A bracing walk does wonders for your wellbeing, says Robson Green, as he embarks on some of the world’s finest hikes
Ed Grenby - 28 October 2025
“Who wouldn’t go for it if they were asked to make a programme called World’s Most Amazing Walks?” wonders Robson Green aloud. Saying yes was a no-brainer, for him at least: “I love being outdoors, and I know what it does for your mental wellbeing. If you have any problems in life, you should go for a walk — the bigger the problem, the longer the walk. And I’ve been faking sincerity in front of the lens for 40 years, pretending to be a detective or a spaceman or a werewolf or a brain surgeon. With programmes like this I can be me.”
Sounds nice. So which was the most amazing of the walks?
The Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrimage route in Spain. I got a real sense of inner peace being alongside the people there. I was thinking, “What’s the catch with you? Nobody’s like this. There can’t be all these people who are just kind and loving and beautiful, with accepting hearts.” But there are. They were all there for different reasons, but each had a goal. When they achieved what they set out to do, the emotional response was profound. And I was emotional like the rest of them – so much so, I got a tattoo, the traditional pilgrims’ scallop shell.
Are you sure it wasn’t just the weather you liked, after doing three UK walks for the series?
It was hotter in Scotland than Portugal or Spain! I don’t know if it made the final cut, but in episode four, doing the Caledonian Way from Fort William to Inverness, I said, “I never thought I’d say this in my lifetime, but we are having to shelter from the scorching Scottish sunshine.” At one point, it was 32˚C, the sun belting off the lochs. But what was shocking was that of all the things in my bag, I didn’t pack any sunscreen. I just didn’t think I’d need it in Scotland or Northumberland.
Why Northumberland when you could have had New Zealand?
I walk Hadrian’s Wall to Sycamore Gap every couple of weeks. When I was a kid, my parents would take my sisters and brother and me there, and we’d have a picnic by the tree at Sycamore Gap, so it’s really special for me. The felling was a cruel act, but the shoots are coming up quickly. They’ve made 49 saplings, because the tree was 49 feet high, and those trees are now growing in hospices around the country.
But you’ve tried some new walks, too, haven’t you?
I’m ashamed to say I’d never done Normandy before. Visiting there was a poignant reminder of the wartime sacrifices made on those beaches, and the freedom we experience and take for granted today. It really painted a picture of the collective trauma and how young everybody was. They all had parents and loved ones. It’s so important to remind ourselves of their sacrifice and that our freedoms shouldn’t be taken for granted.
And there are stories everywhere. I followed the Danube along the Wachau Valley in Austria – the tales from history that that river and its castles could tell! The apricot blossom was out at the time: ten thousand acres of trees in blossom. I ate apricots in the orchard and they tasted like nectar – not like those rubbish supermarket ones that are like eating crunchy paper. It was the same with the meat: I went to a wagyu farm there – and was very happy to eat steaks next to the cattle because I knew where it came from.
You probably ate what you liked, doing all that walking…
I put on a lot of weight filming the episode in Portugal’s Douro Valley! The food was nuts – and, of course, that’s a wine-making region. In fact, they utilise every yard of the hillsides to create these beautiful vineyards; but what was astonishing was that very few people had heard about this whole route. There was hardly anybody there. Going through the valley, we could see how they used to transport these huge wine barrels on the rabelo boats down the river, exporting port because it was so sought after around the world, and it travelled well.
I tried to shift some of the pounds I’d accumulated by walking the steps up to the Santuário de Nossa Senhora dos Remédios church, in Lamego – but that took its toll. There are 686 of them, and the camera equipment had to be carried up, too. I still remember every… single… step…
Robson Green: World’s Most Amazing Walks
Monday 8.00pm U&Yesterday Full series available on U
Sounds nice. So which was the most amazing of the walks?
The Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrimage route in Spain. I got a real sense of inner peace being alongside the people there. I was thinking, “What’s the catch with you? Nobody’s like this. There can’t be all these people who are just kind and loving and beautiful, with accepting hearts.” But there are. They were all there for different reasons, but each had a goal. When they achieved what they set out to do, the emotional response was profound. And I was emotional like the rest of them – so much so, I got a tattoo, the traditional pilgrims’ scallop shell.
Are you sure it wasn’t just the weather you liked, after doing three UK walks for the series?
It was hotter in Scotland than Portugal or Spain! I don’t know if it made the final cut, but in episode four, doing the Caledonian Way from Fort William to Inverness, I said, “I never thought I’d say this in my lifetime, but we are having to shelter from the scorching Scottish sunshine.” At one point, it was 32˚C, the sun belting off the lochs. But what was shocking was that of all the things in my bag, I didn’t pack any sunscreen. I just didn’t think I’d need it in Scotland or Northumberland.
Why Northumberland when you could have had New Zealand?
I walk Hadrian’s Wall to Sycamore Gap every couple of weeks. When I was a kid, my parents would take my sisters and brother and me there, and we’d have a picnic by the tree at Sycamore Gap, so it’s really special for me. The felling was a cruel act, but the shoots are coming up quickly. They’ve made 49 saplings, because the tree was 49 feet high, and those trees are now growing in hospices around the country.
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But you’ve tried some new walks, too, haven’t you?
I’m ashamed to say I’d never done Normandy before. Visiting there was a poignant reminder of the wartime sacrifices made on those beaches, and the freedom we experience and take for granted today. It really painted a picture of the collective trauma and how young everybody was. They all had parents and loved ones. It’s so important to remind ourselves of their sacrifice and that our freedoms shouldn’t be taken for granted.
And there are stories everywhere. I followed the Danube along the Wachau Valley in Austria – the tales from history that that river and its castles could tell! The apricot blossom was out at the time: ten thousand acres of trees in blossom. I ate apricots in the orchard and they tasted like nectar – not like those rubbish supermarket ones that are like eating crunchy paper. It was the same with the meat: I went to a wagyu farm there – and was very happy to eat steaks next to the cattle because I knew where it came from.
You probably ate what you liked, doing all that walking…
I put on a lot of weight filming the episode in Portugal’s Douro Valley! The food was nuts – and, of course, that’s a wine-making region. In fact, they utilise every yard of the hillsides to create these beautiful vineyards; but what was astonishing was that very few people had heard about this whole route. There was hardly anybody there. Going through the valley, we could see how they used to transport these huge wine barrels on the rabelo boats down the river, exporting port because it was so sought after around the world, and it travelled well.
I tried to shift some of the pounds I’d accumulated by walking the steps up to the Santuário de Nossa Senhora dos Remédios church, in Lamego – but that took its toll. There are 686 of them, and the camera equipment had to be carried up, too. I still remember every… single… step…
Robson Green: World’s Most Amazing Walks
Monday 8.00pm U&Yesterday Full series available on U