Walks you can reach from Chetnole by train

Chalk downland, dry hanging valleys, rounded hills, broad ridges, chalk streams, picturesque villages and historic churches.

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

Warnings: Six hilly ascents.

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

Thomas Hardy country east of Dorchester — his thatched birthplace cottage and the woodland and heathland of Thorncombe Wood.

Hardy's Cottage: The thatched cottage birthplace of writer Thomas Hardy, set within Thorncombe Wood nature reserve and cared for by the National Trust.

Thorncombe Wood: A mixed woodland nature reserve surrounding Hardy's Cottage with waymarked trails and heathland.

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

Lunch: The Under the Greenwood Tree cafe at the Hardy's Cottage visitor centre; pubs and cafes in Dorchester.

Warnings: Hardy's Cottage can only be visited on a guided tour; check National Trust opening arrangements before setting out.

Walk details: Visit Dorset (tips, photos and local insights).

Somerset Levels fringes, hillock, quiet residential streets, charming market town, dry green valley, ancient holloway, pastures, shallow river valley, hillfort plateau, steep ascents, large WWII airfield remains and broad plateau with views.

Time: 9h (7h walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)

Warnings: Steep ascents and descents.

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

South Somerset pastures, wooded ridge forming the Wiltshire/Somerset boundary, hanging woods, landscaped estate gardens with lakeside walks, grassy U-shaped valley and honey-coloured stone-built town.

Stourhead (National Trust)

Stourhead Estate (National Trust)

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

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

Recommended: Some great views. Mostly across fields, some arable and some pasture but largely empty and with stretches of quiet lane walking. Well maintained and easy to follow. The ground can develop short muddy sections in winter. Mostly follows the Macmillan Way, so it is well waymarked. Passes through the landscaped estate of Melbury Park.

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

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Reverse direction: Railwalks (inc. GPX).

Recommended: The huge view of Weymouth Bay and over to Portland opens up suddenly and exhilaratingly from the top of the South Dorset Ridgeway; the views are spectacular. Undulating but easy walking, mostly on tracks across intensively farmed arable hills and with a roady margin leaving Dorchester. Climbs to the South Dorset Ridgeway before dropping through a holiday park to the coast and a long promenade walk. Follows the Hardy Way and the Jubilee Trail. Passes a reedy bird reserve behind the coast path. Trains roughly two-hourly. Worth a diversion to view the Osmington White Horse.

Hardy's House, Max Gate (National Trust)

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

Lunch: A couple of pubs on the way, and plenty of chip shops on the Weymouth seafront.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Recommended: A great walk. A great walk with a good variety of open fields, woodland, stony tracks and a disused-railway cycle track and with very little on roads. Muddy at some points; a very steep climb with steps from the cycle track up to Combe Down if walked from Frome.

Hilly: a quarter on high ground, rising above the surrounding land.

Woodland: a fifth under tree cover.

Prior Park Landscape Garden (National Trust)

Time: 7h30 (6h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Lunch: A pub at Norton St Philip, mid-route, makes a good coffee stop.

Warnings: A very steep climb with steps from the cycle track up to Combe Down.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Fine views over the surrounding countryside. A very rural route following the Macmillan Way: pasture and arable farmland, quiet lanes and footpaths through Honeycombe Wood. Poorly maintained and overgrown in places, with muddy fields and field exits and fine countryside views. Follows the Macmillan Way; combines well with the Yetminster-to-Crewkerne route.

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

Warnings: The trail is poorly maintained: expect overgrown stretches and stiles, many through reclaiming hedgerow (difficult and low for tall walkers), and nettles. Fields and Honeycombe Wood get very muddy in the wet, and some paths are hard to spot. Cattle (including a bull on one occasion) graze some fields.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Reverse direction: Visit Dorset.

Field paths and flat and easy-going.

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

Walk details: Railwalks.

Significantly more attractive. A quiet, safe route to the west of the B3090, slightly longer than alternatives but avoiding busy-road crossings and partly alongside Orchardleigh lake.

Westwood Manor (National Trust)

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

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A solid, easy and direct walk following the Frome Valley cycle path, tarmac or gravel all the way and so good in winter with no mud. Almost flat from Maiden Newton with a few climbs and descents approaching Dorchester; mostly along quiet lanes and a bridleway. Mainly follows the Frome Valley Cycle Trail. A detour through access land near Dorchester takes in Poundbury Hill Fort.

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

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Rural walking through fields, but with a section in the middle that is hard to follow on the ground without GPS or map and compass and can be impassable, with bramble nests and blocked stiles and overgrown hedges. Can be reached part-way at South Brewham.

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

Warnings: A section in the middle (between Jerrards Farm and Hentshill Farm, and around Colinshayes to South Brewham) can be completely overgrown and impassable, with blocked stiles, forcing a road diversion. Not a beginner's route; navigation aids are essential.

Walk details: Slow Ways.