Walks you can reach from Leigh by train

Highly recommended: Stately home.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Chiddingstone Village: One of the most beautiful and oldest villages in Kent (National Trust; 45 mins in; 30 mins to visit).

Penshurst Place (2h in)

Chiddingstone: One of the most beautiful and oldest villages in Kent (National Trust; 45 mins in; 30 mins to visit).

Penshurst (2h in)

4 lunch spots: Chiddingstone (45 mins 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).

Hilly: two fifths on high ground, rising above the surrounding land.

Woodland: two fifths under tree cover.

Limpsfield Common: Ancient common on the Greensand Ridge where time comes home to sleep (National Trust; 1h in).

Chartwell House: Family home and garden of Sir Winston Churchill (National Trust; 2h in; 3h to visit).

Toys Hill: Discover the place that inspired Octavia Hill to found the National Trust (National Trust; 3h in).

Bore Place (3h30 in)

5 lunch spots: Westerham (2h in) — Chartwell House café, or Landemare café; plus the Carpenters Arms (45 mins in), the Fox & Hounds (3h in), or the Cock Inn (3h30 in)

2 end-of-walk rewards: the Greyhound, or the Little Brown Jug

Source: Trains2Green.

Fairly flat walk along shaded paths through fields and riverside woodland alongside the River Medway.

Woodland: a fifth under tree cover.

The Tonbridge Castle: A Norman motte-and-bailey castle with a 13th-century gatehouse beside the Medway.

The Haysden Country Park: A lakeside country park on the River Medway floodplain near Tonbridge.

River Medway at Ensfield Bridge: Meadow-set river spot suitable for wild swimming and picnics.

Penshurst Place

St John the Baptist Church, Penshurst: Historic village church next to Penshurst Place.

2 lunch spots: Penshurst — Porcupine Pantry Café (café attached to Penshurst Place serving drinks, cakes, snacks and ice cream with outdoor seating), or Penshurst Place café

Warnings: Can be muddy in places when wet.

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

Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.

Low-lying farmland, river valley, woodland, low ridges, golf course, ancient churchyards and old coaching village.

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Parkland, farm fields, paddocks, orchards, country park, riverside paths, residential streets and fishing and sailing lakes.

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

Gentle farmland, water meadows, riverside paths, farm airstrip and flat Eden Valley.

Warnings: Can be waterlogged.

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

Nature reserves, wetland lakes, restored sand quarries, Greensand Ridge, farm fields, wooded commons, suburban streets and pedestrianised town centre.

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Gentle farmland, orchards, river valleys, parkland, country park lakes and riverside paths into a market town.

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Recommended: More than two-thirds off-road, along footpaths through fields and a quiet lane, passing orchards, cornfields, hedgerows and a walk beside the River Medway into Tonbridge. Flat and sometimes muddy and but fine in boots; a short orchard section can get churned up by tractors. Passes the Grade I listed church of Thomas a Becket at Capel; the route can be left at Moat Farm for the shop and pub in Five Oak Green; good for orchard blossom in spring.

2 lunch spots: the Poacher and Partridge, or the George and Dragon

Warnings: A short orchard section north of Five Oak Green can be deeply churned by tractors; the alternative road through Five Oak Green is fairly busy with a bend on an unpaved stretch.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Recommended: Views of the North Downs. A direct, mostly off-road route leaving the busy A23 for residential streets and Cycleway 21, a mix of paved and unpaved (asphalt and gravel) surfaces, through Whitebushes and a rural section with bluebells, green fields and views of the North Downs and before a final pavement stretch on the 40mph Orchard Drive into Horley. A non-public footpath into Horley can be overgrown. Follows Cycleway 21; passes 'Asylum Arch Road' and East Surrey Hospital. Local shops at Whitebushes roughly two-thirds of the way.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Lunch: A handy shop at Whitebushes about two-thirds along; multiple shop, pub and eatery options at both ends.

Warnings: Orchard Drive into Horley is a 40mph road, though it has a pavement. A non-public footpath at the Horley end was very overgrown and only just passable.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

The views across Kent are beautiful when you get to Carter's Hill and Rook's Hill. A largely off-road route through Knole Park and along the Greensand Way, on a mix of tracks and grassy paths over hilly terrain with some steep climbs and narrow paths with steep drops. Heavy clay soil means it can be very muddy after wet weather and with a number of gates and stiles. Follows the Greensand Way for a long stretch through the Kent Downs; there is a bench with a pleasant view in Shipbourne churchyard.

Woodland: a fifth under tree cover.

One Tree Hill: A beautiful slice of Kent countryside (National Trust).

Knole Park (Deer Park) (National Trust; 3h to visit)

Ightham Mote: Immaculately preserved medieval manor house with idyllic gardens. Touring the house thoroughly takes an hour, and the gardens another 30 minutes (National Trust; 2h30 to visit).

3 lunch spots: Ightham Mote café, the Chaser Inn, or Ightham Mote cafe

1 end-of-walk reward: Fuggles Beer Cafe

Warnings: Plenty of mud after wet weather, especially across the ploughed fields around Shipbourne; some downhill paths near Ightham can be slippery; a number of gates and stiles.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

About half the route is alongside roads, much of it quiet or private lanes and with the middle four miles mostly through fields and farms and a clearly-set path through Jules Wood. There are uphill sections of mud through the woods and some high stiles.

Warnings: Sections of mud on the uphill woodland paths after rain. A river bridge near Ockhams has heavily worn steps up to the fields that need care, especially when wet. Some stiles are high.

Walk details: Slow Ways.