Walks you can reach from Lee by train

A walk through London's history around the square mile, past the Tower of London, St Paul's Cathedral and the Guildhall.

Time: 2h30–5h

Warnings: Two thirds urban. Several sets of steps, cobbled streets and narrow alleys.

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

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).

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).

An excellent, mostly off-road and very green route through suburban Sidcup, the lovely Foots Cray Meadows (crossing the River Cray at Five Arches Bridge), on into rural country towards Swanley. It crosses Joyden's Wood and field-edge paths past a golf course; the bridleway section of Parsonage Lane and Joyden's Wood can be extremely muddy in winter and with a couple of quiet narrow lanes. Foots Cray Meadows has Five Arches Bridge over the River Cray. Wood-ant nests and bluebells in Joyden's Wood. Birchwood Park golf course restaurant is open to the public.

Time: 2h30–4h30

Lunch: A small parade of shops about half a mile south on the A223, and a farm shop, campsite and pub about the same distance north.

Warnings: The bridleway along Parsonage Lane and the southern edge of Joyden's Wood can be extremely muddy and challenging in winter. A couple of quiet narrow lanes where you may need to squeeze into a nettly verge. At least one stile and small gates. Crossing the busy A223/North Cray Road (a pelican crossing is nearby).

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Wide open views. An off-road route following the Darent Valley Path along the river, then footpaths across rolling fields and through woodland and with some quiet lane walking. A few gentle to slightly steeper climbs; ploughed fields can be hard to follow. Can be muddy after rain. There is a bus service at Hawley; the route can be picked up or left at intermediate points along the Darent Valley Path.

Time: 3h–6h

Lunch: A garden centre with a cafe and a bakery lie a short detour south of the route at Hawley.

Warnings: Some lane walking on Canada Farm Road, Rabbits Road and Wilson Lane with no verge; Rabbit Road has blind bends and fast traffic for a single-lane road.

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 largely flat, over-70%-off-road walk on field paths along a broad ridge and beside the River Darent on the Darenth Valley Way, through Central Park and the Brooklands Lakes. Some narrow roads, multiple stiles and concrete steps. Underfoot is asphalt and gravel and dirt. Uses the marked Darenth Valley Way. The noise of the A2 and M25 is pervasive around Hawley. Central Park in Dartford has public toilets; possible bus service in Hawley.

Time: 2h30–5h30

Lunch: Near Hawley there is a garden centre cafe, an eat-in bakery and The Chequers pub in Darenth a short way off route.

Warnings: Cross the A225 / Hawley Road straight away heading north, as it soon becomes an uncrossable dual carriageway. Shirehall Road through Hawley is very patchily pavemented. Multiple stiles, some rickety, and a paddock with an electric fence.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A mostly quiet route through scenic countryside, with a couple of short, steep footpaths, rutted tracks, at least one kissing gate and a couple of wet, muddy flushes and plus two sections beside busy but well-pavemented roads including the eight-lane A2. Uses the Thames Way in part. Can be cut short at Northfleet station. Skylarks, chalk downland flowers, warblers in the Ebbsfleet Valley reedbeds, and possibly adders in summer.

Time: 3h–5h30

Lunch: A pub and bus stops in Southfleet; a pizza/burger van in the layby north of the A2 bridge and a large supermarket a little further north.

Warnings: Follows a busy road for a sixth of the walk. There are sections beside busy roads including the eight-lane A2, a wide Eurostar-traffic road that is a little dangerous to cross, and a tricky duck-under beneath HS1. The Ebbsfleet footbridge has metal width restrictions.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A pleasant route through the Ebbsfleet Valley using footpaths among long rewilded spoil pits, embankments and flooded quarries and plus a roadside stretch along Thames Way and some alleyways in Longfield. The valley footpaths are twisting and disorientating; charming but indirect. The rewilded spoil pits, embankments and flooded quarries are charming, with unexpected flora.

Time: 2h30–5h

Warnings: The footpaths in the Ebbsfleet Valley are very twisted and disorientating, with an entrance that is hard to find — risk of getting lost.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Flat riverside pavement, converted Victorian wharves, residential riverside developments, industrial heritage and pocket parks.

Source: A shorter variant of Westminster to Greenwich via the south bank – the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).