If like me, you chose your place of living based on distance to work rather than distance to pleasure, and you now find yourself surrounded by a concrete jungle rather than pine trees (or palm trees if you prefer) then you are an idiot…we both idiots…
Luckily for us Great Britain has a solution for that. And no, it’s not travel abroad. Have you ever heard of the Grand Union Canal? Don’t worry if you haven’t because I have been living here for the past 12 yrs and only learned about it last month:)
In a nutshell the Grand Union Canal its a part of the British canal system. A glorious 220 km (137 miles) with main arm starting in London and ending in Birmingham. You can literally point a finger on this map and choose a segment that suits you best. You can bike it, run it, walk it, kayak it or simply hop on the boat.
Of course it’s best walked during the week when most people are at work or school but speaking from experience, I walked a part of it on a Sunday during half term and it wasn’t too bad. The busiest segments will be the one close to pubs, shops and play grounds. Well duh!
It is suitable for all ages HOWEVER the path can be very muddy and very narrow sometimes so please be careful, especially if you walk with little children.
If there is one thing that I noticed is that the further the path gets away from London the prettier the surroundings. But I’m probably biased. I never liked big cities.
Hanwell to Uxbridge (approximately 13km)