Walks you can reach from Blackfriars by train

Highly recommended: Fields, woods, stream valleys, grassy hillsides, estate parkland, a fine old village and stately home. Mostly secluded.

Woodland: half under tree cover.

Nymans

The Ruins of Slaugham Place

Time: 4h30–8h30

3 lunch spots: Handcross (2h–3h30 in) — Nymans café, the Red Lion, or JO.CO cafe

1 end-of-walk reward: the Victory

Warnings: Can be muddy.

Adapted from: Time Out Country Walks Volume 1.

Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.

Highly recommended: Secluded valleys, chalk downland ridges, ancient woodland, golf course, chalk grassland nature reserves, riverside paths and farmland.

Shoreham

Otford

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.

Recommended

St Albans Cathedral

Verulamium Roman City Walls

Ruins of Gorhambury House

St Albans

Time: 4h–8h

1 lunch spot: Ye Olde Fighting Cocks (30m–1h in)

6 end-of-walk rewards: the Six Bells, the Lower Red Lion, the Snug, the Boot, the Mad Squirrel Tap, or the Peahen

Warnings: A third urban.

Adapted from: The Rough Guide to Walks in London & the South East (3rd edition).

Recommended: Mostly fields and country lanes. Some beautiful new bluebell woods, stunning historic city streeets, commons, golf courses and parkland.

Heartwood Forest

St Albans Cathedral

St Albans

Time: 4h30–9h

4 lunch spots: Sandridge (2h–4h in) — the Green Man (excellent; reservations recommended), Heartwood Tea Rooms (busy!), the Rose & Crown, or the Queens Head (not great)

5 end-of-walk rewards: the Lower Red Lion, the Mad Squirrel Tap, the Peahen, the Snug, or the Boot

Best months: in April (bluebell season).

Warnings: A quarter urban.

Source: Trains2Green.

Similar walks: the Saturday Walkers Club and Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

Low hills, Ouse Valley, woodland, nature reserves, fields, hedgerows, historic villages and canal-era river crossings.

Time: 4h30

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

First stage of the Vanguard Way, from suburban East Croydon out through Selsdon Wood and the North Downs to Oxted.

Woodland: a third under tree cover.

Time: 5h30–11h

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

Gentle greensand ridge, pasture, arable fields, woodland, bluebell woods, escarpment views and low-lying meadows.

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Gentle wooded hills, muddy farm tracks, landscaped gardens, reservoir shoreline, open fields and woodland paths.

Time: 5h

Warnings: Can be very muddy.

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

Wealden woods, farmland fields, streams, ponds, riverside nature reserve and old market town.

Warnings: Can be very overgrown.

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

Undulating High Weald farmland, woodland, golf course, reservoir dam wall, fields and a private school grounds.

Time: 4h

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Rolling Sussex countryside and South Downs views; farmland and woodland through Ditchling along an old Roman road.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Ditchling

Time: 4h–8h30

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

North Downs ridge, wooded escarpment, open hilltops, undulating ridge paths, rural farmland, parkland and golf course.

Warnings: Hilly, multiple ascents.

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