Picking a walking route
Find the easy way there on foot.
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Your maps app suggests the shortest walk. For a walk you'll make every day, a route that's a few minutes longer but quieter, greener or better lit is often the one you'll stick with.
1. Start with walking directions, then look one block over.
Ask Google Maps or Apple Maps for walking directions, then look at the streets that run alongside the suggested route. A side street one block off a busy road is usually calmer and only a minute or two longer.
2. Look for paths.
Greater Boston has off-street paths that make great walks to work: the Charles River paths, the Somerville Community Path, the Southwest Corridor, the Minuteman and the Neponset River Greenway. Turn on the cycling layer in Google Maps to see the paths near you; they are shared, so walkers are welcome on them.
3. Pick your crossings.
Where a busy road is in the way, cross at a light with a walk signal. A route planned around two or three good crossings is calmer than one that crosses wherever it happens to meet the road.
4. Walk it once with time to spare.
Try the route on a weekend or a slow morning. You'll find the shortcuts, the coffee stop, the hill you'd rather skip, and how long it really takes.
5. Plan for the dark months.
From November through February, many walks to and from work are in the dark. Choose well-lit streets for those trips and wear something bright or reflective.
Keep a backup
A bus or train along your route gives you a ride for the days the weather turns or you're short on time.
Try it
Shift finds the calmest way to wherever you're headed, by bike, on foot or on transit, and gives you credit for every trip you shift.
Not ready for the app? Plan a route on the Nearby page in your browser.
Related guides
Carrying your things on a walking commute
A backpack that sits right, a lighter daily load, and a few things kept at work make the walk easy on your back.
Walking through the weather
Most weather is more walkable than it looks from the warm side of a window. The shoes, layers, and bail-out plan that get you out the door.
When walking is actually the faster option
For trips under a mile, walking often beats driving once you count getting to the car. Five times it definitely wins.