Walks you can reach from Nutbourne by train

Beginner-friendly: Just follow the coast and come back along a straight walk. It’s almost too simple! Flat, short and plenty of choices for lunch. Chichester Harbour is a little-known National Landscape. Its protected saltmarsh landscape feeds an abundance of birdlife. It’s a major recreational harbour but somehow has a romantically melancholy and isolated air — you can imagine sea shanties being composed here.

Coastal: three fifths along the coast.

Chichester Harbour (1h15 in)

Bosham (1h30 in)

Fishbourne Roman Palace & Gardens (2h30 in)

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

4 lunch spots: Bosham (1h45 in) — the Anchor Bleu, Timberley's, Marwick's, or the Berkeley Arms

2 end-of-walk rewards: the Bull's Head Pub, or the Woolpack Inn

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

Forest, fields, Sussex villages and views; St Leonard's Forest, historic Slaugham village, Cuckfield, South Downs views.

Woodland: a third under tree cover.

St Leonard's Forest: An expansive forest of ancient woodland between Horsham and Crawley.

Slaugham: Very small, but picturesque.

Time: 7h (5h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

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

Flat coastal sea wall, tidal harbour, salt marsh, sand dunes, beach, mudflats, tidal lake and historic village high street.

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

Warnings: Check tide timings.

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

Flat tidal harbour shoreline, raised sea walls, mudflats, fields, light woodland, duck pond and pedestrianised historic city centre.

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

Warnings: Can be muddy. Best at high tide.

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

Flat coastal walk, seafront promenade, sandy beaches, short ferry crossing, disused railway path and harbourside shore path.

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

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

Easy walking, deer park and historic Horsham; secluded Vann Lake, Warnham Deer Park, pretty historic centre.

Woodland: half under tree cover.

Warnham Deer Park: A deer park near Horsham, home to many red deer.

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

Warnings: Woodland after Vann Lake can be muddy.

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

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

Time: 8h30 (7h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Can be very overgrown.

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

Recommended: Lovely views of the harbour inlets. A coastal walk incorporating several sections beside the shore of Chichester Harbour, on a mix of footpaths and minor roads with mainly arable fields and several stiles and kissing gates. The footpath at Fishbourne is tidal at peak high tides. Easy to follow and well-signed. Parallels the Chichester Cathedral Mini Pilgrimage from Bosham to Chichester.

Coastal: four fifths along the coast.

Chichester Harbour

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

Lunch: Refreshments at Bosham, roughly halfway.

Warnings: Two sections of eroded coastal defence after winter storms are officially marked closed (passable with care at personal risk). The Fishbourne footpath floods at spring high tides. Stiles and kissing gates.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Follows the Solent Way, with a ferry from Portsmouth Harbour to Gosport and a ferry from Warsash to Hamble-le-Rice.

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

Walk details: Railwalks.

A varied walk on footpaths and wide bridle paths and with a fine section crossing the wooded St Leonard's Forest. Generally well-traced and easy to follow. Can be shortened by catching the train from Ifield station.

Woodland: half under tree cover.

St Leonard's Forest: An expansive forest of ancient woodland between Horsham and Crawley.

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

1 lunch spot: the Dragon

Warnings: Short sections into and out of Colgate village follow a narrow verge along a road that is busy at times.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Many attractive sections. A long route mainly on field paths and woodland tracks with the occasional farm track, through attractive countryside and woodland. Lots of stiles and kissing gates and a couple of short sections walking the verge beside busy roads. Pretty muddy in places after wet weather. Includes part of the High Weald Landscape Trail. A long route passing no refreshment opportunities, so take food and plenty of water. Has a railway station at each end, making a good day walk.

Woodland: two fifths under tree cover.

St Leonard's Forest: An expansive forest of ancient woodland between Horsham and Crawley.

Time: 9h30 (7h walking, 1h30 lunch, 1h break)

Lunch: A long route passing no refreshment opportunities, so take sandwiches and plenty of water.

Warnings: A couple of short sections walk the verge beside busy roads, particularly Isaacs Lane north of Burgess Hill. Many stiles and kissing gates. Pretty muddy in winter.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A flat route opening along the seafront promenade and then heading inland across mainly arable field paths and quiet country lanes through low farmland. Kissing gates but no stiles; some paths narrow and overgrown in summer. Can get boggy in winter. Following the Chichester Canal path from Hunston makes a nicer route into or out of the city than the residential streets through Whyke.

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

Lunch: A parade of shops at Rose Green near Aldwick, but no facilities after Aldwick before Chichester.

Warnings: Do not try to cross the A27 directly; follow the path to the bridge. There is a railway bridge with about 20 steps each side. Fields around Pagham Rife can get very soggy and muddy in winter.

Walk details: Slow Ways.