Pubs per mile: every long-distance path ranked

Name: Pubs per mile: every long-distance path ranked
Creator: Adventure On Foot
Published: 2026-11-04
License: https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/

4 November 2026

The Angel's Way passes a pub every 0.3 miles: more pubs to the mile than any other long-distance path in the UK. We counted the pubs on the way along all 343 of them, and the longest stretch on each without one.

The most

The Angel's Way has 101 pubs on the way in 31.9 miles. Next come Jubilee Greenway (117 in 39.9 miles), River Avon Trail (59 in 26 miles), Wilberforce Way (100 in 58 miles) and Millennium Way (37 in 23.8 miles).

The national trails

Of the 43 national trails, the most pubs to the mile: Thames Path, 135 in 185.7 miles, one every 1.4 miles. The fewest, of those with any: Southern Upland Way, 4 in 216.7 miles. Two pass none at all: Romans and Reivers Route and West Island Way.

The longest walk between pubs

75.1 miles on Hebridean Way, from Public Bar - Dark Island Hotel at Lionacleit to Tigh Mo Sheanar at An Tairbeart, with no pub within a quarter of a mile of the way. On a national trail, the longest is 66.8 miles on Kintyre Way, from the Corner House at Tarbert to The Kinloch Bar at Dalintober.

Eight long-distance paths pass no pub on the way at all. The longest of them: Trail of the 7 Lochs (50.8 miles), Romans and Reivers Route (49.3 miles) and Epynt Way (40.6 miles).

County by county

Counting the pubs on every long-distance path through each county: Tyne & Wear has the most to the mile, 16.2 for every 10 miles of path, then Bristol (13.3), Cardiff (10.5) and Merseyside (10.5). The fewest: South Lanarkshire (none), Western Isles (0.2) and Dumfries and Galloway (0.4).

For a shorter walk

Of the 3,474 shorter named walks in The Directory, 975 have a pub at the start, the finish or on the way, 557 of them at the start or finish. They’re listed county by county in Pub walks.

The tables

The 20 long-distance paths with the most pubs to the mile
Rank	Route	Miles	Pubs	Per 10 miles
1	The Angel's WayNE 106	31.9	101	31.7
2	Jubilee GreenwayLN 108	39.9	117	29.3
3	River Avon TrailSW 151	26.0	59	22.7
4	Wilberforce WayYH 112	58.0	100	17.2
5	Millennium WayYH 133	23.8	37	15.6
6	Minster WayYH 115	52.2	80	15.3
7	Via FrancigenaSE 129	21.3	30	14.1
8	Elham Valley WaySE 163	21.9	29	13.3
9	Southwark to CanterburyLN 104	82.4	107	13.0
10	New River PathLN 109	31.1	35	11.2
11	Two Saints WayNW 105	93.6	103	11.0
12	St Swithun's WaySE 144	33.8	35	10.4
13	Derwent Valley Heritage WayEM 112	51.6	53	10.3
14	Gustav Holst WaySW 143	34.8	35	10.1
15	Augustine CaminoSE 116	65.1	65	10.0
16	Ebor WayYH 108	76.1	72	9.5
17	Way of LoveNE 108	29.8	28	9.4
18	John Musgrave Heritage TrailSW 144	32.1	30	9.3
19	Llwybr Clawdd WatWM 115	62.5	58	9.3
20	Way of LightNE 104	45.7	42	9.2

Every national trail, most pubs to the mile first, with its longest stretch without one
Route	Miles	Pubs	Per 10 miles	Longest without
Thames PathUK 015	185.7	135	7.3	7.6
Cleveland WayUK 002	105.0	57	5.4	29.5
Cotswold WayUK 033	102.6	54	5.3	21.4
South West Coast PathUK 007	644.1	283	4.4	23.0
Fife Coastal PathUK 023	116.3	44	3.8	17.6
North Downs WayUK 008	159.9	59	3.7	13.6
Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast PathUK 014	162.9	57	3.5	26.3
River Ayr WayUK 030	40.3	14	3.5	22.8
Moray Coast TrailUK 047	45.7	14	3.1	16.1
Dava WayUK 029	23.6	7	3.0	23.6
Hadrian's Wall PathUK 026	85.7	25	2.9	30.1
John Muir WayUK 041	133.1	37	2.8	22.8
Borders Abbeys WayUK 032	67.2	18	2.7	13.5
Wales Coast PathUK 038	871.4	228	2.6	24.1
Pembrokeshire Coast PathUK 003	177.7	44	2.5	23.5
Yorkshire Wolds WayUK 012	76.1	17	2.2	31.3
Berwickshire Coastal PathUK 045	29.8	6	2.0	14.4
Forth & Clyde/Union Canal TowpathUK 021	63.1	11	1.7	12.1
Offa's Dyke PathUK 004	177.3	29	1.6	29.4
Glyndŵr's WayUK 024	136.1	21	1.5	28.8
Three Lochs WayUK 037	33.1	5	1.5	17.7
Rob Roy WayUK 022	79.8	12	1.5	27.0
St Cuthbert's WayUK 016	64.0	9	1.4	21.9
Coast to Coast PathUK 044	188.4	26	1.4	22.3
West Highland WayUK 010	95.5	13	1.4	26.6
Speyside WayUK 011	89.5	12	1.3	27.3
Mull of Galloway TrailUK 040	37.4	5	1.3	18.7
Clyde WalkwayUK 036	38.6	5	1.3	22.9
Formartine and Buchan WayUK 046	54.1	7	1.3	28.2
The RidgewayUK 006	86.4	11	1.3	42.3
Arran Coastal WayUK 025	64.6	8	1.2	22.5
South Downs WayUK 005	101.6	12	1.2	34.5
Great Trossachs PathUK 042	30.2	3	1.0	22.6
Loch Lomond & Cowal WayUK 019	56.3	5	0.9	26.4
Great Glen WayUK 020	76.8	6	0.8	52.9
Cateran TrailUK 017	65.8	5	0.8	49.2
Pennine WayUK 001	255.6	15	0.6	40.1
Kintyre WayUK 031	100.4	4	0.4	66.8
Cross Borders Drove RoadUK 027	51.8	2	0.4	31.0
Annandale WayUK 035	53.5	2	0.4	35.8
Southern Upland WayUK 013	216.7	4	0.2	66.1
Romans and Reivers RouteUK 028	49.3	0	0.0	49.3
West Island WayUK 018	29.3	0	0.0	15.4

Every county with 20 miles or more of long-distance path, most pubs to the mile first
Rank	County	Miles of path	Pubs	Per 10 miles
1	Tyne & Wear6 pub walks	77	125	16.2
2	Bristol3 pub walks	38	51	13.3
3	Cardiff	46	48	10.5
4	Merseyside4 pub walks	67	70	10.5
5	City of Glasgow2 pub walks	21	20	9.6
6	Greater London37 pub walks	447	400	8.9
7	Isle of Wight10 pub walks	71	47	6.6
8	West Midlands83 pub walks	92	58	6.3
9	Greater Manchester13 pub walks	432	256	5.9
10	City of Edinburgh4 pub walks	39	20	5.1
11	South Ayrshire	60	30	5.0
12	Wrexham	70	34	4.8
13	West Yorkshire20 pub walks	577	262	4.5
14	Cornwall19 pub walks	372	157	4.2
15	Neath Port Talbot1 pub walk	22	9	4.1
16	East Lothian	31	12	3.9
17	Devon49 pub walks	615	234	3.8
18	Lincolnshire2 pub walks	256	94	3.7
19	Conwy1 pub walk	112	39	3.5
20	East Riding of Yorkshire3 pub walks	234	81	3.5
21	Derbyshire32 pub walks	438	149	3.4
22	Worcestershire17 pub walks	218	75	3.4
23	Kent22 pub walks	783	257	3.3
24	Cheshire18 pub walks	524	169	3.2
25	Hampshire11 pub walks	600	192	3.2
26	Inverclyde	25	8	3.2
27	East Sussex9 pub walks	305	95	3.1
28	Northamptonshire3 pub walks	299	93	3.1
29	Bedfordshire18 pub walks	296	88	3.0
30	Durham35 pub walks	269	81	3.0
31	Shropshire10 pub walks	482	146	3.0
32	Somerset16 pub walks	485	147	3.0
33	South Yorkshire12 pub walks	152	46	3.0
34	Fife4 pub walks	153	44	2.9
35	Oxfordshire25 pub walks	383	111	2.9
36	Staffordshire10 pub walks	402	115	2.9
37	Denbighshire2 pub walks	61	17	2.8
38	Hertfordshire44 pub walks	386	109	2.8
39	Norfolk108 pub walks	564	160	2.8
40	North Yorkshire19 pub walks	1,191	336	2.8
41	Warwickshire45 pub walks	311	87	2.8
42	Leicestershire2 pub walks	208	55	2.6
43	Gloucestershire15 pub walks	512	126	2.5
44	Surrey35 pub walks	276	70	2.5
45	Dorset11 pub walks	389	92	2.4
46	Flintshire	49	12	2.4
47	Rutland	82	20	2.4
48	Berkshire13 pub walks	155	36	2.3
49	Buckinghamshire32 pub walks	510	118	2.3
50	Essex17 pub walks	420	98	2.3
51	Monmouthshire4 pub walks	113	26	2.3
52	Nottinghamshire6 pub walks	247	58	2.3
53	Swansea2 pub walks	98	23	2.3
54	Cambridgeshire12 pub walks	338	75	2.2
55	Herefordshire3 pub walks	250	56	2.2
56	Perth and Kinross16 pub walks	196	44	2.2
57	West Sussex16 pub walks	422	91	2.2
58	Ceredigion	189	38	2.0
59	Cumbria17 pub walks	526	103	2.0
60	Renfrewshire1 pub walk	25	5	2.0
61	Suffolk30 pub walks	441	88	2.0
62	County Armagh5 pub walks	57	11	1.9
63	County Down13 pub walks	182	34	1.9
64	Lancashire8 pub walks	353	67	1.9
65	Moray	93	18	1.9
66	Caerphilly2 pub walks	28	5	1.8
67	County Antrim7 pub walks	76	14	1.8
68	West Dunbartonshire	28	5	1.8
69	East Dunbartonshire3 pub walks	35	6	1.7
70	Northumberland7 pub walks	293	49	1.7
71	Newport2 pub walks	31	5	1.6
72	Gwynedd8 pub walks	432	59	1.4
73	Wiltshire5 pub walks	477	66	1.4
74	Aberdeenshire1 pub walk	54	7	1.3
75	Highland9 pub walks	462	61	1.3
76	Vale of Glamorgan	31	4	1.3
77	North Ayrshire1 pub walk	89	11	1.2
78	Powys	549	65	1.2
79	Isle of Anglesey	260	29	1.1
80	Pembrokeshire6 pub walks	401	46	1.1
81	Carmarthenshire4 pub walks	196	19	1.0
82	Scottish Borders4 pub walks	313	32	1.0
83	East Ayrshire	25	2	0.8
84	Argyll and Bute4 pub walks	399	25	0.6
85	Stirling8 pub walks	166	10	0.6
86	County Londonderry2 pub walks	40	2	0.5
87	Falkirk1 pub walk	56	3	0.5
88	Angus4 pub walks	26	1	0.4
89	Dumfries and Galloway	268	11	0.4
90	Western Isles	198	4	0.2
91	South Lanarkshire1 pub walk	43	0	0.0

All 343 paths, in order, are in the spreadsheet below, and each path’s page gives its place.

How we counted

A pub is on the way when it’s within 100 metres of the route’s line, or within 250 metres of its start or finish. The pubs are those OpenStreetMap records with a name, bars included (many of Scotland’s pubs are mapped as bars), less any marked private. A pub that has closed can stay on the map until someone notices, so a few counted here may have gone.

The longest stretch is measured along the route, between pubs within 400 metres of the line (a short detour), and from the start to the first and the last to the finish. Long-distance paths are the national trails and the long-distance routes in The Directory, each of 20 miles or more, whose line we have in full; lengths are of that line, so they can differ a little from the publisher’s. A county’s figure counts the long-distance paths through it, by the county each section is in, and each pub once.

Use these figures

They’re free to use in print, online and on air. Please credit:

and link to this page where you can. The figures come from OpenStreetMap, under the Open Database Licence, so the “© OpenStreetMap contributors” is part of the credit.

The tables in full, as spreadsheets (CSV): trails and counties.

These are the figures as of 4 November 2026. We work them out again when the routes or the map change, and keep every edition, so a figure quoted from an earlier one can still be checked.