Bath's Scenic Canal Walk - Towpath Closure until mid June
- Bath Insider Tours
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Most visitors to Bath are familiar with the river that runs through the centre of Bath. Less are familiar with the scenic canal that also flows through Bath to join this river. The walk along the canal is one of my favourite walks in Bath - within walking distance of the heart of the city centre but away from the crowds and away from the hustle and bustle of the shopping streets. As you take in the peace and calm you may see houseboats that people live on and if you are lucky you may get to watch a narrowboat operating one of the locks!
From April 7th to June 19th, part of the canal towpath that runs through the city centre will be closed whilst improvements to the surface of the towpath are made. The closure just affects peopIe wanting to walk the length of the canal that goes through the centre of Bath. If you are heading out of Bath along the canal and you are joining the canal at Bathwick Hill or in Sydney Gardens you will not be affected by this closure so you can still take the scenic 30-45 minute canal walk to the village of Bathampton where a pub and normally a narrowboat will serve you refreshments before you return to Bath. If you are Australian, opposite the pub is the church where Arthur Phillip is buried - the founding Governor of New South Wales! (Do check opening times if this is of interest as the church is not always open).
I offer a self-guided audio tour of Bath which follows my favourite walk in the centre and includes the canal. The tour is affected by the temporary towpath closure. You can still do the audio tour you will just need to detour the section of the canal which is closed (information on how to do this is provided when you purchase the audio tour). You can read more about the tour here.
It is a little frustrating that this part of the canal is temporarily closed but it is also the section of the towpath which can get very muddy and full of puddles when there has been a lot of rain so this will help improve the canal walk for the future. My 15 minute detour for the audio tour will take you through a peaceful residential neighbourhood where, should you wish, you will the have the opportunity to climb up the slope of a hill to get a lovely view of Bath's city centre!
If you are interested in walking during your holiday you may also like to check out the Bath Skyline Walk. A 6 mile circular walk that starts near the canal and takes you up on one of the hills around Bath giving you great views and a different perspective of Bath. You can get more details on this walk on the official website here. With all its public footpaths, England is a great place for walking! Happy trails!
