Walks from Farnborough

Largely flat Basingstoke Canal towpath, summer water lilies and wildflowers, linking Farnborough, Brookwood and Woking; varying lengths.

Lunch: Station coffee shops at Farnborough and Brookwood, a café in Brookwood, the Rose and Thistle pub at Frimley Green, and many options in Woking.

Warnings: Lords-and-ladies plants along the route are poisonous.

Walk details: Blackwater Valley Nature Walks (tips, photos, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Leisurely, hill-free chain of green spaces, following the Cove Brook Greenway through country parks and butterfly habitat to Fleet Pond, Hampshire's largest freshwater lake.

Fleet Pond: Hampshire's largest freshwater lake, a nature reserve of reedbeds, heath and woodland.

Lunch: Southwood Country Park visitor-centre café, midway.

Walk details: Blackwater Valley Nature Walks (tips, photos, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Recommended: One of the most enjoyable routes in that area. A gentle, straightforward and very enjoyable route, mostly along the quiet Basingstoke Canal towpath through a deep cutting and dense woodland and with some residential streets at Frimley Green and Farnborough. The towpath has a fairly small gradient but can get quite muddy after wet weather; the last kilometre into Farnborough is a bit uphill on roads. The towpath switches sides at the Bisley Camp Road bridge. Adjacent army ranges at Deep Cut produce occasional sound effects along the canal.

Waterway: three quarters along the Basingstoke Canal.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Time: 2h30–5h

1 lunch spot: the Harvester

Warnings: There are railway lines to cross leaving Farnborough where visibility can be poor; take care. The towpath can be quite muddy after wet weather.

Walk details: Slow Ways.