Walks you can reach from Sydenham by train

A walk through London's history around the square mile, past the Tower of London, St Paul's Cathedral and the Guildhall.

Time: 2h30–5h

Warnings: Two thirds urban. Several sets of steps, cobbled streets and narrow alleys.

Walk details: Walking Post (tips, photos and local insights).

Suburban woodlands, wide woodland tracks, heathland, valleys, moated manor ruins and open green spaces.

Warnings: Can be muddy.

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Suburban parks, ancient woodland, leafy avenues, Victorian gardens and urban pavements.

Time: 3h30

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Walk through surviving fragments of the ancient Great North Wood, from Streatham Common via Crystal Palace Park to One Tree Hill.

Woodland: a third under tree cover.

Time: 3h–6h

Walk details: Walking Post (tips, photos and local insights).

Recommended: An accessible East London route mostly through green spaces and back roads, along the River Lee and past the marshes and with some rough ground beside the river. There are steep ramps over footbridges and a low bridge (about 1.5m) to duck under near Coppermill Lane.

Walthamstow Marshes: One of the last remaining floodplain marshlands in London, home to over 400 plant and animal species.

Time: 2h–4h30

Lunch: Plenty of refreshment stops at either end and in Clapton Village.

Warnings: A third urban. A low bridge (around 1.5m) at the marshes end of Coppermill Lane means many walkers will need to stoop.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A commuter-belt rural walk over the North Downs through woodland, chalky fields and rolling downland, with a fair amount of up-and-down and a long road-walking section. Mixed underfoot with gates, kissing gates, stiles, earth steps, tree roots and rutted paths and moderately steep for short stretches. Knockholt station is about 1 km off route, allowing the walk to be split.

Time: 4h30–8h30

Lunch: Pubs on the route at Pratts Bottom and Knockholt Pound, with a shop and a garden centre cafe at Knockholt Pound.

End-of-walk reward: A pub on the route at Riverhead, near the end.

Warnings: Several busy road crossings where traffic moves fast, though most have crossings or a central island. A stretch of road walking begins with no verges and high hedges on a tight bend. Pay attention to flying golf balls when crossing Chelsfield Lakes Golf Course. The footpath at Fairtrough Farm has been diverted and the OS maps are out of date.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A pleasant walk starting and ending with quiet residential streets in Orpington and Swanley, with the peaceful middle section across fields and woods with wild flowers, on tracks that are walking-boot territory in wet weather. Several stiles to cross. Wide views over Kent/London countryside and with Canary Wharf visible in the distance on a clear day. Part of the route follows the Bromley Chelsfield walk and the Windmill Hill Wood Walk.

Time: 2h30–4h30

Lunch: There is a pub and a post office just off route in Crockenhill, and a Tesco and other shops in Orpington at the start.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Flat riverside pavement, converted Victorian wharves, residential riverside developments, industrial heritage and pocket parks.

Source: A shorter variant of Westminster to Greenwich via the south bank – the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).