Walks you can reach from Putney by train

Beginner-friendly: A gigantic well-signposted park. It’s completely fine to deviate from the suggested route — explore as you like! The lunch stop is a simple café, so no messing around with booking a table in advance.

Windsor Great Park

Windsor Castle (15m in)

Windsor (4h30 in)

Time: 6h30 (5h walking, 1h30 lunch)

3 lunch spots: Windsor Great Park (2h30 in) — the King And Castle, or Savill Garden Visitor Centre Cafe; plus Water Lilies at Windsor Great Park (2h45 in)

3 end-of-walk rewards: the Two Brewers Pub, the Prince Harry, or the Royal Windsor

Source: Trains2Green.

Parkland, lake shores, ornamental gardens, light woodland, deer park, tree-lined avenue and historic town streets.

Woodland: two fifths under tree cover.

Windsor Great Park (3h30 in)

Windsor Castle

Windsor (3h30 in)

Time: 5h (3h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

1 lunch spot: Savill Garden Visitor Centre Cafe (1h45 in)

4 end-of-walk rewards: the Prince Harry, the Carpenters Arms, the Royal Windsor, or the Boatman

Adapted from: Time Out Country Walks Volume 1.

Similar walk: the Saturday Walkers Club.

River Thames path, open parkland, woodland, deer park, grassy slopes and hilltop views.

Richmond Park: A vast royal park home to herds of red and fallow deer.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

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

Flat urban riverside paths, small river corridors, local parks, Thames towpath, luxury riverside houses and Palladian parkland.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

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

Through South London's best parks to the Thames; Putney Heath, Wimbledon Common, Richmond Park, Ham House, Teddington Lock.

Woodland: a third under tree cover.

Ham House and Garden (National Trust)

Wimbledon Windmill: An 1817 windmill on Wimbledon Common, now a small museum.

Richmond Park: A vast royal park home to herds of red and fallow deer.

Ham House: A grand 17th-century house and gardens beside the Thames at Ham.

Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

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

River path, urban suburbs, new housing estates, tranquil pastures, ancient woodland and mud-prone bridleway.

Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Recommended: A scenic, mostly traffic-free route using waterside and green paths out of Maidenhead through Braywick Nature Reserve, then crossing the Thames on the Summerleaze footbridge to follow a wooded stretch of the Thames Path and before leaving the river at Boveney to cross meadows and pass under railway arches into Eton. Mostly flat apart from the bridges; can get muddy after rain in Braywick Park and along the riverside. Passes Dorney Lake; no refreshment stops between Bray and Eton, though there are picnic places. Take a toilet break at Braywick Leisure Centre as facilities are sparse afterwards.

Woodland: two fifths under tree cover.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

End-of-walk reward: Plenty of refreshment options in Eton, with Windsor just across the river.

Warnings: The riverside path is rugged and can get very muddy after rain. Cycle barriers on the Cut Foot Bridge. Direct access to the river along a long stretch — watch for tripping hazards.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Recommended: A wildly joyful route; so lovely; superb in summer. A wildly enjoyable, mostly flat and largely traffic-free route following the riverside at Richmond and Kingston and crossing leafy Ham via quiet residential streets and green common land and including Petersham meadows. Generally smooth surfaces with a couple of gates and a few narrow paths; the Richmond riverside path can flood at high tide (a road detour exists). You may pass the herd of cows grazing at Petersham meadows. Toilets just inside Petersham Gate at Richmond Park; a short detour reaches Ham House (National Trust).

Ham House and Garden (National Trust)

Ham House: A grand 17th-century house and gardens beside the Thames at Ham.

Time: 3h30 (2h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Lunch: Refreshments at Petersham and along the river at both Richmond and Kingston.

1 end-of-walk reward: Canbury Secret Cafe

Warnings: The riverside footpath at Richmond can flood at high tide — detour via the A307 Petersham Road, with several escape points up to the road. The diversion behind St Peter's church is narrow, poorly lit and can be muddy.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Long walk.

Woodland: two fifths under tree cover.

Windsor Castle

Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Railwalks.

Good view of The Long Walk with Windsor Castle in the distance. A route mainly following the Three Castles Path through Windsor Great Park, with a short urban walk at Ascot, footpaths and bridleways that can be muddy with exposed roots, wide and smooth tarmac roads through the park itself. The park is quite hilly. Follows the Three Castles Path. The path near the George III statue is often closed during winter, with an easy road detour available. Public toilets and coffee places in Ascot.

The Windsor Great Park: A vast royal deer park south of Windsor Castle, crossed by the Long Walk.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Lunch: Few benches and no facilities within Windsor Great Park; amenities at Ascot.

Warnings: Getting from the Crown Estate into Windsor Great Park involves a busy road crossing with no lights or pedestrian crossing. A footpath near the George III statue is sometimes closed in winter due to poor ground conditions, requiring a detour; park roads are shared with cars, buses, horses and cyclists.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Flat parkland, deer park, historic royal landscape, ornamental gardens and lake.

Source: An alternative variant of Slough to Egham via Windsor Great Park (Saturday Walkers Club).

Village green, Thames riverfront, historic riverside houses, landscape garden, modern riverside developments, riverside park and palace grounds.

Time: 4h (2h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Source: A variant of Norbiton to Hammersmith or Putney (Saturday Walkers Club).