorial section — to highlight the nature, culture, and character of the regions we publish.
The mission is simple:
make it easier for people to explore the outdoors, and easier for local businesses to be found.
A search engine for adventure tourism.
A publication for the landscapes we love.
A platform built for travellers, businesses, and the places that connect them.
