Walks from Rochester

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).

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.

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 varied walk along the railway and river before a very steep climb onto the North Downs, which it then follows with views over the Medway valley before descending. Includes pavement and riverside path and uphill roads without pavement.

Time: 3h–6h

Warnings: An awkward section runs alongside the busy A228, which must also be crossed with care. School Lane and Hill Road are narrow, uphill and without pavement, with a very steep climb onto the Downs.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Chalk grassland, ancient woodland, community woodland, landscaped parkland, wildflower meadows, motorway viaduct crossing, salt marsh, riverside path and historic town.

Time: 4h30

Warnings: Motorway viaduct crossing.

Source: An alternative variant of Meopham Circular – the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).