The question of what makes a perfect walk is, of course, a matter of taste.
For me, walking in the Alps in summer is great because you can use the ski-lifts to get to the top of the mountain and then walk down. Other people would consider that sacrilege - and a walk without a bit of scrambling and rock climbing doesn’t constitute a walk at all.
While walking up mountains is a bit like hard work for me, at the same time I find completely flat walks a bit dull. So the walks that you can do that just go along the Thames Path from places like Marlow or Henley, aren’t particularly interesting to me. There needs to be a bit of up and down - so that you are a bit stretched and, of course, get some interesting views.
For these reasons walking in the Chilterns is perfect. Some walks in the Chilterns do have substantial uphill sections - getting up to Ivinghoe Beacon or Coombe Hill from the Aylesbury Vale will certainly get your heart beating faster. But part of the beauty of the Misbourne and Chess valleys are that you can go down one side and up the other with some, but not too much effort. That applies to a whole network of walks between Chesham, Amersham, Great Missenden, Wendover and Beaconsfield stations which, like Goldilocks’ porridge, are just right. There are then, dozens or walks that are easy to get to - and easy to do.
And then there is the scenery…
