Distance 6 miles (9.7km)
Classification Moderate
Duration 3 hours
Begins Bathwick Hill
OS grid reference ST765640

Walk in a nutshell
A moderately long but well-marked circular walk with fabulous views of Bath. You'll pass an 18th-century landscape garden with elegant and eccentric follies, and lovely, peaceful woodland. There are some steep sections, and quite a lot of stiles and gates. There are also many other footpaths crisscrossing the main route, so feel free to improvise along the way. In the autumn you might bring a box for blackberries.

Why it's special
Architecturally, Bath is without question one of Britain's finest cities. The ancient Roman remains, the awesome gothic abbey, the elegant Georgian terraces: together they were recognised with world heritage status in 1987, and the whole city is laid out beneath you on this walk. You also pass the glorious gardens of Prior Park, including one of only four of the world's Palladian bridges.

Keep your eyes peeled for
Sham Castle, towards the end of the walk, is the quixotic vision of Ralph Allen, the 18th-century entrepreneur and resident of Prior Park who owned the quarries that provided much of the stone for Bath's Georgian buildings. Wanting to improve the view from his house, and provide some extra work for local stonemasons, Allen commissioned this almost Disneyish idea of a medieval ruin. The area is great for wildlife too. Look out for deer, buzzards and butterflies, and giant anthills near Rainbow Wood, about halfway round.

Recover afterwards
The Bear, about a mile west of Prior Park, just south of Bath city centre, is a wonderful modern pub, serving real ales and enticing, reasonably priced food, including coffee and cake. The pub does get very busy sometimes, so it might be worth ringing ahead. Alternatively, there's similarly good food to be had at the Ring O Bells, just up Prior Park Road in Widcombe.

If it's tipping down
Head into Bath, where you'll find the Holburne Museum, the city's excellent and newly refurbished gallery of art and artefacts. Or there's No 1 Royal Crescent, an impeccably restored Georgian townhouse displaying all the glory of the era. Another option is the Jane Austen Centre, which recreates the story of Austen's five years as a resident of Bath, and sets it in the context of her writing.

How to get there
Bath Spa railway station is just one mile away. City Sightseeing also runs a regular tour bus from there. Alight at the American Museum stop to continue exploring the Skyline by foot. Otherwise, buses 18, 410 and 418, known as "The Bright Orange Bus", provie a regular service from the city centre to nearby Bath University. For more information call 08712 002 233.

Step by step

1 Standing on Bathwick Hill, with your back to Cleveland Walk, take the path opposite that goes between the houses. Go through the gate and bear left diagonally across the field. Through the next gate, after 75m go through another one and enter Richens Orchard. Exit through another gate and follow the track right. Go through the gate, down the slope and steps and follow to another gate. Cross the road next to the gate and bear diagonally right uphill.

2 Go through the gate into the field opposite and walk straight uphill and up a flight of wooden steps to the next gate. Bear diagonally left uphill across the next field towards some houses. At the far corner, turn right immediately after the gate to the road. Turn left uphill on the road. After the last house, turn right across the road and follow the path uphill through the woods. At the next gate, turn right and follow the path straight ahead to a gap in the wall. Walk 100m across the next field, take the path bearing right, away from the main gravel track. Enter the trees, cross the junction of tracks and follow the steps downhill with railings on the right. At the bottom of the slope, turn left before the gate, keeping the railings on your right.

3 At the gateway, turn left uphill through the trees to the playing fields then turn right, keeping the fence on your left. Keep on round the perimeter of the field, then go through the metal gate that leads to a gravel track. Go straight across, through the gate into some woodland. Keep straight on across a private drive, a field on the left and more woodland. Follow the path to the right as it skirts an old quarry and finally arrives at some houses at the woodland edge.

4 Turn left through the gate into a field. Keep the field boundary on the right, and at the end of the field take the gate on the right and follow the path along the wall. At the main road turn left and after 25m turn right down a narrow footpath. Go straight on at the playing field, keeping the boundary on the left, and come to an RSPCA home on the left.

5 Turn right on the road and after 100m turn left over a stone stile in the wall. After 20m turn right at a crossing path, go through the gate, then turn left and continue down the track. Follow to the first corner of the field, go through the gate and bear left across the field. At the corner, where the field and woodland meet, go through the gate and cross the field, following the woodland edge to your right.

6 At the end of the field go through the gate and enter Bathampton Woods. At the first fork keep straight on, and keep to the main trail through the woods.

7 Leave the woods and continue straight on. Bear left, slightly uphill, heading towards the right of the TV masts. As you approach the masts there's a woodland on the right and a golf course on the left. The path gradually moves away from the woodland and joins a track just to the right of the masts.

8 Follow the track to the second gate on the right, down into some woods. The path drops very steeply through the trees. Go to the left just before a wire fence. Continue on the path, winding through the trees, go up some wooden steps to a viewpoint and the stone pillars of the golf-club drive. Here make a short detour to Sham Castle, then return to the route and go through the gate on the right of the stone pillars and follow the path downhill with the field boundary on the left.

9 At the bottom of the slope go through the gate on to the road (cross with care) and turn right along the pavement. Take the footpath left between a field and a garden, and follow it downhill to emerge on Clevedon Walk. Turn left to Bathwick Hill and the end of the walk.