Combining stunning snowy summits with legendary watering places, these top winter walks are guaranteed to leave you with a ruddy-cheeked glow.

Looking for a reason to hit the hills this weekend? Perhaps the prospect of a pint will do it. We’ve picked out a selection of fabulous frosty walks, all of which end with a roaring fire and a glass of the good stuff.

Buachaille Etive Mor and the Kings House Hotel

Scotland is so resplendent with breath-catching wintery walks and firelit, fine ale-stocked inns that linking the two couldn’t be easier.

If you’re feeling truly adventurous then you could try the 29-kilometre trek across Knoydart to the Old Forge - Britain’s officially designated ‘most remote pub’ - with a winter wild camp in the middle.

More manageable but just as spectacular is the snowy 13-kilometre tramp up Buachaille Etive Mor. This vast Toblerone chunk of a mountain stands sentry at the eastern end of Glen Coe, luring starry-eyed hill walkers with its lofty height and perfect proportions. It’s best approached from the A82 side near the Altnafeadh layby, where a track wiggles up to the legendary Lagangarbh hut and then ascends steeply to a wide, boulder-strewn ridge. Follow it over two Munros - Stob Dearg and Stob na Broige - which hide behind the Buchaille’s sleek triangular profile, and breathe in some of the best views in snowy Scotland. The descent, keeping to the west bank of the Allt Coire Altrium, wows to the last with glorious frosty vistas.

Two classic hill walking pubs wait at the end of the walk. Bear east after the descent to reach the King’s House Hotel, a popular stop-off point on the West Highland Way. Alternatively, the famous Clachaig Inn - a haven for knackered hikers thanks to its open fires, impressive real ale selection and excellent craic - is just a short journey west along the valley.          

Great Gable and the Wasdale Head Inn

Few upland pubs have the legendary status of the Wasdale Head Inn, a remote whitewashed haven sandwiched between Wastwater and the Wasdale Fells in the western Lake District. It was here that early rock climbers such as the Abraham brothers and Walter Parry Haskett Smith used to congregate to celebrate daring first ascents. Charles Dickens, Coleridge and Dickens all stayed here, and Nicholas Monserrat wrote of enjoying his first glass of beer at the inn.

Scafell Pike can be walked up directly from Wasdale Head, but a more thrilling route takes in the snow-dusted fells of Great Gable, Kirk Fell, Pillar, Scoat Fell, Steeple and Red Pike. Eighteen kilometres long with around 5,300 feet of ascent, this is no stroll in the park - but the sumptuous views and the big summit ticks more than make up for the effort.

Begin by climbing steeply to the top of the pass at Sty Head and turning left to follow a paved path to Gable’s summit. Cairns lead northwest to Beck Head and on via Kirk Fell to Pillar. Turn southwest to take in the final peaks of Steeple and Red Pike before descending again to the Wasdale Head Inn. End with a pint at the Ritson Bar - which was named after an ex-landlord known as the ‘world’s biggest liar’ - and wow the gathered crowds with tall tales of your adventures.  

The Langdale Pikes and Old Dungeon Ghyll

The Old Dungeon Ghyll and New Dungeon Ghyll hotels sit within a mile of one another on the narrow road that winds beneath Stickle Tarn. Both boast wonderfully welcoming walkers’ bars, but the Old Dungeon Ghyll has a permanent place in mountaineering history as the favoured location of countless raucous climbing club dinners.

No need to choose between the two inns, though, as a winter circuit of the Langdale Pikes links both. Park at the Old Dungeon Ghyll and follow the stream east for a kilometre or so before branching off uphill to Stickle Tarn. If you’re feeling extra adventurous then you could tackle Pavey Ark via the rocky ramp of Jack’s Rake - although bear in mind that this thrilling scramble morphs into a grade 1 winter climb during the snowy months. A more manageable route ascends the peak from its eastern side and emerges on the summit to a visual fanfare of fabulous views.

Watching the snowy Lake District slowly unveil itself as you amble south to take in Harrison Stickle and then divert west to bag the Pike of Stickle is what makes this short but superb walk a real winter classic. Descend via Loft Crag, the last of the Langdale Pikes, and treat yourself to a quick pint at the New Dungeon Ghyll before heading back to the Old Dungeon Ghyll and hunkering down in front of the fire.     

Snowdon and the Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel

Snowdon is arguably at its best during winter, when the tourists melt away and white frosting delineates the tapered ridges of the Snowdon Horseshoe. This is the perfect time to tackle the classic Pen y Pass summit circuit - a mountain motorway during the warmer months, but a different beast entirely under a light dusting of snow.

Resist the temptation to leave your car in the car park at Pen y Pass and instead start at the Pen y Gwryd hotel. This squat, slate-roofed inn once played host to Hillary and Tenzing as they trained for the first successful ascent of Everest in 1953. A winter ascent of Snowdon might not have quite the cachet of summiting Everest, but if you catch Wales’s highest on a clear winter day then it can appear almost as spectacular as its Himalayan brother. The ascent via the Pyg and Miners tracks is around 15 kilometres from Pen y Gwryd and, with a pint of good ale and a mouth-watering roast at the inn to look forward to, it counts among the best winter days out in Britain.

Challacombe Down and the Warren House Inn

The undulating contours of Challacombe Down in Dartmoor might not be traditional hill walking territory, but this remote moorland enclave is as wildly beautiful as they come during winter. As an added bonus it’s within easy tramping distance of the Warren House Inn - an isolated watering place that once served the local tin mining community and now survives on its reputation as the highest (and loneliest) pub in southern England.

Walks criss-cross the moors around the inn, but the 8-kilometre circuit of Challacombe Down is one of the most scenic. Take the path that winds downhill opposite the Warren House Inn and descend to a stream, where the path meanders up the southern slopes of Headland Warren. Turn south at Headland Warren Farm and curve around the boggy, heather-covered sides of Challacombe Down. Returning to the inn, you’ll be greeted with a fire that’s been crackling away constantly since 1845 and an impressive offering of home-cooked food.

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