Gail Simmons

Travel Writer & Author

United Kingdom

I'm a travel writer, journalist and occasional broadcaster with a particular interest in the relationship between people, place and landscape. Whether books or journalism, my work explores slow travel - walking, nature and cultural heritage - seeking out the stories that shape the places around us.

As a travel journalist I've contributed to publications including The Times and The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Observer, The Independent, Wanderlust and TIME, and I've broadcast on BBC Radio 4. I was runner-up in the Virgin Responsible Tourism Awards for Best in Responsible Tourism Writing in both 2011 and 2012.

My books, The Country of Larks: A Chiltern Journey (Bradt, 2019) and Between the Chalk and the Sea (Headline, 2023), weave together memoir, history and nature through journeys on foot; The Country of Larks was shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards in 2020. I'm also a contributor to the anthology Women, Walking (Batsford, 2026). I hold a PhD in Creative Writing and have taught place and travel writing at Cambridge and Bath Spa universities.

Whether I'm writing, teaching or leading conversations about travel, my aim is always the same: to encourage people to slow down, look closely and discover the stories that shape the places around them.

You can explore my latest writing projects in my Portfolio.

Portfolio

Books

Batsford Books
08/06/2026
Women, Walking - Batsford Books

Gail Simmons is a contributor to this new anthology, a contemporary exploration of women setting foot outdoors now, and what that means. This groundbreaking collection brings together many of the most prominent and exciting voices of the last decade across poetry, fiction, essays and journalism.

Hachette UK
10/24/2023
Between the Chalk & the Sea

An antique map in Oxford's Bodleian Library reveals a faint red line linking Southampton and Canterbury—a long-forgotten route now known as the Old Way. Believed to have guided medieval pilgrims to the shrine of Thomas Becket, it inspires travel writer Gail Simmons to walk its 240 miles over four seasons. Blending history, anthropology, etymology and geology, her journey uncovers the stories, landscapes and traditions of this ancient path, revealing the enduring value of slow travel.

Waterstones
04/09/2019
The Country of Larks: A Chiltern Journey by Gail Simmons | Waterstones

Both an atmospheric journey into the past and an ominous foretaste of the future, The Country of Larks finds Simmons retracing the footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson as he walked from Buckinghamshire to Hertfordshire in 1874. Whilst she celebrates the nature and wildlife along the route, there is also the grim realisation that this scenic beauty is under imminent threat from the construction of HS2.

Journalism

Events

Toppingbooks
Gail Simmons at Topping & Company Booksellers of Bath

Gail Simmons is known as a 'walking writer', and joins us alongside fellow author Stephen Moss for Between The Chalk and The Sea. Blending history, anthropology, etymology and geology, Gail's walk along the Old Way reveals the rich natural and cultural heritage found on our own doorstep.