Walks from the door

Bath is a hilly city and most of its famous walks begin with a climb. The house sits down on the flat by the river, which means the good flat routes start here and the hills are optional. These are the five we send people out on, roughly in order of how often.

1. The canal towpath into town

This is the one. Pick up the Kennet & Avon canal a few minutes from the house and follow the water east into the centre of Bath. It is flat the entire way, it takes about thirty-five minutes at an ordinary pace, and it delivers you into the city past the backs of the Georgian terraces rather than along the Upper Bristol Road with the traffic. Narrowboats, herons, the odd rower on the river below. We prefer it to driving in, and not only because of the parking.

It works in the dark too, but the towpath is unlit in places, so take a torch or use your phone if you are walking back after dinner. In heavy rain the surface gets muddy in patches rather than impassable.

2. The Bristol & Bath Railway Path

Thirteen miles of former railway line running all the way from Bath to central Bristol, traffic-free, tarmacked and almost entirely flat. It starts a few minutes from the house, which is the main reason we tell cyclists the enclosed garden is a useful thing rather than a listing bullet point.

You do not have to do the whole thing. Bitton, with its preserved railway station, is a very satisfying morning’s ride out and back. Warmley is a shorter version with the same idea. And if you do ride all the way into Bristol, you can put the bikes on a train back. Check what the operator’s current cycle policy is, because it varies and space is limited at busy times.

On foot, the first few miles out of Bath make a good flat hour in each direction. It is a shared path, so walkers should expect quick cyclists and cyclists should expect small children.

3. The Bath Skyline

The National Trust’s circular route around the hills on the eastern side of the city: woodland, meadows, an eighteenth-century folly or two and long views back down over the whole of Bath. It is a proper walk of about six miles with real climbing in it, and it is the best half-day the city offers anyone with decent boots.

It does not start from the door; you will want to get across town first. That is the trade-off for the flat position. Go on a clear day, take water, and expect mud on the wooded sections for most of the year.

4. The Two Tunnels Greenway

A traffic-free walking and cycling route on the south side of the city, built along another old railway, and the most unusual thing on this list. The Combe Down tunnel is a mile of lit, cool, echoing darkness under the hill (often described as the longest cycling tunnel in Britain), with an ambient sound installation that catches most people entirely off guard the first time.

Take a jumper. It is properly cold in there even in August, and the temperature change as you come out the far end into the Midford valley is half the pleasure of it. Children find it either the best or the worst thing they have ever done, with very little middle ground.

5. Alexandra Park

Twenty minutes of unapologetic uphill from the river, and then the best free view in Bath: the Abbey, the crescents, the hills behind, all of it laid out below you. It is the shortest walk here and the one with the highest return on effort. Go in the early evening.

Practical bits