Walks from Whitstable
MapBeautiful walks starting or ending at Whitstable Station.
Alternatively, view walks you can reach directly from Whitstable by train.
Faversham to Whitstable
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
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.
Whitstable to Herne Bay
Easy and gorgeous walking. An almost entirely flat, step-free coastal route along paved seafront promenade and with a short grassy or dirt section around the Long Rock nature reserve at Swalecliffe. Smooth tarmac for most of its length though uneven and bumpy in places; can be busy with pedestrians. The marked route passes through Long Rock nature reserve at Swalecliffe; wheelers and cyclists are better on the paved path that curves around it. Toilets at Tankerton Beach and Hampton (Spa Esplanade).
Coastal: almost all along the coast.
Time: 3h30 (2h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Lunch: Oyster cafes at Whitstable harbour; ice cream available on the Herne Bay seafront.
Walk details: Slow Ways.
Birchington-on-Sea to Whitstable
Flat coastal promenade and sea wall; shingle beach, beach huts, caravan-park front, residential clifftops and seaside towns.
Time: 7h (5h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Source: A longer variant of Birchington to Herne Bay (Saturday Walkers Club).