Circular walks for the whole family
Hampshire West Sussex Surrey
Southwood Country Park
Southwood Country Park is a 57-hectare green space in Farnborough. It is split into two sides, east and west. The east is home to an excellent cafe, a play area, Cove Brook and wilder land and paths. The west side is a former golf course and has an easy, very well surfaced circular walk.
Itchen Valley Country Park
A new play trail has arrived at Itchen Valley Country Park, adding to the already excellent play facilities. Enjoy the new wooden, nature themed structures as well as walks through woodland, wildflower meadows and water meadows.
Wickham Water Meadows
The River Meon, which children and dogs can access at the water meadows, flows through the large village of Wickham. Our walk follows a section of the Meon Valley Trail and passes by this popular spot.
Whitchurch
Whitchurch sits on the crystal clear waters of the River Test and this walk criss-crosses over the river passing historic mills and pretty stone bridges.
Blackwood Forest
The tall beech trees of Blackwood Forest provide the ideal habitat for spring bluebells. Forest Holidays manage a collection of log cabins here, but you do not need to be on one of their breaks to be able to enjoy some of their excellent facilities and of course, the bluebells.
Southwick
Start this walk in Southwick, an attractive village that has retained its historical charm, and then head out across the farmland of the wider estate. On your return you can visit the remains of Southwick Priory, now in the stewardship of English Heritage, and the village tea rooms, which come highly recommended.
Hilsea Lines
Hilsea Lines are a scheduled ancient monument close to the centre of Portsmouth. As well as being steeped in military history, this little corridor of green at the top of Portsea Island has woodland, lagoons, moats, tunnels, a park, a café and a splash pad - all connected by pushchair friendly paths.
Alice Holt Forest
Alice Holt Forest is an extremely popular location for a variety of outdoor pursuits from high ropes courses to mountain biking. For the littlest explorers, there are multiple woodland play areas and Forestry England regularly host trails here based around Julia Donaldson stories. New for 2023 is a Zog trail which is detailed in this guide.
Browse our collections
Contact us
Leave us a tip
Running The Ambling Path takes considerable time and effort. If you have enjoyed using one of our walking guides, then please consider leaving us a tip. This will help to cover our costs and keep the website subscription free.