Walks you can reach from Blackwater by train

Beginner-friendly: No coast or river to follow, but pretty straightforward long lines nonetheless, and Watt’s Chapel provides a lovely reward for reaching the midpoint of the circuit. The lunch stop is a simple café in the vicinity of Watt’s Chapel, so no messing around with booking a table in advance.

Watts Chapel: Beautiful Arts and Crafts creation of Mary Watts (1h45 in).

Watts Gallery (1h45 in)

St Catherine's Chapel Ruins (30m in)

Time: 5h (3h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

1 lunch spot: Watts Gallery café (1h45 in)

5 end-of-walk rewards: the Withies Inn, Ye Olde Ship Inn, the Britannia, the White House, or the George Abbot

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

Similar walk: Walking Post (inc. GPX).

Highly recommended

Woodland: two fifths under tree cover.

Abinger Roughs and Netley Park (National Trust)

Saint James's Church: see the remains of where a devout anchorite was encased within the church walls (30m in).

Shere (45m in)

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

7 lunch spots: Shere (30m in) — the Dabbling Duck Café (excellent), Hillys Tea Shop, the William Bray, or the White Horse; plus the Drummond Arms (1h in), Mandira's Kitchen at Silent Pool (1h15 in), or Carb Up and Go (1h45 in)

2 end-of-walk rewards: the Compasses Inn, or the Gomshall Mill

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Highly recommended: Vineyard, wooded hills, chalk downland, open grassland. Very beautiful. Magnificent views at Box Hill. Begins fairly quiet, but anticipate a constant Londoner horde near Box Hill itself.

Hilly: two fifths on high ground, rising above the surrounding land.

Woodland: half under tree cover.

Salomons Memorial Viewpoint (3h45 in)

Box Hill Café & Visitor Centre (National Trust; 3h45 in)

Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

2 lunch spots: Mickleham (2h15 in) — the King William IV (excellent; reservations recommended), or the Running Horses

2 end-of-walk rewards: Box Hill Café & Visitor Centre, or the Stepping Stones

Warnings: Relatively busy. Can be muddy.

Source: Trains2Green.

Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.

Restored landscaped gardens, rhododendron woods, surfaced parkland paths, open fields with Downs views, wooded valley trails, village green and town centre.

Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)

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

Surrey churches and North Downs views, past Guildford Castle, St Martha's Church and Albury village.

Woodland: three fifths under tree cover.

Guildford Castle: A Norman castle whose surviving keep and grounds sit above Guildford's cobbled High Street.

St Martha's Church: A Grade II-listed hilltop church atop St Martha's Hill with sweeping views over the Surrey Hills.

Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Steep ascent out of Guildford; steep descent to Albury.

Walk details: Walking Post (tips, photos and local insights).

Hilly North Downs walk over sandy heathland commons with ferns, ponds and hilltop panoramas.

Woodland: half under tree cover.

Watts Gallery & Chapel: Arts and Crafts gallery and memorial chapel dedicated to Victorian artist G.F. Watts.

St John the Baptist Church: Historic parish church.

Puttenham Common: Heathland common with ponds and ferns.

Crooksbury Hill: Pine-clad hilltop with panoramic views toward the South Downs.

Mother Ludlam's Cave: Sandstone cave associated with local folklore.

Time: 7h (5h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Steep inclines in places. Can be muddy.

Walk details: Walking Post (tips, photos and local insights).

Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.

Reverse direction: Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

North Downs ridge, escarpments, bluebell woods, downland slopes, upland country with long views, wooded stretches and estate grounds.

Time: 7h (5h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Steep hill climbs.

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

Reverse direction: Walking Post (inc. GPX).

Sandy ridges, downland escarpments, wooded sections, open downland, quiet valley and Surrey Hills AONB.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Similar walk: Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

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

Waterway: four fifths along the River Thames.

Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)

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.

Time: 4h (2h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

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

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

Blackheath Common heathland, the wooded greensand ridge of Winterfold and the pretty village of Shere with its medieval church, across the Tillingbourne Valley.

Blackheath Common: A tract of sandy heathland and common land in the Tillingbourne Valley.

Winterfold: A wooded greensand ridge offering far-reaching views across the Weald.

Shere Church: The medieval parish church at the heart of one of Surrey's prettiest villages.

Shere

Time: 3h30 (2h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Lunch: William IV, Shere.

Walk details: Surrey Hills National Landscape (turn-by-turn directions).

Mainly level riverside path, sandstone Greensand Way, picturesque Surrey villages and parkland grounds.

Time: 5h (3h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

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