Walks you can reach from St Mary Cray by train
MapA day hike is just a simple train journey away — plan your next day of green.
Eynsford Circular via Otford (Kent)
15 minutes direct from St Mary Cray.
Highly recommended: Secluded valleys, chalk downland ridges, ancient woodland, golf course, chalk grassland nature reserves, riverside paths and farmland.
Time: 3h–6h
3 lunch spots: Shoreham (1h–2h in) — the Samuel Palmer, the Honey Pot, or the Kings Arms
3 end-of-walk rewards: the Castle Hotel, the Five Bells, or the Malt Shovel
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Source: Trains2Green.
Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.
Otford Circular via Shoreham (Kent)
15 minutes direct from St Mary Cray.
Highly recommended: Quiet country lanes, meadows, rolling wooded hills, and two very attractive villages.
Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.
Time: 4h–7h30
3 lunch spots: Shoreham (1h30–2h30 in) — the Samuel Palmer, the Kings Arms, or the Mount Vineyard
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Adapted from: Time Out Country Walks Volume 1.
Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.
Sevenoaks Circular via Ightham Mote (Kent)
30 minutes direct from St Mary Cray.
Highly recommended: Deer park, fields, woods, coppiced woodland, escarpment ridge, bluebell and wild garlic woods and Weald views.
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.
Time: 5h–9h30
1 lunch spot: Ightham Mote café
1 end-of-walk reward: the Bucks Head
Warnings: Some mud inevitable.
Source: Trains2Green.
Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.
Borough Green & Wrotham to Sevenoaks (Kent)
30 minutes direct from St Mary Cray.
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.
Knole House: enormous aristocratic estate, associated with the Bloomsbury Group; well worth a visit but consumes a day in itself.
Time: 4h30–9h
2 lunch spots: the Plough (2h–3h30 in), or Ightham Mote café (2h–4h 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)
30 minutes direct from St Mary Cray.
Highly recommended: Undulating Kent farmland, orchards, bluebell woods, greensand escarpment and deer park.
Knole House: enormous aristocratic estate, associated with the Bloomsbury Group; well worth a visit but consumes a day in itself.
Time: 6h–12h
3 lunch spots: the Swan on the Green (1h30–3h in), the Kentish Rifleman (2h30–5h in), or Ightham Mote café (3h30–7h in)
Source: Trains2Green.
Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.
Swanley to Sevenoaks (Kent)
4 minutes direct from St Mary Cray.
Linear Darent valley sides on the North Downs Way and Darent Valley Path: three nature reserves including Lullingstone Country Park and Polhill Bank, panoramic Kent Downs views.
Time: 4h30–9h30
Walk details: Kent Downs National Landscape (tips, photos and local insights).
Swanley to Eynsford (Kent)
4 minutes direct from St Mary Cray.
Linear walk into the Darent Valley countryside, with breathtaking views, Lullingstone Roman Villa, the Eynsford Viaduct and the village's humpback bridge and ford.
Walk details: Kent Downs National Landscape (tips, photos and local insights).
Farningham Road to Eynsford (Kent)
9 minutes direct from St Mary Cray.
Linear middle Darent Valley Path beside the tranquil River Darent, Lullingstone Roman Villa, Eynsford Castle and valley views.
Walk details: Kent Downs National Landscape (tips, photos and local insights).
Farningham Road to Otford (Kent)
9 minutes direct from St Mary Cray.
Ancient woodland, field edges, riverside Darent Valley Path, low hills, chalk downland, quaint villages, golf course and nature reserves.
Time: 5h
Warnings: Motocross path closures possible.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Otford to Eynsford (Kent)
15 minutes direct from St Mary Cray.
River valley, open fields, orchards, beech woods, golf course, ridge path and historic villages.
Time: 4h
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Reverse direction: Kent Downs National Landscape.
Otford to Snodland (Kent)
15 minutes direct from St Mary Cray.
North Downs ridge, southern escarpment, fields, woods, open views south, forest, country park, open countryside and urban streets.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Sevenoaks to Kemsing (Kent)
30 minutes direct from St Mary Cray.
A National Trust extravaganza; Knole House and deer park, the Greensand Way, moated Ightham Mote, bluebell woods.
Woodland: two fifths under tree cover.
Knole House: enormous aristocratic estate, associated with the Bloomsbury Group; well worth a visit but consumes a day in itself.
Ightham Mote: A medieval moated manor house dating to 1340, cared for by the National Trust.
Time: 4h–8h
Warnings: Steep drops and climbs through the woodland sections.
Walk details: Walking Post (tips, photos and local insights).