1994 older adults in 147 neighbourhoods of Eindhoven in the Netherlands took part. Participants in the lowest educational group and lowest income group were more likely to report no recreational walking than their higher status counterparts. This can largely be explained by better neighbourhood aesthetics, and individual cognitions towards physical activity. Intervention and policy strategies to reduce socioeconomic differences in lack of recreational walking among older adults would be most effective if they intervene on both neighbourhood perceptions as well as individual cognitions.