Dip into our highlights, click through to full walk details, pull on your boots and get going at the refreshing pace nature intended. Combine birdwatching and canal towpath on a ramble from Kingsbury Water Park. Relish the rewarding views from Ilmington Down, Warwickshire’s highest point. We’ve meanders beside river and lake, through wood and easygoing lowland, to villages, churches – and pubs where you can bask in the warm afterglow of your exertions.
Alcester was a Roman town and has been the subject of numerous archaeological digs: find out more in the fine heritage centre. Medieval buildings and street patterns remain part of today's vibrant market town, which is famous for its summer in bloom – bring your camera. This 7-mile walk sets the town into its surrounding environment with the gently flowing River Arrow and villages of Exhall, Wixford and Oversley Green.
Choose Pooley Country Park as your base for a series of walks from the former Pooley Hall Colliery, part of North Warwickshire’s mining heritage. The park is within easy reach of Birmingham and the M42, as well as bus routes. Your walk to Alvecote takes in a nature reserve, the Coventry Canal with its popular marina full of moored boats, and passes three villages. It’s a mainly easygoing lowland walk – apart from one fairly steep hill!
This relatively easy walk in north Warwickshire takes you through Ansley village and Ansley Common. It is a waymarked route off the North Arden Heritage Trail, a project that has worked with local communities to establish a 25-mile circular heritage route. Ansley Parish Walk links with the varied historical sites of northern Warwickshire: from the Saxon lands of Lady Godiva to the industrial remains of the former coal mining landscape.
This circular route in central Warwickshire conveniently starts and finishes at the Blue Lias pub; Blue Lias is a hard stone used for building in many local villages. Depart Long Itchington at bridge number 23 on the Grand Union Canal and pass Stockton Locks. Follow the towpath and on to Napton Hill, from where you can spy seven counties on a clear day. Then it’s back, via 12th-century St Michael's Church, to beautiful Stockton Reservoir.
Hartshill Hayes Country Park is a great place to start a number of trails and explore important semi-ancient woodland, in a wonderfully tranquil corner of northern Warwickshire. Stride out from here across fairly steep hills and you’ll be rewarded with superb views – on a clear day you can look out over Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire. This stile-free walk includes a section along the Coventry Canal and, no doubt, you will see some narrowboats.
A fascinating route skirting the borders of Warwickshire and Oxfordshire. It features quintessential English countryside, several historic sites, and the chance to view paintings by Canaletto and Hogarth at the National Trust’s Upton House. Passing ancient woodland with views across the two counties, the route overlooks Edgehill Battlefield, site of one of the English Civil War’s bloodiest encounters. Cottage charms of the sandstone villages of Hornton and Ratley offer quite a contrast.
Explore a truly pleasant area of rural western Warwickshire, not far from Stratford-upon-Avon and the market town of Henley-in-Arden. Alternatively, you might consider arriving at Wootton Wawen rail station. Starting from Edstone viaduct, venture along the waterways and into the local countryside, taking the opportunity to look around the wonderful sounding village of Wootton Wawen. Noted features of the walk include the aqueducts carrying the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal across the valley.
Magnificent wraparound views from the rolling hills of Burton Dassett provide a breathtaking start to this walk. On clear days you can see the Malvern Hills and Clee Hills over 40 miles away! The country park is popular for walking, kite-flying and picnicking. Your route crosses a landscape seemingly little changed since medieval times, and passes through low lying hills. Stop at picturesque Avon Dassett and Fenny Compton for friendly pubs and shops.
This walk in the south of Warwickshire takes in the county’s highest ground, at the fringes of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Crossing the AONB’s downs, it provides a superb introduction to the protected landscape. Start at honey-stone Ilmington village, then your route uses footpaths, bridleways and country lanes to explore Ilmington Down and surroundings. Bring your camera for particularly good views into the Vale of Evesham from the top of the Down.
Discover an endlessly varied country walk within easy reach of Birmingham, offering opportunities for birdwatching on water and meadow. Stroll by the lakes of Kingsbury Water Park, Warwickshire's premier waterside attraction; there are 15 lakes in more than 600 acres of countryside. Then walk the banks of the River Tame and past Curdworth Locks on the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal. Stop for refreshments at the park’s visitor centre or watch events taking place.
Re-charge your batteries on this easygoing, 7-mile, stile-free walk from Lapworth rail station on the Birmingham to Stratford-upon-Avon line. Look out for narrowboats negotiating locks on the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal and cruising the Grand Union. The circuit passes two beautiful National Trust properties: the magnificent gardens of Tudor Packwood House are famed for their yew topiary, while Baddesley Clinton is a medieval moated manor house linked with the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
Unwind on this gentle walk that explores the countryside east of Henley-in-Arden, taking in several parish churches and the remains of a Norman castle. The route heads to Preston Bagot and its picturesque church. Continuing on, it reaches the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal, following the towpath north to Finwood Bridge. Clear waymarking along the Heart of England Way returns you to Henley-in-Arden and its gorgeous timbered high street with appealing independent shops and cafes.
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