Walks you can reach from Orpington by train
MapA day hike is just a simple train journey away — plan your next day of green.
Alternatively, view walks directly from Orpington.
Sevenoaks Circular via Ightham Mote (Kent)
9 minutes direct from Orpington.
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.
Tunbridge Wells Circular via Groombridge (Kent)
30 minutes direct from Orpington.
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.
Wadhurst Circular via Bewl Water (Sussex)
45 minutes direct from Orpington.
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.
Borough Green & Wrotham to Sevenoaks (Kent)
9 minutes direct from Orpington.
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.
Yalding to Sevenoaks (Kent)
9 minutes direct from Orpington.
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.
Pevensey to Battle (Sussex)
1 hour direct from Orpington.
Highly recommended: Beautiful landscapes and multiple historic sights.
Pevensey Castle (15m in)
Herstmonceux Castle (2h30 in)
Battle Abbey and Battlefield (7h30 in)
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).
Chelsfield Circular via Down House (Kent)
3 minutes direct from Orpington.
Recommended
Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.
Down House: home of Charles Darwin (2h45 in).
Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
4 lunch spots: Downe (3h in) — Down House café, the George and Dragon, or Rajdoot of Downe; plus the Blacksmith's Arms (2h in)
4 end-of-walk rewards: the Rose and Crown, the Royal Oak, the Queens Head, or the Chelsfield
Adapted from: The Rough Guide to Walks in London & the South East (3rd edition).
Battle Circular via Battle Abbey and Battlefield (Sussex)
1 hour direct from Orpington.
Rolling Wealden countryside, fields, woods and the historic town of Battle.
Time: 7h (5h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Knockholt to Otford (Kent)
6 minutes direct from Orpington.
Wooded hills, steep ridges, hidden downland valley, bluebell woods, beech and sweet chestnut woodland and fields.
Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Descents can be slippery.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Sevenoaks to Kemsing (Kent)
9 minutes direct from Orpington.
A National Trust extravaganza; Knole House and deer park, the Greensand Way, moated Ightham Mote, bluebell woods.
Woodland: two fifths under tree cover.
The Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studio (National Trust)
One Tree Hill (National Trust)
Oldbury Hill (National Trust)
Knole House: enormous aristocratic estate, associated with the Bloomsbury Group; well worth a visit but consumes a day in itself.
Ightham Mote (National Trust)
Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Steep drops and climbs through the woodland sections.
Walk details: Walking Post (tips, photos and local insights).
Tonbridge to Penshurst (Kent)
15 minutes direct from Orpington.
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.
St John the Baptist Church, Penshurst: Historic village church next to Penshurst Place.
Time: 5h (3h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
1 lunch spot: Porcupine Pantry Café
Warnings: Can be muddy in places when wet.
Walk details: Walking Post (tips, photos and local insights).
Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.
Tunbridge Wells to Hildenborough (Kent)
30 minutes direct from Orpington.
Town commons, woodland tracks, wild flower meadows, country park, river paths and quiet roads.
Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).