Walks you can reach from Snowdown by train
MapA day hike is just a simple train journey away — plan your next day of green.
Dover Priory to Deal (Kent)
15 minutes direct from Snowdown.
Highly recommended: Clifftop chalk paths, two significant climbs, level pebble beach coastpath, open sea views and historic town.
Coastal: almost all along the coast.
Dover Castle: A vast medieval fortress overlooking the port and the Channel to France (30m in).
South Foreland Lighthouse (National Trust; 45m in)
The White Cliffs of Dover (National Trust; 1h in)
Time: 6h30 (5h walking, 1h30 lunch)
4 lunch spots: Saint Margarets Bay (2h15 in) — the Coastguard (excellent), the Pines Tea Room, or the bay kiosk; plus Walmer Castle and Gardens (4h30 in)
1 end-of-walk reward: the King's Head
Warnings: Relatively busy.
Adapted from: Time Out Country Walks Volume 2.
Similar walks: the Saturday Walkers Club, Walking Post (inc. GPX) and Slow Ways (inc. GPX).
Folkestone to Dover Priory (Kent)
15 minutes direct from Snowdown.
Highly recommended: Coastal cliffs, chalk downland, sea defences, wild landslip area, wartime installations, ridge between valley and sea and town crossing.
Hilly: a third on high ground, rising above the surrounding land.
Coastal: four fifths along the coast.
Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.
Western Heights (3h30 in)
Knights Templar Church Ruins (3h45 in)
Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)
1 lunch spot: Camping Café (1h15 in)
2 end-of-walk rewards: the Malvern, or the Priory Hotel
Warnings: Cracked sea defences.
Source: Trains2Green.
Similar walks: the Saturday Walkers Club and Slow Ways (inc. GPX).
Chilham to Canterbury (Kent)
15 minutes direct from Snowdown.
Highly recommended
Chilham (15m in)
Canterbury Cathedral (2h45 in)
Canterbury (2h45 in)
Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)
2 lunch spots: Chilham (30m in) — the Chilham Square, or the Star Inn
5 end-of-walk rewards: the Monument, the Unicorn Inn, the West Gate Inn, the Carpenters Arms, or the Old Buttermarket
Warnings: A fifth urban.
Adapted from: The Rough Guide to Walks in London & the South East (3rd edition).
Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.
Faversham to Canterbury (Kent)
30 minutes direct from Snowdown.
Recommended: Really beautiful woodland segments and occasional idyllic countryside vistas. The first segment, closest to Faversham, isn't great due to a busy road, but very quiet beyond that. Quiet and isolated.
Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.
Faversham: Very picturesque medieval market town with many interesting shops and historic sites.
Canterbury Cathedral (5h in)
Canterbury (5h in)
Time: 7h (5h walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)
Lunch: No lunch venues en route. There's a playground with picnic tables at Chartham Hatch that makes a good stop for a packed lunch.
7 end-of-walk rewards: the Black Griffin, the Lady Luck, the Old Weaver Restaurant, Marlowe's, the Drapers Arms, the Old Buttermarket, or the Shakespeare
Source: Trains2Green.
Similar walk: Slow Ways.
Canterbury Circular via Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve (Kent)
15 minutes direct from Snowdown.
Flat Kent countryside, arable fields, woods, ancient villages, oast houses, polytunnel farms and riverside.
Time: 7h (5h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Chartham to Canterbury (Kent)
15 minutes direct from Snowdown.
Apple orchards, a chalk stream and a cathedral, along the River Stour and the North Downs Way past No Man's Orchard into Canterbury.
Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.
No Man's Orchard: A community orchard of mature fruit trees alongside the North Downs Way.
Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Orchard paths can be muddy; busy road section on the A28.
Walk details: Walking Post (tips, photos and local insights).
Faversham Circular via Uplees Marshes (Kent)
30 minutes direct from Snowdown.
Flat marshland, creek embankments, farm fields, quiet country lanes, woodland and tidal waterways.
Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Teynham to Faversham (Kent)
45 minutes direct from Snowdown.
Flat orchards and fruit farms, tidal river seawall, coastal creeks, mudflats, salt marshes, drainage ditches, dykes, windswept grazing marshes and historic market town streets.
Time: 7h (5h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Faversham to Whitstable (Kent)
30 minutes direct from Snowdown.
Faversham is beautiful, and Whitstable nice enough, but the intervening coastal stretch is an extremely monotonous and exposed trudge between an estuary shoreline and a solar power plant. If it were one segment it'd be fine but for 16 km it's gruelling. Quiet and isolated.
Coastal: three quarters along the coast.
Faversham: Very picturesque medieval market town with many interesting shops and historic sites (15m in).
Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)
2 lunch spots: Secret Garden Tea Room (15m in), or the Sportsman (2h30 in; reservations recommended)
Source: Trains2Green.
Similar walks: the Saturday Walkers Club, Railwalks (inc. GPX) and Slow Ways (inc. GPX).
Whitstable to Canterbury (Kent)
15 minutes direct from Snowdown.
Recommended: Mostly tarmac or hard-packed gravel, largely traffic-free and following the Crab and Winkle Way cycle path with a few steps and good bridges over the road. A delightful final stretch alongside the Great Stour through Westgate Gardens into Canterbury. Follows the Crab and Winkle Way; services at Blean can be reached via alternative routes. There is a seat at a church en route for a rest or picnic.
Woodland: a fifth under tree cover.
Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: One road crossing near the Canterbury end needs more care.
Walk details: Slow Ways.
Sittingbourne to Faversham (Kent)
45 minutes direct from Snowdown.
Recommended: A flat estuary walk along the sea defences, following the England Coast Path nearly all the way.
Coastal: nine tenths along the coast.
Time: 8h30 (6h30 walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)
Lunch: Only one village stop en route.
Walk details: Railwalks.
Gillingham to Sittingbourne (Kent)
45 minutes direct from Snowdown.
Recommended: Lovely views out over the marshes. A lovely, varied route through woods, fields, gentle hills, orchards and a river estuary, with small sections of mostly safe road walking. The first half is farmland over very gentle hills; the second follows the Medway estuary on the England Coast Trail, with lovely views over the marshes and mudflats. Quite a lot of tarmac and with some muddy parts and slanted cycle gates. The estuary section is on the England Coast Trail. Optional detour along a causeway to 'Horrid Hill'. Break points at Borden, Newington, Rainham, Riverside Country Park and the Strand leisure area.
Time: 7h (5h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Lunch: Break points with pubs/shops at Borden, Newington and Rainham; cafes and toilets at Riverside Country Park and the Strand.
Warnings: Steps, stiles and gates throughout, plus slanted cycle gates along the estuary. A field path beyond Newington was not reinstated across crops. Care crossing main roads.
Walk details: Slow Ways.