Walks you can reach from Tilehurst by train

Highly recommended: Thames riverside, ancient streets, broad valleys, beech woods, fields, small villages, alpaca farm and toll bridge.

Woodland: two fifths under tree cover.

1 lunch spot: the Red Lion (1h45 in)

1 end-of-walk reward: the Greyhound

Warnings: Can be muddy.

Adapted from: Time Out Country Walks Volume 1.

Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.

Highly recommended: Woods, hilly, river and quaint village.

Woodland: a third under tree cover.

3 lunch spots: Streatley (2h in) — Pierreponts, or the Swan at Streatley and the Coppa Club; plus the Bull (2h in)

2 end-of-walk rewards: the Miller of Mansfield, or the Catherine Wheel

Warnings: Relatively busy.

Source: Trains2Green.

River Thames valley, wooded hillsides, chalk nature reserve, open fields, quiet lanes and pretty villages.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Lunch: Nowhere to eat en route — pack lunch!

3 end-of-walk rewards: the Greyhound, the Ferry Boat, or the Swan

Warnings: Can be muddy.

Adapted from: Time Out Country Walks Volume 1.

Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.

Basildon Park: An estate saved from almost certain demolition and lovingly revived (National Trust; 2h30 in; 2h30 to visit).

1 lunch spot: Basildon Park tearoom (2h30 in)

Source: Trains2Green.

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).

Thames riverside path, gently rolling Oxfordshire countryside, open fields and attractive villages.

Warnings: Long, exposed walk.

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

Level, stile-free fields and tracks past the Saxon church where Agatha Christie is buried, the Aston villages and a heritage railway.

Agatha Christie's Grave: the grave of the crime novelist, beside the north wall of St Mary's churchyard under her married name Mallowan.

Lunch: The Chequers pub at Aston Tirrold.

Walk details: Round Reading Walk.

Thames Valley farmland, riverside paths, attractive villages, Iron Age hill forts and a nature reserve.

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

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 pleasant route starting with a little street walking before public footpaths and the Chiltern Way, through fields and lovely forest, then a long stretch on quiet lanes that were once drovers' roads, with some steep inclines and declines through woods. Narrow and sheltered footpaths and a churned-up bridleway near Henley can be muddy in wet weather. Follows the Chiltern Way Extension in the early part. Woodcote has a convenience store and cafe.

Woodland: a third under tree cover.

Lunch: Several pubs along the route.

Warnings: Steep steps down to and up from the slightly busy and dangerous A4074 crossing. Narrow, sheltered footpaths and a bridleway near the Henley end become muddy in wet conditions.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Great views back over the Goring Gap. A long, varied country route through fields, woodland and along a canal, with few road sections and those mostly quiet country lanes. Crosses the undulating North Wessex Downs, with a couple of hills; the steepest is Streatley Hill near Goring. Mostly easy underfoot in dry weather and though some sections can be tricky in winter and a few paths have brambles to push through. Crosses the North Wessex Downs AONB; passes close to a shooting range at Growcroft Copse where dogs should be kept on leads. Can be broken at Yattendon, roughly two-thirds of the way along.

Woodland: a fifth under tree cover.

Lunch: There are also a convenience store at Yattendon and two pubs at Cold Ash, roughly a third of the way along.

Warnings: Cattle are present in fields along the route, including a field west of the Pot Kiln at Frilsham, where some walkers have been approached by a frisky herd; alternative footpaths can avoid this field.

Walk details: Slow Ways.