Most of the walking gathered here is flat, and half of it sits on one waterway. The Royal Canal crosses the south and west of the county on its way from Maynooth to the Shannon, and four entries hang off it: Enfield, where the harbour has a free fairy trail and an accessible fishing platform two minutes from the train station; the Blackwater Aqueduct about 3.5 km further west; Hill of Down, one of three Meath access points, with a pub, shop and post office at the bridge; and the built eastern section of the Dublin–Galway Greenway, which uses the same towpath.
Away from the canal the walks are shorter and tied to towns. The Athboy Heritage Trail is a free, self-guided half hour through 20 stops, refreshed in 2024 with QR codes for audio and photos. Dunboyne pairs the free 21-acre grounds of its castle with a 4 km greenway to Clonsilla, 17 km west of Dublin. Summerhill has the Lime Kiln Loop in the Coillte woods nearby, and the walls and gateposts of the mansion that once stood there.
The Boyne carries the other two. Oldbridge has waymarked riverside walks and a restored Victorian walled garden on the 1690 battlefield, while the Boyne Ramparts Walk runs 8 km of abandoned navigation towpath from Stackallen to Navan, level throughout, past Babe’s Bridge and Dunmoe Castle. Parking at the Stackallen end costs nothing.
Ireland's longest greenway at 130 km, a level towpath from Maynooth to Cloondara past working locks, stone bridges and cafés in Enfield and Mullingar.
A free, self-guided half hour through a thousand years of the town, refreshed in 2024 to twenty stops, each with a QR code.
The free 21-acre grounds of a Butler tower house turned Georgian house, plus a 4 km greenway to Clonsilla, 17 km west of Dublin.
A flat canal greenway, a free fairy trail and an accessible fishing platform, all two minutes from the train station; a leg-stretch rather than a day.
A planned estate village whose 100-room mansion is now only walls and gateposts, with free Coillte woods and the Lime Kiln Loop close by.
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Dublin, dublin
The Royal Canal Greenway is the longest in Ireland – 130 km of level towpath from Maynooth to Cloondara, where the canal meets the Shannon. It follows a waterway built between 1790 and 1817, past working locks, stone bridges, the reputedly haunted 13th lock at Deey Bridge, and cafés in Maynooth, Enfield and Mullingar.
Athboy, meath
This free, self-guided walk takes about 30 minutes and covers more than a thousand years, from the Yellow Ford crossing that named the town to the Norman castle earthworks and the engine house of a closed railway. Refreshed in 2024 from 13 stops to 20, each now carries a QR code linking to photos, audio and history written by local volunteers.
Dunboyne, meath
Dunboyne blends Norman heritage with commuter convenience 17 km west of Dublin. The free 21-acre grounds of Dunboyne Castle, a Butler tower house razed by Cromwell, rebuilt Georgian, later a hotel, are its best walk, alongside a 4 km greenway to Clonsilla. It also makes a relaxed base for Fairyhouse Racecourse and the Boyne Valley passage tombs.
Enfield, meath
Enfield's Royal Canal harbour has a free fairy trail, a flat greenway for walking and cycling, and an accessible fishing platform, all a two-minute walk from the train station. It's a stretch-the-legs stop rather than a day out.
Summerhill, meath
Summerhill is a planned estate village in County Meath where the Langfords' 100-room mansion once stood – burnt in 1921, demolished in 1970, now just walls and gateposts. The free Coillte woods nearby carry the Lime Kiln Loop, and Dangan Castle up the road was the childhood home of the Duke of Wellington.
Oldbridge, meath
Enfield, meath
Dublin, dublin
Hill of Down, meath
Stackallen, meath
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