Wild London walks

From vast parks and ancient woods to overgrown graveyards and flower-banked canals, England's capital is filled with green surprises. Discover them on foot with six sensational London walks

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In her 1850s poem In a London Drawing Room, George Eliot likens London to a "solid fog: far as the eye can stretch," a "monotony of surface and of form, without a break to hang a guess upon." More than 170 years on, England's capital has much cleaner air, thankfully, but, with a population of 9.6 million and growing, is larger and noisier than ever before.

London may sound like an unlikely destination for a nature-based on-foot adventure, yet woven within its simmering brawn there are pockets of jade serenity. Indeed, 20% of the city's 606 square miles is public green space; a patchwork of woodlands, parkland, and gardens, linked by tree-flanked rivers and canals. Such is the nature of these green and blue spaces, including around 3,000 parks, that walkers can spend an entire day surrounded by wild things in the heart of the city. Here are a few of our favourite routes.

For full route details and maps for all the following walks, go to our website countryfile.com.

1 Hampstead Heath 2.9 miles/4.7km

Walked by Sian Lewis