Six of the best city walks in Britain, chosen by Ordnance Survey map users

From Cardiff to Edinburgh, here are OS users’ favourite urban and countryside rambles. Just download the app and you’re on your way

A paper Ordnance Survey (OS) map is of course the quintessential walkers’ tool, but the OS Maps app on your phone, with a handy red arrow telling you exactly where you are, takes the usefulness to new levels. Other apps – Komoot, for example – do the same, but the backing of OS data brings extra reassurance.

A subscription to the app has changed my attitude to country walks. Before, we’d see an inviting footpath sign but have no idea whether it went anywhere interesting or was just a shortcut to another road. Now we just pull out a phone and can see where the path leads, with maybe a link to loop back. Following a path on the app also gives you confidence when the trail isn’t very clear: you can be sure you are on a right of way even if, say, it appears to lead across someone’s front lawn.