Walks you can reach from Bekesbourne by train

Highly recommended: Clifftop chalk paths, two significant climbs, level pebble beach coastpath, open sea views and historic town.

Coastal: almost all along the coast.

Dover Castle: A vast medieval fortress overlooking the port and the Channel to France (30m in).

South Foreland Lighthouse (National Trust; 45m in)

The White Cliffs of Dover (National Trust; 1h in)

Time: 6h30 (5h walking, 1h30 lunch)

4 lunch spots: Saint Margarets Bay (2h15 in) — the Coastguard (excellent), the Pines Tea Room, or the bay kiosk; plus Walmer Castle and Gardens (4h30 in)

1 end-of-walk reward: the King's Head

Warnings: Relatively busy.

Adapted from: Time Out Country Walks Volume 2.

Similar walks: the Saturday Walkers Club, Walking Post (inc. GPX) and Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

Reverse direction: Railwalks (inc. GPX).

Highly recommended

Chilham (15m in)

Canterbury Cathedral (2h45 in)

Canterbury (2h45 in)

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

2 lunch spots: Chilham (30m in) — the Chilham Square, or the Star Inn

5 end-of-walk rewards: the Monument, the Unicorn Inn, the West Gate Inn, the Carpenters Arms, or the Old Buttermarket

Warnings: A fifth urban.

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

Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.

Highly recommended: Coastal cliffs, chalk downland, sea defences, wild landslip area, wartime installations, ridge between valley and sea and town crossing.

Hilly: a third on high ground, rising above the surrounding land.

Coastal: four fifths along the coast.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Western Heights (3h30 in)

Knights Templar Church Ruins (3h45 in)

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

1 lunch spot: Camping Café (1h15 in)

2 end-of-walk rewards: the Malvern, or the Priory Hotel

Warnings: Cracked sea defences.

Source: Trains2Green.

Similar walks: the Saturday Walkers Club and Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

Reverse direction: Railwalks (inc. GPX).

Recommended: Really beautiful woodland segments and occasional idyllic countryside vistas. The first segment, closest to Faversham, isn't great due to a busy road, but very quiet beyond that. Quiet and isolated.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Faversham: Very picturesque medieval market town with many interesting shops and historic sites.

Canterbury Cathedral (5h in)

Canterbury (5h in)

Time: 7h (5h walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)

Lunch: No lunch venues en route. There's a playground with picnic tables at Chartham Hatch that makes a good stop for a packed lunch.

7 end-of-walk rewards: the Black Griffin, the Lady Luck, the Old Weaver Restaurant, Marlowe's, the Drapers Arms, the Old Buttermarket, or the Shakespeare

Source: Trains2Green.

Similar walk: Slow Ways.

Flat Kent countryside, arable fields, woods, ancient villages, oast houses, polytunnel farms and riverside.

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

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

Apple orchards, a chalk stream and a cathedral, along the River Stour and the North Downs Way past No Man's Orchard into Canterbury.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

No Man's Orchard: A community orchard of mature fruit trees alongside the North Downs Way.

Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury

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

Warnings: Orchard paths can be muddy; busy road section on the A28.

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

Flat marshland, creek embankments, farm fields, quiet country lanes, woodland and tidal waterways.

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

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Flat orchards and fruit farms, tidal river seawall, coastal creeks, mudflats, salt marshes, drainage ditches, dykes, windswept grazing marshes and historic market town streets.

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

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Faversham is beautiful, and Whitstable nice enough, but the intervening coastal stretch is an extremely monotonous and exposed trudge between an estuary shoreline and a solar power plant. If it were one segment it'd be fine but for 16 km it's gruelling. Quiet and isolated.

Coastal: three quarters along the coast.

Faversham: Very picturesque medieval market town with many interesting shops and historic sites (15m in).

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

2 lunch spots: Secret Garden Tea Room (15m in), or the Sportsman (2h30 in; reservations recommended)

Source: Trains2Green.

Similar walks: the Saturday Walkers Club, Railwalks (inc. GPX) and Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

Recommended: Mostly tarmac or hard-packed gravel, largely traffic-free and following the Crab and Winkle Way cycle path with a few steps and good bridges over the road. A delightful final stretch alongside the Great Stour through Westgate Gardens into Canterbury. Follows the Crab and Winkle Way; services at Blean can be reached via alternative routes. There is a seat at a church en route for a rest or picnic.

Woodland: a fifth under tree cover.

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

Warnings: One road crossing near the Canterbury end needs more care.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Recommended: A flat estuary walk along the sea defences, following the England Coast Path nearly all the way.

Coastal: nine tenths along the coast.

Time: 8h30 (6h30 walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)

Lunch: Only one village stop en route.

Walk details: Railwalks.

Similar walk: Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

Recommended: Lovely views out over the marshes. A lovely, varied route through woods, fields, gentle hills, orchards and a river estuary, with small sections of mostly safe road walking. The first half is farmland over very gentle hills; the second follows the Medway estuary on the England Coast Trail, with lovely views over the marshes and mudflats. Quite a lot of tarmac and with some muddy parts and slanted cycle gates. The estuary section is on the England Coast Trail. Optional detour along a causeway to 'Horrid Hill'. Break points at Borden, Newington, Rainham, Riverside Country Park and the Strand leisure area.

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

Lunch: Break points with pubs/shops at Borden, Newington and Rainham; cafes and toilets at Riverside Country Park and the Strand.

Warnings: Steps, stiles and gates throughout, plus slanted cycle gates along the estuary. A field path beyond Newington was not reinstated across crops. Care crossing main roads.

Walk details: Slow Ways.