Walks you can reach from Beaulieu Road by train

Recommended

Time: 3h30–7h

1 lunch spot: the Fleur de Lys (1h–1h30 in)

2 end-of-walk rewards: the Snakecatcher Pub, or the Huntsman

Warnings: Can be EXTREME mud in Lymington Reeds Beds Nature Reserve.

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

Similar walk: Railwalks (inc. GPX).

Reverse direction: the Saturday Walkers Club and Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

Heath and forest inclosures skirting a golf course, between the villages of Lyndhurst and Ashurst. Strenuous.

Warnings: Tracks can be muddy after wet weather; watch for stray golf balls.

Walk details: New Forest Walks (tips, photos, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Forest inclosures and heath between the villages of Lyndhurst and Brockenhurst, with Lymington River bathing spots and spring bluebells. Strenuous.

Walk details: New Forest Walks (tips, photos, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Ancient woodland, open heath and inclosures, crossing the Beaulieu River past Matley and Denny Woods. Strenuous.

Matley Wood: A small but beautiful tract of ancient and ornamental New Forest woodland reached across open heath.

Denny Wood: An ancient and ornamental woodland of beech and oak flanked by ferns and surrounded by heath and wetland habitats.

Warnings: Some roadside walking with limited footpath; take care.

Walk details: New Forest Walks (tips, photos, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Open heath and forest inclosures, a caravan park and a dead-straight stretch of the disused Castleman Corkscrew railway, now a cycle route. Strenuous.

Warnings: Some short road sections have no footpath; watch for traffic.

Walk details: New Forest Walks (tips, photos, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Uses Forestry England approved routes.

Woodland: two fifths under tree cover.

Time: 5h–10h

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Time: 3h30–6h30

Warnings: Follows a busy road for a fifth of the walk.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Solent Way with an inland section and a ferry crossing to Hythe.

Walk details: Railwalks.

Coastal path, with a long section from the station to reach the coast.

Walk details: Railwalks.

Baddesley Common was gorgeous; the next stretch, through Knight Wood, was wonderful. A varied route mixing tarmac with footpaths, woods and countryside, including Tadburn meadows nature reserve, Baddesley Common and Knight Wood. A few stiles and gates; the common can be wet and muddy after rain and the final suburban miles run near the M3.

Woodland: a third under tree cover.

Time: 3h30–7h

Warnings: A quarter urban. Flexford Road is a nasty stretch with almost no refuge from frequent traffic and no footpath; an alternative via Fleming Park avoids it. The bridge over Monk's Brook near Chandler's Ford may be broken and closed, requiring a short diversion. Stiles and gates on North Baddesley Common.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

The beautiful Barton Common (with grazing New Forest ponies); the coast along from Barton is quite rugged and wild. A varied route taking in coast, New Forest countryside, common land with grazing ponies, the town of Lymington and with a ploughed-field crossing that gets very muddy in winter and an exposed clifftop path. The approach into Lymington is along a busy main road on a pavement. Lymington has a regular shuttle train back into the New Forest.

Time: 3h30–7h

Lunch: Food, drink and supplies available at the New Milton start.

Warnings: The clifftop path along from Barton is very exposed and on permissive land with active cliff erosion. Crossing the ploughed field between Lymington Road and Lymington Lane is very muddy in winter. The A337 (Milford Road) approach to Lymington is a busy main road, hard to cross, with a pavement on only one side.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Reverse direction: Railwalks.

A beautiful way of entering Southampton; all the way to Eastleigh which is delightful. Easy walking on roads and surfaced paths through parks at first, then an open riverside stretch along the Itchen before a pleasant woodland walk following the Itchen Navigation. The towpath becomes narrow, overgrown and tricky in places and can get very muddy or flooded in wet weather. Follows the Itchen Way along the route of the Itchen Navigation. Refreshment facilities accessible at Itchen Valley Country Park.

Time: 3h30–7h30

Lunch: Refreshment facilities at Itchen Valley Country Park.

Warnings: The Itchen Navigation towpath is narrow, overgrown and neglected in places, with obstacles and dense vegetation; cover arms and legs against nettles and consider boots, as long grass can be wet. The river path can flood in winter. Loud aircraft noise where the route passes beneath Southampton Airport's flight path by the M27. Can be muddy.

Walk details: Slow Ways.