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St Albans Cathedral

St Albans

Self-guided walks for the Curious...

Explore St Albans city centre with two self-guided heritage walks with a treasure hunt theme. Discover St Albans's "hidden treasures" whilst having a fun day out with family and friends!
St Albans is Hertfordshire's only city, with a majestic cathedral which dominates the horizon and overlooks an ancient park with lakes and rivers. St Alban was the earliest British saint, beheaded for sheltering a Christian cleric at the point where the cathedral stands today. The Hot Cross Bun originated in St Albans in 1381. Tom Cruise ordered lobster and chicken tikka masala when he visited a St Albans Indian restaurant. Alban City Primary School holds the record for the largest number of people simultaneously hopping on one leg – 490.

EXPLOREDISCOVERENJOY

Code Curious20 at checkout for 20% discount on purchases over £12

The Booklet

Download a booklet and print at home or use on your mobile, or we'll post it to you.

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Curious About... St Albans

  • An exploration of St Albans's city centre with two self-guided heritage walks with an optional treasure hunt. Completing the treasure hunt keeps everyone actively engaged, and urges you to look up, down and every which-way - so you won't miss out on any of the city's treasures.
    Explore, Discover, and Enjoy!
  • Most clues are chosen for their historical value, so you'll learn about the diverse culture, significant people and extraordinary events which have influenced St Albans in becoming what it is today.
  • This is an outdoor, unsupervised activity - so you can go at a pace which suits you, whilst keeping you healthy!
  • A Curious About walk is a fun and social activity for all the family and friends. Different people can take on different roles - follow the map, identify picture clues, read directions, etc - it's ideal for children from the age of 6, and if you can walk/wheelchair it, you're young enough!
  • The two walks have been designed so that the second one follows on from where the first one ends. Do both, or have a breather and do the second one another day! They both start and finish in the heart of the city - so buses, trains and car parks are easily available to get you there and back.

1. Church to Cathedral - 1.5 miles / 2.4 kms
This walk takes you from a 10th century church at the northern entrance to the old medieval town, to the 11th century cathedral at its southern end. In between you’ll explore today’s city and experience everything which reveals St Albans to be a gem – hidden gardens, an amazing Town Hall, modern shops, unusual pubs, a bustling market place, and an ancient Clock Tower you can climb! At the end it’s quiet, humbling, charming.
1.5 hoursOK but diversion maybe needed

2. Cathedral to Fabulous Park - 1 mile / 1.6 kms
From the majesty of St Albans cathedral explore some of the city’s older streets, full of character. Walk through a small garden, once an ancient burial ground. Pass under the 14th century gateway of a Benedictine monastery to arrive at a park affording towering views of the cathedral. Down a hill now, to finish your walk at Verulamium Park, a fabulous place to enjoy, rest, play and explore.
1 hourOK

Each booklet has a page dedicated to the history of the city and 2 pages summarising each walk with suggestions on what to visit along the way. Walk 1 has 21 clues & walk 2 has 14 - both with detailed directions to follow. There are interesting stories about important people, places & events along the way; detailed instructions on how to find a clue if you're stuck; and a comprehensive map with the routes marked on.
Buy a booklet by clicking on the Add to Basket button, then either checkout, or continue shopping. Checkout takes you through payments via a quick & secure process managed by a third-party company called SendOwl. At the end of the payment process SendOwl will email you a confirmation email (inc download link if relevant).

Downloads
You have 14 days to complete your download, and up to 3 attempts are permitted. If you buy the print-at-home version you will need to print it on normal A4 paper and the email you receive, with the download link, explains how best to fold the pages to make it into an A5 booklet. If you buy the download to mobile version you will need pdf reading software on your phone or tablet, eg using the Adobe Acrobat App (free).

Printed Copy
The booklet has a flexible cover, which has been professionally printed. The inside pages are printed to order, to ensure that they are as up-to-date as possible. We post booklets out 1st class Royal Mail, usually the same, or next working day. A small postage & packing charge is added.

"The kids really enjoyed these walks and we did them both on the same day making the most of the sunshine and taking all day to do them both and stopping off along the way will be going to buy more x"


Latest Revision : July 2024


St Albans

Places you'll pass along the way - tap an image for more detail