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The purpose of this paper is to explore the views of Scottish schoolchildren on active travel to school and their ideas about promotion strategies for school‐based interventions.

Focus group discussions were conducted with 66 students from four primary and three secondary schools.

The most common perceived barriers to active school travel were personal safety, weather conditions and time/distance. To a lesser extent, image, physical discomfort and aspects of the physical environment also prevented children from walking or cycling to school. Perceived benefits centred on health and fitness, environmental and social factors. Enjoyment, confidence and social influences were all discussed, with the latter appearing to have the most significant impact on active travel behaviour. Students suggested a number of potential promotion strategies, including incentives and reward schemes to enhance motivation. Practical exercises such as a group walk or cycle were more popular than classroom‐based activities.

Findings are limited to Scottish schoolchildren aged 10‐13 in rural and semi‐rural locations. Further research covering younger and older children, as well as more urban locations will broaden understanding of the impact of age and geographical location.

The findings identify a number of influences on active travel behaviour among young people. Advancing understanding of determinants of context‐specific physical activity is important for the development of effective interventions.

This paper draws on students' own ideas about the ways in which active travel should be promoted and, as such, has important implications for the development of appropriate and acceptable school‐based active travel programmes.

The wide ranging physical and mental health benefits of physical activity during adolescence are well established and walking has been identified as one of only two forms of physical activity not to show a significant decrease in participation levels across the primary/secondary years. The aim of this paper is to explore the broader context in which adolescent girls walk and to investigate their walking behaviours, experiences and attitudes.

Focus groups discussions and a mapping exercise were carried out with 27 adolescent girls from one urban and one rural school in Scotland.

Key themes identified focussed on current walking behaviours (e.g. type/purpose), physical environmental (e.g. safety, aesthetics), social environmental (e.g. family/friends) and individual (e.g. motivations, beliefs) factors. Walking was a popular activity among urban and rural girls, although areas in which walking took place, and reasons for walking could differ between geographical locations. Social influences were dominant, regardless of location, and often took precedence over other influencing factors. Walking was acknowledged as being good for health, but rarely a primary reason for choosing to walk. In general, walking was a consequence of meeting up with others, or an opportunity to be with friends.

Findings are limited to Scottish girls aged 11‐14 years in one urban and rural location. Further research involving greater numbers of participants are required to broaden understanding.

Social aspects associated with walking are a key influence. Walking behaviours may take different forms depending on geographical location. Public health interventions need to adapt to match the variety of opportunities for walking.

These pilot study findings have the potential to inform further research as well as context‐specific interventions aimed at increasing and maintaining walking among adolescent girls.