Walks you can reach from Reading Green Park by train

Highly recommended: Little known but quietly wonderful. Beautiful rather than spectacular, in a humble village pathways sort of manner. Mostly secluded.

Ruins of Calleva Atrebatum: once a thriving Romano-British city that survived into the Saxon period. Now ghostly ruins. Includes an evocative full circuit of city walls, and what's left of a 7,000-capacity gladiatorial arena (1h15 in).

St Mary the Virgin Church: charming medieval church on the site of a Roman temple (2h15 in).

1 lunch spot: the Calleva Arms (1h45 in; excellent)

1 end-of-walk reward: the Bramley Inn

Adapted from: The Rough Guide to Walks in London & the South East (3rd edition).

Similar walk: Reading to Basingstoke Community Rail Partnership.

The Vyne: Explore a former Tudor powerhouse turned 17th-century family home, set in gardens, woodlands and wetlands (National Trust; 2h15 in; 3h to visit).

2 lunch spots: the Bramley Inn, or the Vyne tearoom (2h15 in)

Source: Trains2Green.

Long, mostly flat circular: the Calleva Atrebatum Roman amphitheatre and walls, Pamber Forest Reserve and farmland around Mortimer, Silchester and Bramley.

Ruins of Calleva Atrebatum: once a thriving Romano-British city that survived into the Saxon period. Now ghostly ruins. Includes an evocative full circuit of city walls, and what's left of a 7,000-capacity gladiatorial arena.

Calleva Atrebatum: The remains of the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum, with substantial surviving flint walls and an amphitheatre.

Walk details: Reading to Basingstoke Community Rail Partnership (turn-by-turn directions).

Flat Thames towpath, riverside parks, wooded sections, pasture fields, meadows and riverside gardens.

Waterway: four fifths along the River Thames.

Warnings: Flood risk sections.

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Similar walk: Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

Flat Thames Path riverside countryside, the Horseshoe Bridge and the historic Bull Inn at Sonning (of Three Men in a Boat).

The River Thames: England's best-known river, whose towpath (the Thames Path National Trail) carries long stretches of nearly every walk in this set.

Warnings: Shared with cyclists between Reading and Sonning; walkers only beyond.

Walk details: Reading to Basingstoke Community Rail Partnership (turn-by-turn directions).

Gentle farmland, clear stream, Roman earthworks and walls, Scots pine woods, gorse and birch commons and river weirs.

Warnings: Can be muddy.

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Recommended: A relaxing rural walk mainly on traffic-free footpaths through meadows, fields and woodland, with a particularly pretty middle section along the River Loddon. Urban footpaths out of Hook; can be very muddy in places, the Loddon is prone to flooding. Lots of gates and bridges and a few stiles. Follows the way-marked Brenda Parker Way for much of its length, alongside the River Loddon. The plotted route has been diverted slightly between Lilly Mill and the A33.

1 lunch spot: the Coach and Horses

End-of-walk reward: Bramley has The Bramley Inn and a bakery cafe near the station.

Warnings: The crossing of the A33 (Basingstoke Road) requires a long wait for a safe gap. The riverside section is prone to flooding, so check the way is clear after wet weather. There are gates and stiles.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A scenic, almost entirely off-road walk crossing picturesque estates (War Memorial Park, Hackwood Park), woodland and arable farmers' fields, with a variety of landscapes. Some narrow and overgrown stretches (notably White Lane), a couple of stiles and kissing gates and a small amount of quiet-lane road walking; firm underfoot in dry spells. Not much in the way of resting places; the church at Weston Patrick has seating. A bus runs between the two endpoints.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

1 lunch spot: Avenue Nurseries café

Warnings: Several stiles and kissing gates, and an overgrown stretch of track (White Lane). The B3349 crossing has good sightlines south but a northbound bend, so take care. Cattle, including Highland cows, often in a field near Alton.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Residential streets and a short lane out of Goring join the Thames Path to Whitchurch, a wooded stretch with steep inclines and steps. Then quiet lanes, gravel and metalled tracks and concrete farm paths north of the Thames through Mapledurham and with steep hills on the north side. The final water-meadow section near Goring can get muddy and flood in winter. Follows the Thames Path National Trail as far as Whitchurch, then lanes and footpaths north of the river. The route passes the Mapledurham and Hardwick estates with their horses and organic farm. The walk can be shortened by dropping into Pangbourne at Whitchurch.

1 lunch spot: the Greyhound Inn

End-of-walk reward: Caversham's Church Street, near the end, has plenty of amenities.

Warnings: Some residential roads have no pavement, though good verge paths exist on each side. The Hartslock woods section has steep inclines and steps. The water meadows can get muddy and sometimes flood in winter.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A largely riverside route following the River Kennet and then the Thames Path for a long stretch and with open fields and shaded paths. A narrow path past Sonning Lock with barbed-wire fences can become muddy in wet weather; the approach to Twyford is on a metalled road and through a country park. Follows the Thames Path and the Oscar Wilde Memorial Walk past the walls of Reading Gaol; passes Reading Abbey ruins and Abbey Gardens. A detour through Charvil Country Park gives respite from the main road.

Waterway: two thirds along the River Thames.

Reading Abbey: the ruins of a major medieval abbey founded by Henry I, beside the former Reading Gaol where Oscar Wilde was imprisoned.

Lunch: Refreshments available at Sonning, roughly midway.

Warnings: An unavoidable stretch of the A3032 Old Bath Road has a narrow pavement near Twyford, and there is an annoying crossing of the A4.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A route of three parts: easy pavement and on-road walking through Bramley and Basingstoke's suburbs, with a more challenging middle section on rural footpaths through woodland that is muddy, rutted, waterlogged and narrow, with open ditches and occasional fallen trees. You need to be sure-footed and brambles and nettles encroach in summer. The medieval parish church at Bramley is worth a short detour.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Lunch: No facilities in the middle section.

End-of-walk reward: Bramley has shops, a bakery cafe and The Bramley Inn near the station.

Warnings: Cufaude Lane is narrow with surprising amounts of traffic and no pavement, so care is needed. The woodland middle section has open ditches, flooding and fallen trees. Can be muddy.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A mix of easy paved sections and cross-country walking on field paths, tracks and gates and with cultivated stretches that turn sticky after rain and several stiles. One section across Hook Common is totally undefined across very boggy ground.

Woodland: a third under tree cover.

Warnings: The path across Hook Common, between the cricket club and Rectory Road, is undefined and crosses very boggy ground — it is better to stay on the A30 pavement. Several stiles and gates; a section near Old Basing may be diverted for housing construction. Can be muddy.

Walk details: Slow Ways.