Walks you can reach from Herne Bay by train
MapA day hike is just a simple train journey away — plan your next day of green.
Alternatively, view walks directly from Herne Bay.
Margate to Broadstairs (Kent)
15 minutes direct from Herne Bay.
Beginner-friendly: Just keep the sea on your left and follow it to Broadstairs.
Coastal: almost all along the coast.
Broadstairs (2h45 in)
Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)
1 lunch spot: the Captain Digby (1h30 in)
5 end-of-walk rewards: the Tartar Frigate, the Neptune's Hall, Siam Kitchen, the Magnet Micropub, or the Prince Albert
Warnings: Very popular and busy.
Adapted from: Railwalks.
Ramsgate to Margate (Kent)
30 minutes direct from Herne Bay.
Recommended: Low chalk cliffs, sandy bays and coves, cliff-top grassland, seaside promenades and historic coastal towns.
Coastal: nine tenths along the coast.
Margate (4h30 in)
Broadstairs (1h45 in)
Kingsgate Bay: A chalk-cliff cove on the Thanet coast near Broadstairs, framed by a natural sea arch (2h45 in).
Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
2 lunch spots: the Royal Victoria Pavilion (45m in), or Forts Café (1h45 in)
2 end-of-walk rewards: the Mechanical Elephant, or the Cinque Ports
Warnings: Very popular and busy. Check tide timings.
Source: Trains2Green.
Similar walks: the Saturday Walkers Club and Walking Post (inc. GPX).
Faversham to Canterbury (Kent)
15 minutes direct from Herne Bay.
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.
Faversham Circular via Uplees Marshes (Kent)
15 minutes direct from Herne Bay.
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).
Meopham Circular (Kent)
1 hour direct from Herne Bay.
Chalk grassland, ancient woodland, community woodland, landscaped parkland, wildflower meadows, farm fields, country park and busy road stretches.
The Rochester Castle: A Norman castle beside the Medway with one of the tallest surviving keeps in England.
Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Rochester to Sole Street (Kent)
45 minutes direct from Herne Bay.
Dickensian Kent and the Medway: Rochester's cathedral and castle, then Ranscombe Farm and Cobham Park to Sole Street.
Woodland: a fifth under tree cover.
Cobham Wood and Mausoleum (National Trust; 3h in)
The Rochester Cathedral: England's second-oldest cathedral, founded in 604, in the heart of Rochester.
The Rochester Castle: A Norman castle beside the Medway with one of the tallest surviving keeps in England.
The Ranscombe Farm Reserve: A nature reserve near Rochester protecting rare arable wildflowers on the Kent downs.
The Cobham Park: A landscaped Repton parkland surrounding Cobham Hall, with the Darnley Mausoleum.
Time: 5h (3h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: Walking Post (tips, photos and local insights).
Teynham to Faversham (Kent)
15 minutes direct from Herne Bay.
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).
Higham to Gravesend (Kent)
1 hour direct from Herne Bay.
Flat estuary landscape, gravel tracks, grassy paths, marshes, open water, mud flats, RSPB reserve, industrial heritage and big skies.
Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Faversham to Whitstable (Kent)
15 minutes direct from Herne Bay.
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).
Whitstable to Canterbury (Kent)
4 minutes direct from Herne Bay.
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.
Sittingbourne to Faversham (Kent)
30 minutes direct from Herne Bay.
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.
Gillingham to Sittingbourne (Kent)
45 minutes direct from Herne Bay.
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.