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 (National Trust; 45 mins in; 3h to visit).
Knole Park (National Trust; 45 mins in; 3h to visit)
One Tree Hill: A beautiful slice of Kent countryside (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 (National Trust; 2h15 in; 2h30 to visit).
Deer in Kent Downs National Landscape (National Trust; 3h45 in; 3h to visit)
3 lunch spots: Knole House café (45 mins in), Ightham Mote café (2h15 in), 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.
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.
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 (National Trust; 2h in; 2h30 to visit).
One Tree Hill: A beautiful slice of Kent countryside (National Trust; 2h45 in).
Knole House: enormous aristocratic estate, associated with the Bloomsbury Group; well worth a visit but consumes a day in itself (National Trust; 3h30 in; 3h to visit).
Knole Park (National Trust; 3h to visit)
3 lunch spots: the Plough (45 mins in), Ightham Mote café (2h in), or Knole House café (3h30 in)
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 (National Trust; 3h30 in; 2h30 to visit).
One Tree Hill: A beautiful slice of Kent countryside (National Trust; 4h15 in).
Knole House: enormous aristocratic estate, associated with the Bloomsbury Group; well worth a visit but consumes a day in itself (National Trust; 5h in; 3h to visit).
4 lunch spots: the Swan on the Green (1h30 in), the Kentish Rifleman (2h30 in), Ightham Mote café (3h30 in), or Knole House café (5h in)
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 (15 mins in)
Herstmonceux Castle (2h30 in)
Battle Abbey and Battlefield (7h30 in)
Battle (7h15 in)
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 café
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).
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).
Leigh to Tunbridge Wells (Kent)
30 minutes direct from Orpington.
Rolling Kent hills, pastoral river valleys, parkland, woods, lakes and commons extending into town.
Penshurst (1h in)
1 lunch spot: the Leicester Arms Pub (1h in)
5 end-of-walk rewards: the Mount Edgcumbe, the Grove Tavern, the Compasses, the Bedford, or the Claremont
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Adapted from: Time Out Country Walks Volume 1.
Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.
Hurst Green to Dunton Green (Surrey)
15 minutes direct from Orpington.
Quebec House: Childhood home of General James Wolfe, victor of the Battle of Quebec (1759) (National Trust; 2h in; 1h to visit).
4 lunch spots: Westerham (2h in) — the Grasshopper On The Green, or Food For Thought; plus the Comodor (2h in), or Churchill's Art Cafe (2h in)
Source: Trains2Green.
Battle Circular via Battle Abbey and Battlefield (Sussex)
1 hour direct from Orpington.
Rolling Wealden countryside, fields, woods and the historic town of Battle.
1 lunch spot: Battle Abbey and Battlefield café
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.
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.
One Tree Hill: A beautiful slice of Kent countryside (National Trust).
Oldbury Hill: Discover the remains of an Iron Age hill fort (National Trust).
Knole House: enormous aristocratic estate, associated with the Bloomsbury Group; well worth a visit but consumes a day in itself (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).
2 lunch spots: Ightham Mote café, or Knole House café
Warnings: Steep drops and climbs through the woodland sections.
Walk details: Walking Post (tips, photos and local insights).