Walking is claimed to be the most popular outdoor recreational activity in the United Kingdom. The country has a comprehensive network of rights of way, which permit easy access to the countryside as well as wilderness areas.

In the United Kingdom, "walking" is the usual term for what in other countries is called hiking; walking in the countryside is also called rambling, and walking in mountainous areas is called hillwalking.

Fellwalking is particularly used to refer to hill or mountain walks in northern Great Britain, such as the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales in Northern England, as fell is the preferred term for both features in those parts of England.

In England and Wales the public has a legally protected right to "pass and repass" (i.e. walk) on footpaths, bridleways and other routes which have the status of a public right of way. Footpaths typically pass over private land, but if they are public rights of way they are public highways with the same protection in law as other highways, such as trunk roads. Public rights of way originated in common law, but are now regulated by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. These rights have occasionally resulted in conflicts between walkers and landowners. The rights and obligations of farmers who cultivate crops in fields crossed by public footpaths are now specified in the law. Walkers can also use permissive paths, where the public does not have a legal right to walk, but where the landowner has granted permission for them to walk.