Walks you can reach from Higham by train

Circular around Dartford Marshes beside the meandering River Darent towards the Thames, with wading birds and the ruins of the Wells fireworks factory.

Walk details: Kent Downs National Landscape (tips, photos and local insights).

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.

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: 3h30–7h

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

Flat riverside paths, flood defences, marshland, industrial edge-land and wide Thames estuary views.

Time: 1h30–3h

Warnings: Follows a busy road for a fifth of the walk. Flood risk — check warnings.

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

Similar walk: Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

Urban London, genteel residential streets, Georgian and Victorian estates, large open heathland, well-kept parks, river valleys, Victorian cemeteries and green hilltops with panoramic city views.

Time: 5h

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

Recommended: A route of two halves: a quiet way through Gravesend on residential streets, small parks and a green lane, then around 70% off-road through wide open fields and woodland and small lanes towards Sole Street. Easy-going paths; a steep lane in places. Around 70% off-road overall. Almost follows the Weald Way long-distance route between the petrol station and Sole Street. Passes alongside the Cyclopark, a linear country park. Bluebells in the small woodlands in season.

Time: 2h30–5h

Lunch: A Morrisons with a cafe and toilets at the edge of Gravesend, plus a small petrol station; a pub and a tiny shop at Sole Street.

Warnings: White Post Lane requires a 20m stretch of road walking; take care.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Recommended: Gorgeous. A gorgeous, very off-road and quiet route following the River Medway along the Medway Valley Walk, then the North Downs Way and the Augustine Camino before rejoining the river. Well signed throughout and with only a few short bits crossing or going under motorways. Follows the Medway Valley Walk, the North Downs Way and the Augustine Camino. No public transport in the central section, though Aylesford station is about a mile from the village.

Time: 5h–10h30

Walk details: Slow Ways.

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: 5h30–11h

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.

Recommended: A flat walk along the Medway Estuary.

Coastal: three quarters along the coast.

Time: 3h–5h30

Walk details: Railwalks.

Recommended: The close up views of salt marshes and mud flats of the Medway and Swale, made all the more atmospheric by the distant industrial structures. A long, three-part coastal and estuary route: first a wide, popular path right by the Medway estuary coastline with great views; then field paths and quiet lanes on higher ground with views inland and across the estuary; finally a freshly opened section of the England Coast Path on the Isle of Sheppey. Some informal/permissive paths, deep ruts hidden under long grass and possible high-tide flooding. Uses the England Coast Path. Salt marshes and mudflats are important nesting sites for coastal birds and rare plants. Can be broken at Rainham, Lower Halstow, Iwade or Swale station; the Sheppey line has five stations.

Coastal: three quarters along the coast.

Time: 6h30–13h

Lunch: Toilets and cafes at the Strand in Gillingham and in Riverside Country Park; pubs on Lower Rainham Road; pubs and shops at Lower Halstow and Iwade.

Warnings: The England Coast Path section on Sheppey had unfinished waymarkers and crosses ground with deep ruts hidden under long grass. Some high-tide saltmarsh paths may flood.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Views across the marshes on either side are beautiful. A varied walk with a wonderful, peaceful section along the naturalised Thames and Medway Canal (NCN route 1) across the marshes, plus arable fields, a steep wooded valley, frustrating and sometimes overgrown urban sections through Strood and Rochester. Some grazing-marsh paths can become very wet and impassable after a wet season; the Rochester end has noisy busy roads. The canal section follows Sustrans NCN route 1 and teems with wildlife: warblers, whitethroats, cuckoos, lapwings, a marsh harrier and semi-wild ponies. The route can be shortened to Higham Station, and the statue of Pocahontas stands in St George's churchyard in Gravesend.

Time: 4h–8h30

Lunch: A shop in Higham village is about 1km off the route.

Warnings: Grazing-marsh paths near Church Street can be impassably wet after a wet winter and spring. Several busy roads near the Rochester/Strood end. If the Thames Path is closed, the official Milton Road diversion adds road walking. Can be muddy.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A reworked route: the first third is pavement, sometimes residential but mostly the fast multi-lane B255; from Bean onwards it is mostly off-road, with very lovely sections across rolling chalk hills used for sheep and arable, scattered woodlands, field footpaths. Steep slopes, stairs, kissing gates but no stiles; limited mud and with one uneven path near Bean hiding animal holes. Detours through Beacon Woods Country Park to decompress after the B255, with a long flight of earth and plank steps to leave. Follows field footpaths through rolling chalk countryside. Buses are infrequent with none on Sundays.

Time: 2h30–5h30

Lunch: A pub, shop and bus stop at Bean; a McDonald's and Asda at Greenhithe; cafes, a pub and bakery at Longfield.

Warnings: Follows a busy road for a fifth of the walk. The first third runs along the dreary, fast, multi-lane B255. A short permissive path on a bank beside Hook Green Road, and a 200m section with no pavement, though it felt safe with good sightlines.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A flat, mixed walk, much of it inland with stretches on roads.

Coastal: four fifths along the coast.

Time: 5h–10h

Warnings: Stretches on roads with moderate traffic, and some paths poorly maintained.

Walk details: Railwalks.