Best walks near Edenbridge 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).

Beginner-friendly: This short walk is nearly all National Trust territory and signposted. If you want to make it even shorter and simpler, just skip the detour through the woods. The lunch stop is a simple café, so no messing around with booking a table in advance. Mostly secluded.

Standen House (National Trust; 1h15 in)

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

1 lunch spot: Standen House café (1h15 in)

Source: Trains2Green.

Highly recommended: Stately home.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Chiddingstone Village (National Trust; 45m in)

Penshurst Place (2h in)

Chiddingstone (National Trust; 45m in)

Penshurst (2h in)

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

4 lunch spots: Chiddingstone (45m in) — the Tulip Tree, or the Castle Inn; Penshurst (2h in) — the Leicester Arms Pub, or Penshurst Place café

1 end-of-walk reward: the Little Brown Jug

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

Highly recommended: Pleasantly rolling hills and dales, fields and vales, oast houses and hay bails. Beautiful expansive views to the South, which make you appreciate well preserved the wooded hills of the Kent Downs are. Wandering through Knole Park is idyllic, especially toward the evening when the humans are gone and the deer are in force. Mostly secluded.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Knole House: enormous aristocratic estate, associated with the Bloomsbury Group; well worth a visit but consumes a day in itself (45m in).

The Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studio (National Trust; 45m in)

Knole Park (National Trust; 45m in)

One Tree Hill (National Trust; 1h30 in)

Ightham Mote: Immaculately preserved medieval manor house with idyllic gardens. Touring the house thoroughly takes an hour, and the gardens another 30 minutes (2h15 in).

Deer in Kent Downs National Landscape (National Trust; 3h45 in)

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

2 lunch spots: Ightham Mote café (2h15 in; not bad), or the Bucks Head (3h30 in)

Warnings: Some mud inevitable.

Source: Trains2Green.

Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.

Highly recommended: Escarpments.

Woodland: a third under tree cover.

Time: 8h (6h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

2 lunch spots: Frant (1h30 in) — the Abergavenny Arms, or the George

3 end-of-walk rewards: the Crown Inn, the High Rocks, or the Pantiles

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

Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.

Highly recommended: Quiet fields and country lanes running through rolling wooded hills. Mostly secluded.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Wadhurst: Quaint little village (1h45 in).

Bewl Water: An aqua park, and the largest body of water in South East England.

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

2 lunch spots: the Old Vine (1h30 in; excellent), or La Petite France (3h45 in)

Warnings: Can be muddy.

Adapted from: Time Out Country Walks Volume 2.

Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.

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: A very beautiful and varied walk through woodland ridges, open chalk downland, picturesque villages. Crosses the M25 but not significantly marred by the noise. Mostly secluded.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Godstone (2h in)

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

4 lunch spots: Godstone (2h15 in) — the Hare & Hounds (not great; not bad), the Old Forge Deli, the White Hart, or the Bell

1 end-of-walk reward: the Oxted Inn

Warnings: Chalk paths can be slippery.

Source: Trains2Green.

Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.

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.

Highly recommended: Greensand hills, apple orchards, woodland paths, streams, deer park, open parkland and historic manor grounds. Mostly secluded.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Ightham Mote: Immaculately preserved medieval manor house with idyllic gardens. Touring the house thoroughly takes an hour, and the gardens another 30 minutes (2h in).

One Tree Hill (National Trust; 2h45 in)

The Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studio (National Trust; 3h30 in)

Knole House: enormous aristocratic estate, associated with the Bloomsbury Group; well worth a visit but consumes a day in itself.

Knole Park (National Trust)

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

2 lunch spots: the Plough (45m in), or Ightham Mote café (2h in; not bad)

3 end-of-walk rewards: the Chequers, the Restoration, or the Sennockian

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.

Highly recommended: Undulating Kent farmland, orchards, bluebell woods, greensand escarpment and deer park.

Ightham Mote: Immaculately preserved medieval manor house with idyllic gardens. Touring the house thoroughly takes an hour, and the gardens another 30 minutes (3h30 in).

One Tree Hill (National Trust; 4h15 in)

The Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studio (National Trust; 5h in)

Knole House: enormous aristocratic estate, associated with the Bloomsbury Group; well worth a visit but consumes a day in itself.

Time: 7h30 (6h walking, 1h30 lunch)

3 lunch spots: the Swan on the Green (1h30 in), the Kentish Rifleman (2h30 in), or Ightham Mote café (3h30 in; not bad)

Source: Trains2Green.

Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.

Highly recommended: Beautiful landscapes and multiple historic sights.

Pevensey Castle (15m in)

Herstmonceux Castle (2h30 in)

Battle Abbey and Battlefield (7h30 in)

Pevensey Levels

Battle (7h15 in)

Time: 10h (8h walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)

2 lunch spots: Nuthatch Kitchen and Terrace (2h30 in), or the Ash Tree Inn (4h45 in)

2 end-of-walk rewards: the White Hart Pub, or Battle Abbey and Battlefield

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