Walks you can reach from Crewkerne by train

Highly recommended

Old Sarum Ruins (1h in)

Stonehenge (4h30 in)

Stonehenge Landscape (National Trust; 4h30 in)

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

1 lunch spot: the Bridge Inn (2h30 in; excellent)

Warnings: Have lunch a café or pub next to the river. Return from Stonehenge to Salisbury by bus (very frequent & reliable but check times).

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

A steady climb to two Iron Age hillforts and a toll house, with wide country views.

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

Warnings: Includes a sustained climb.

Walk details: Great Scenic Railways of Devon & Cornwall (PDF).

Rolling farmland to a market town, reaching the River Otter, home to wild otters and reintroduced beavers.

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

Walk details: Great Scenic Railways of Devon & Cornwall (PDF).

Dry chalky U-shaped downland valleys, wooded ridges, grassy valleys, picturesque villages, rolling hills and river valley.

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

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

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

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: Stunning views in every direction, views of green rolling Devon countryside. A hilly walk through the Blackdown Hills, starting with easy, flat walking through meadows beside the River Yarty before a steep climb, after which it stays hilly with a lot of quiet lane walking. The lanes are a relief from mud in winter and but field sections are likely to be muddy after rain. Passes through the Blackdown Hills AONB. Excellent public transport between the two towns.

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

Lunch: No other facilities outside Honiton and Axminster.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Beautiful; picturesque. Riverside path and flat and easy-going.

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

Woodland: a third under tree cover.

Mompesson House (National Trust; 6h30 in)

Time: 8h30 (6h30 walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)

Walk details: Railwalks.

An excellent route; Delightful route; lovely start and end points. A long route with very little road walking (and only minor roads), much of it on forest tracks through managed woodland, taking in several nature reserves and a National Trust estate. Easy walking for the most part, a little gooey in places after heavy rain and with a few gates and some stiles; the main challenge is the length. Passes through Bentley Wood nature reserve and at least two other nature reserves, and takes in the National Trust's Mottisfont estate. Can be shortened by jumping on the train one stop from Dunbridge to Romsey.

Woodland: two fifths under tree cover.

Mompesson House (National Trust)

Mottisfont (National Trust)

Time: 10h (8h walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)

Warnings: The approach to Romsey crosses an active gravel pit between Awbridge and Squabb Wood, which can require diversions, and the lower end of Squabb Wood can be very wet and difficult in winter.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Woodland paths and flat and easy-going.

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

Walk details: Railwalks.

Similar walk: Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

Hill and moorland paths and with substantial climbs; surfaced.

Killerton (National Trust; 3h in)

Time: 10h30 (8h walking, 1h30 lunch, 1h break)

Warnings: Short stretch on a fast-traffic road with limited verge.

Walk details: Railwalks.

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.

Fabulous walking through interesting places and with some lovely views. Wonderful varied walking on back lanes, field paths and well-used dirt tracks and climbing onto the chalk plain for lovely views. A short steep climb out of Fonthill Gifford; a muddy bridleway through Eastleigh Woods toward Warminster (a drier signposted alternative exists).

Time: 8h30 (6h30 walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)

Warnings: A stretch along the fast, relatively busy B3089 east of Hindon has no verge; the crossing of the A303 needs care and patience (sightlines are good).

Walk details: Slow Ways.