Walks you can reach from Swanley by train
MapA day hike is just a simple train journey away — plan your next day of green.
Alternatively, view walks directly from Swanley.
Eynsford Circular via Otford (Kent)
5 minutes direct from Swanley.
Highly recommended: Secluded valleys, chalk downland ridges, ancient woodland, golf course, chalk grassland nature reserves, riverside paths and farmland.
Shoreham (45 mins in)
3 lunch spots: Shoreham (1h30 in) — the Samuel Palmer (plenty of seating, including outdoors), 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)
8 minutes direct from Swanley.
Highly recommended: Quiet country lanes, meadows, rolling wooded hills, and two very attractive villages.
Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.
Shoreham (1h30 in)
Otford (3h30 in)
3 lunch spots: Shoreham (1h15 in) — the Samuel Palmer (plenty of seating, including outdoors), 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)
15 minutes direct from Swanley.
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.
Borough Green & Wrotham to Sevenoaks (Kent)
15 minutes direct from Swanley.
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.
Charing to Chilham (Kent)
1 hour direct from Swanley.
Highly recommended
Woodland: a third under tree cover.
Canterbury (4h15 in)
Chilham (4h15 in)
2 lunch spots: the Flying Horse (1h45 in), or Perry Court Tea Room (2h15 in)
3 end-of-walk rewards: the Chilham Square, the White Horse, Chilham, or the Woolpack Inn, Chilham
Warnings: Penultimate section of the Pilgrim's Way to Canterbury.
Adapted from: The Rough Guide to Walks in London & the South East (3rd edition).
Yalding to Sevenoaks (Kent)
15 minutes direct from Swanley.
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.
Borough Green & Wrotham Circular via Old Soar Manor (Kent)
15 minutes direct from Swanley.
Old Soar Manor: Remains of a late 13th-century knight's dwelling (National Trust; 2h15 in; 30 mins to visit).
1 lunch spot: the Kentish Rifleman (1h45 in)
1 end-of-walk reward: the Plough
Source: Trains2Green.
Farningham Road to Eynsford (Kent)
4 minutes direct from Swanley.
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)
4 minutes direct from Swanley.
Ancient woodland, field edges, riverside Darent Valley Path, low hills, chalk downland, quaint villages, golf course and nature reserves.
Warnings: Motocross path closures possible.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Otford to Eynsford (Kent)
8 minutes direct from Swanley.
River valley, open fields, orchards, beech woods, golf course, ridge path and historic villages.
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)
8 minutes direct from Swanley.
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)
15 minutes direct from Swanley.
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).