Walks you can reach from Dorking West by train

Beginner-friendly: No coast or river to follow, but pretty straightforward long lines nonetheless, and Watt’s Chapel provides a lovely reward for reaching the midpoint of the circuit. The lunch stop is a simple café in the vicinity of Watt’s Chapel, so no messing around with booking a table in advance.

Watts Chapel: A spectacular Arts and Crafts memorial chapel decorated by Mary Watts.

Watts Gallery

St Catherine's Chapel Ruins

Guildford

Time: 3h30–7h

1 lunch spot: Watts Gallery café (1h30–3h in)

5 end-of-walk rewards: the Withies Inn, Ye Olde Ship Inn, the Britannia, the White House, or the George Abbot

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

Similar walk: Walking Post (inc. GPX).

Highly recommended: Deer park, heathland, MOD training area, Iron Age hillfort, reservoirs, stream valleys, woodland, nature reserve, wet meadows, lakeside sandy shores and common.

Woodland: a third under tree cover.

Time: 5h30–11h

1 lunch spot: the Foresters (2h30–4h30 in)

1 end-of-walk reward: the Crown and Cushion

Warnings: MOD closures apply.

Source: Trains2Green.

Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.

Surrey churches and North Downs views, past Guildford Castle, St Martha's Church and Albury village.

Woodland: three fifths under tree cover.

Guildford Castle: A Norman castle whose surviving keep and grounds sit above Guildford's cobbled High Street.

St Martha's Church: A Grade II-listed hilltop church atop St Martha's Hill with sweeping views over the Surrey Hills.

Guildford

Time: 4h–8h

Warnings: Steep ascent out of Guildford; steep descent to Albury.

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

Sandy ridges, downland escarpments, wooded sections, open downland, quiet valley and Surrey Hills AONB.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Time: 3h–5h30

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Similar walk: Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

Hilly North Downs walk over sandy heathland commons with ferns, ponds and hilltop panoramas.

Woodland: half under tree cover.

Watts Gallery & Chapel: Arts and Crafts gallery and memorial chapel dedicated to Victorian artist G.F. Watts.

St John the Baptist Church: Historic parish church.

Puttenham Common: Heathland common with ponds and ferns.

Crooksbury Hill: Pine-clad hilltop with panoramic views toward the South Downs.

Mother Ludlam's Cave: Sandstone cave associated with local folklore.

Time: 5h30–10h30

Warnings: Steep inclines in places. Can be muddy.

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

Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.

Reverse direction: Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

North Downs ridge, escarpments, bluebell woods, downland slopes, upland country with long views, wooded stretches and estate grounds.

Warnings: Steep hill climbs.

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

Reverse direction: Walking Post (inc. GPX).

River meadows, gravel-pit lakes, nature reserves, country lanes, mixed and pine woodland, heathland, golf course, soft fruit farms and historic market town.

Time: 6h

Warnings: Flood risk in places.

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

Flat Thames towpath, riverside parks, wooded sections, pasture fields, meadows and riverside gardens.

Waterway: four fifths along the River Thames.

Time: 4h–8h

Warnings: Flood risk sections.

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

Similar walk: Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

Flat Thames Path riverside countryside, the Horseshoe Bridge and the historic Bull Inn at Sonning (of Three Men in a Boat).

The River Thames: England's best-known river, whose towpath (the Thames Path National Trail) carries long stretches of nearly every walk in this set.

Time: 2h30

Warnings: Shared with cyclists between Reading and Sonning; walkers only beyond.

Walk details: Reading to Basingstoke Community Rail Partnership (turn-by-turn directions).

Largely level riverside trails along the River Wey, the Wey Navigation canal towpath and a former railway line, passing Phillips Memorial Park.

Phillips Memorial Park: A riverside park commemorating Jack Phillips, the wireless operator of the Titanic.

The River Wey Navigation: A historic canalised waterway with towpaths linking Godalming towards Guildford.

Lunch: Queen Victoria, Shalford.

Walk details: Surrey Hills National Landscape (turn-by-turn directions).

A gorgeous, gentle route; The scenery is stunning. A gentle, mostly flat riverside route along the towpath of the River Wey and Godalming Navigations. On rough paths in places, with a few muddy parts and a sandy and eroded section near Guildford that needs care. Part runs along an old railway line. Mostly follows the towpath of the River Wey and Godalming Navigations; part runs along the old railway line and much of the path is National Trust land. Narrow boats, locks and a pillbox along the way.

Waterway: four fifths along the River Wey.

Time: 2h30–4h30

Lunch: A pub/restaurant with a children's playground roughly half way; note some venues have reported closures.

Warnings: The towpath at Guildford between the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre and the rowing club has been closed since 2019 due to a collapsed footbridge, with an unsigned diversion via the A281 and Shalford Road; the diversion includes steep steps and a narrow gate. The approach to Guildford station is traffic-heavy with awkward crossings. A sandy, eroded section near Guildford needs care.

Walk details: Blackwater Valley Nature Walks (tips, photos, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Similar walk: Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

Reverse direction: Wey Valley Community Rail Partnership (PDF).

Pine woods, heathland, lakes and flooded gravel pits, riverside meadows and green belt nature reserves.

Time: 3h30

Warnings: Flood risk in places.

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