Walks you can reach from Reading West by train

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

Remnants of Calleva Atrebatum: includes ruins ofthe original walls, and a large amphitheatre where gladiatorial combats entertained up to 7,000 people at a time.

St Mary the Virgin Church: on the site of a Roman temple.

Time: 3h30–6h30

1 lunch spot: the Calleva Arms (1h30–3h30 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.

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

Remnants of Calleva Atrebatum: includes ruins ofthe original walls, and a large amphitheatre where gladiatorial combats entertained up to 7,000 people at a time.

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

Time: 5h30

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

Mostly flat farmland, Bramley Frith Wood and the Roman walls of Calleva Atrebatum at Silchester, with a 12th-century church and a stretch of the Camino Ingles pilgrim route.

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

St Mary the Virgin Church: on the site of a Roman temple.

Time: 3h

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.

Time: 4h

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Undulating West Berkshire Downs, ancient woodlands, commons, fields, chalk stream valleys, heathland, canal towpath and landscaped parkland.

Time: 4h30

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Gentle climbs, heathland common, woodland, river meadows and canal.

Time: 5h30

Warnings: Swing bridge delays.

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.

Time: 3h–6h

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.

Time: 5h–10h

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.

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.

Time: 2h30–4h30

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.

Time: 3h–6h

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.

Lovely views and goes through beautiful beech woods. A long, varied walk taking in lanes, fields, beech woodland and a final urban stretch into Basingstoke. The off-road sections are largely dry underfoot and though woodland paths can be overgrown and muddy in winter. No stiles. Follows a stretch of the Wayfarer's Walk near Dummer. The train from Basingstoke to Micheldever takes about 10 minutes for an easy linear return.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Time: 5h30–11h

Lunch: Community cafe in Beggarwood Park and a Forest Holidays cafe in Blackwood also offer refreshments along the way.

Warnings: Larkwhistle Farm Road has fast traffic and narrow verges with no safe place to step off, and undulations hide approaching vehicles. The Holt woods can get muddy. The footpath through The Holt is tricky to find.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Gentle farmland, Roman earthworks, pine woods, commons, river weirs and short canalside towpath.

Warnings: Can be muddy.

Source: A shorter variant of Mortimer to Aldermaston – the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).