Walks you can reach from Castle Cary by train

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: Palladian house and world-famous landscape garden (National Trust; 4h to visit).

Stourhead Estate: Palladian house and world-famous landscape garden (National Trust; 4h to visit).

1 lunch spot: Stourhead restaurant

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

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

Warnings: Six hilly ascents.

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

Chalk downland, the Pewsey White Horse hill figure, the River Avon and a quiet village, with spectacular views.

Pewsey White Horse: A 20th-century chalk hill figure cut into the downs above Pewsey.

Walk details: Visit Pewsey Vale (photos).

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 (National Trust; 1h to visit).

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

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).

Chalk downland, Iron Age hillforts, five hills, Salisbury Plain military range, abandoned village and sweeping views over Wiltshire and Somerset.

Warnings: MOD closures apply.

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

Gentle climbs, heathland common, woodland, river meadows and canal.

Warnings: Swing bridge delays.

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

A walk in open country and Devon green lanes linking the city's two outer stations, climbing out of the suburbs through Mincinglake Valley Park and over Stoke Hill, with superb views opening up over Exeter and down the Exe Estuary before a long descent past the University to St David's.

Mincinglake Valley Park: a wooded valley park and Local Nature Reserve climbing out of the city, with views opening back over Exeter.

Exeter

Lunch: Pubs and shops at the start (the Queen's Head by Polsloe Bridge) and at the finish (the Jolly Porter and Great Western, opposite St David's station).

Walk details: Avocet Line Rail Users Group (PDF).

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.

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: Atmospheric Victorian home designed by Thomas Hardy (National Trust; 1h to visit).

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

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Recommended: Infinitely more attractive, peaceful and rewarding; the glorious contrasts of the exposed coast. A varied coastal and hinterland walk combining a seasonal ferry across the River Exe, exposed sea wall, sheltered country lanes, mud tractor tracks and steep climbs through pine forest. Surfaces include some demanding, muddy stretches and with several steep gradients. An alternative regular train links Exmouth and Starcross via Exeter Central if the ferry isn't running. Food shops and toilets at Exmouth, Starcross, Dawlish Warren and Dawlish.

Coastal: three fifths along the coast.

Warnings: Relies on the seasonal Starcross Ferry (Apr–Oct, also affected by low spring tides) — check operating times before setting out. Some sections are steep and muddy; one minor road crossing is quite busy.

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: Beautiful and intimate 18th-century landscape garden in Bath with one of only four Palladian bridges found in the world (National Trust; 1h30 to visit).

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.

Great views; picturesque. Hill and moorland paths and with substantial climbs.

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

Walk details: Railwalks.