The Best Walks in Lincoln UK

You can find my full guide to Lincoln here.

I love walking, and I love Lincoln, it's been my home for 35 of my 38 years, and while I love escaping to other cities, and other countries I think it will always be home. One of the best things about Lincoln is that you don't really have to drive to find somewhere nice to walk around, there's some wonderful parks and trails really close to the centre, but far enough from the main roads to be peaceful escapes from the city so I thought I'd share some of the best walks in Lincoln with you.

The South Common

Right at the very bottom of Lincoln High Street you'll find the South Common. It's a wonderfully peaceful, seemingly forgotten area of the city, and the perfect place to escape everyone else. There's the odd horse roaming around, and maybe the occasional jogger or sunbather, but other than that you're going to have the place virtually to yourself. If you don't rest at all you can cover most the area in about 40 minutes, but why rush?

The real reason I've put this walk top isn't because it's a particularly long or strenuous walk, although you do get a bit of pretty steep walking to get to the best bits, it's because it has the best views of the city. I mean just look at Lincoln Cathedral towering over everything else, isn't it magnificent? In my guide to the best churches in Europe this Gothic masterpiece is right up with the best of them, and that's at least partly down to its positioning.

From the top of the South Common you don't only get views of Lincoln Cathedral and castle, you can also see over Sincil Bank, the home of Lincoln City Football Club, or The Imps as they're other wise known. Sure it's not the biggest or best stadium in Europe, but it's a proper old school one so it should be appreciated by most football fans. Other than the fairly steep climb to the top of the South Common this isn't a tough walk, but it's a very enjoyable one.

If you do decide you need refreshments at any point, or you want to take in a little history the top of The South Common also features Lincoln's Bomber Command Centre, a touching memorial to those that died in the line of service. You can walk around the outside for free, and visit the café, but if you want to see the rest of the building there's a small price to pay, but it's worth it. In total it should take less than an hour to get from the centre of town to the top of the South Common, and a bit more if you spend a bit of time up there. I really would recommend anyone living in, or visiting Lincoln to spend a bit of time on this, the views really are stunning.

Hartsholme Lake

The prettiest park in Lincoln is Hartsholme Park, or Hartsholme Lake. It's about 40 minutes walk outside of Lincoln and takes a similar amount of time to get round, but then I walk quite fast. You can jump on the number 6 bus to Birchwood and jump out on Skellingthorpe Road if you don't fancy the walk there, plus there's plenty of free parking. There's a nice little café on site as well as toilet facilities, and a play park for those of you with kids. If you do pay the lake a visit take a minute to sit on the bench pictured. It's in memory of my grandparents. 

The whole area is really beautiful with squirrels running around everywhere and a whole host of geese, swans, coots, and herons to spot. You'll also find people with toy boats happily sailing them around. If you want to go further Swanholme Lake is just at the back of Hartsholme and will add an extra 30 minutes to your walk, it's less busy there, but also less sheltered from the sound of cars, plus it's really not as green or pretty as Hartsholme. This really is very much what all country parks should be, close enough to the city to make the journey easy, but with enough greenery to soak up the sound of the passing traffic. The lake is well worth the effort to visit even if you only have two or three days in Lincoln, so get yourself over there. Just on a side note there's a nice walk you can do to get to Hartsholme lake but I'll cover that on my bit about Foss Dyke which is another of the best walks in Lincoln

Boultham Park

This is very much my local walk, and a very nice one it is too. If you start at the Brayford in the centre of town you can just follow the water south until you get to the park about 25 minutes later. Just head past the university and don't stop until you get to a wooded area. The actual walk from the centre to Boultham Park is reasonably nice, as most river walks are, even though a bit of it will take you past some factories. Once you get to the woods you can take the first right following a tiny stream which will get you to the park itself. Personally though I wouldn't go that way quite yet.

Instead carry on South through the woods, it's a really nice small area, which is well worth walking through. Once you come out the other end you'll be able to follow the river for about another 10 minutes at which point you'll reach a pub called The Plough. If you're thirsty feel free to call in, their pints are pretty cheap, although the selection is pretty poor. At the end of the river path you'll find a large cycle path which will take you back to the woods. Technically you don't have to head back at the pub to have a nice walk, but we'll get to that when we do the River Witham Walk.

If you head left as soon as you get to the woods you'll come out at the lake, but instead go through the woods, over the little wooden bridge and then head left, it's just a chance to see a bit more of the wooded area, and the dozens of grey squirrels that have made their home here. I've actually seen a couple of deer in the area too when there haven't been too many dog walkers around. Once you're out of the woods turn left and head to the lake, it's a very nice lake, and I understand it will become a boating lake in the next few years, which isn't remotely exciting to me, but you might like it. I'd suggest turning left at the lake.

It takes about 10-15 minutes to walk around the lake, but take your time, it's pretty tranquil around here. Just before you get to the end of the lake you'll see another bridge, this will take you to the park area, where there's a bandstand and a generally nice amount of greenery. There's also a play park, a bowls green, and some tennis courts which are all free to use as long as you bring your own equipment. This is another lovely area to saunter round, take your time and drink in the sights.

More of the Best Walks in Lincoln

Foss Dyke to Burton Waters

If you enjoy walking in the footsteps of the Romans you'll want to take a walk down Foss Dyke which heads West out of the city. OK so the actual evidence that this is a Roman path is a little sketchy, but I'm going with it so come with me as this really is one of the best walks in Lincoln. This river goes out to Torksey and connects with the River Trent, but don't worry we're not going that far. We'll start this walk from the Brayford, Lincoln's riverside area covered in chain restaurants, hotels, a Lloyds Bar, and a couple of slightly better pubs called the Royal William IV and the Horse and Groom. There's also a cocktail bar in a boat, and at the top of the Hilton Hotel which inexplicably was built with the windows facing the Brayford rather than the incredible cathedral the other side. 

The walk is pretty straightforward. Just head West under the overpass and don't leave the riverside. There's a couple of tourist boats which will take you down the river giving you a bit of history, and by all means jump on one, but personally I prefer walking, and having found a blog about walks in Lincoln I imagine you do too. Although very popular with joggers this is a pleasant, not particularly busy walk which will take you down to the Pyewipe Inn, which does very good food, and has a riverside beer garden, which is never a bad thing. It'll take you about 20-30 minutes to get there.

The Pyewipe is also where my brother had his wedding reception, and I got to be best man, this meant I had to give a speech, but thankfully laryngitis intervened, and my voice was replaced by a Stephen Hawking style replacement. It was a great day.  After stopping off for a pint, or a bite to eat you can carry on down the river, under the overpass towards Burton Waters about 15 to 20 minutes away  which has a lovely little marina area. It's really nice around here, and the house prices reflect that. 

Slightly past the marina is The Woodcocks. This in a Marston's pub which does 2-4-1 main meals. The foods good, but it wont come quickly, which is no reflection of the staff, rather the lack of them. There's an outdoor play area for the kids if you have them, I recommend not having them, but each to their own. I usually double back to Lincoln at this point, however if you want you can carry on down the Foss Dyke a little while longer first. There's not a great deal there, but it's a pleasant riverside walk so why not? Right now that's done lets rewind slightly...

Foss Dyke to Hartsholme Park

When you head down Foss Dyke to the Pyewipe you'll see an overpass heading South, go over the overpass towards Skellingthorpe. Once you're over the overpass you'll come across a cycle path which contains a small, subtle memorial wall, with the word poppies written in red several time on the side, and A History of the Airfields of Lincoln on top. It's a nice little bit of history, so take a minute to enjoy it.

Lincoln is very much RAF central, The Dambuster's were from here after all, and yes one of them had a dog with a hugely offensive name, and no I'm not going to say or type the name. It's quite a sad reflection of Lincoln that when the name of the dog was removed from its gravestone during the Black Lives Matter protests it sparked outrage from the local gammon, but anyway moving on... Shortly after the wall you'll be able to take a left turn, if you get to a road you've gone too far.

If you follow the stream for about 30 minutes under the overpass, through the nice wooded area, and the fields, some of which have cows in, you'll eventually get to a train line, cross this and you're on Tritton Road near the city centre. To get to Hartholme take a right at the small footpath about 10-15 minutes after going under the overpass, you'll come out on Skellingthorpe Road, and across this is Hartsholme Park. Doing this walk and the lake is going to take you a good 3 hours, but there's much worse ways to spend 3 hours. If you want to just do Hartsholme another day the walk will take around 2 hours.

The River Witham

You may remember a bit further up we went to Boultham Park Road. I told you to follow a river to get there, well that river is the River Witham, which connects Grantham, Lincoln, and Boston. So if you take the same route from The Brayford to The Plough pub, passing Boultham Park on the way you'll come to Newark Road. Cross the road and you can continue following the river for about another 30 minutes each way. Personally I usually start on the left hand side. 

This really is a gorgeous walk, and it's entirely possible you'll do the whole thing without seeing another pesky human being. Just follow the winding track until you get to a wooden bridge, cross the bridge and head back the way you came. The walk back is slightly more broken up by gates, and the occasional field of horses, but both sides are pretty scenic walks a nice distance away from civilisation. 

Steep Hill and the Castle Walls 

I guess I can't finish a Lincoln walking guide without mentioning the Bailgate area. This is the tourist bit of Lincoln, it's the prettiest bit, and it's the historic bit. You'll find Roman walls and arches, a medieval castle, and arguable the best cathedral on the planet. Start at the bottom of Steep Hill at the top of the High Street near the excellent Strait and Narrow, and Cardinals Hat pubs. This hill is steep by name, and steep by nature. Once you're at the top you'll be at Castle Square, on one side is the cathedral, and on the other the castle. Treat yourself to a walk around the cathedral first, this will take you past Beerheadz so if you need a refreshment after climbing Steep Hill I'd recommend heading in there.  

Once you've done a lap of the cathedral (take your time it's magnificent) head into the castle. You can find out much more about both in my Lincoln Guide. I'm afraid you will have to pay to do the wall walk, and at £10 it's not cheap so ideally do it as part of the whole castle experience instead of paying separately. 

The castle walls have only fairly recently been completely reconstructed so you can go around the whole circumference, and the views are spectacular. Sure this isn't a typical Drink in the Sights country walk, but it's a Drink in the Sights, just drink in those sights walk instead. I hope you found this guide to the walks of Lincoln useful. Happy rambling.

I hope you enjoyed my guide to the best walks in Lincoln