Spring has indisputably sprung. April’s showers have evaporated, dazzling wildflowers clamour for attention in meadows and newly leafy woods, the dawn chorus swells and soars as chicks hatch and fledge. Oh, and our feet are itching: May is National Walking Month, with guided outings and festivals around the country.
Fortunately, there’s no need to trek to the Highlands or Lake District to enjoy a spring stroll. Londoners are blessed with an abundance of footpaths in surrounding green expanses, through the Chiltern Hills, North Downs and the Weald, alongside the Thames and amid ancient forests. These heavenly half-dozen walks are all within 30 minutes of the capital.
© Getty ImagesMaidenhead and Cookham, Berkshire
As days stretch and warm, there’s nothing nicer than messing around – or alongside – the river. The idyllic section of the Thames Path flanking Cliveden Reach was described by the author Jerome K Jerome as “perhaps the sweetest stretch”. On a leisurely 7.5-mile loop from Maidenhead station, watch for red kites, roe deer and other wildlife – perhaps Toad, Ratty and Mole of The Wind in the Willows fame, likely inspired by this area.
Then discover Cookham’s charm, notably the Stanley Spencer Gallery showcasing distinctive paintings by homegrown talent. Return south alongside Strand Water and Widbrook Common for views across the Thames to stately Cliveden House, the backdrop to scandals including the notorious Profumo affair.
Best for: artists, authors and aristocratic scandals
Accessible by public transport? Yes – Maidenhead is on the Elizabeth Line just six stops beyond Zone 6.
Ranmore Common, Surrey
Roam this tree-studded heath on the North Downs in May and you might succumb to the blues – butterflies, that is. South-facing chalk slopes are aflutter with Adonis, common and Chalk Hills, plus diverse greens, browns, oranges and reds. To earn that ticker-tape parade, begin your 7.5-mile walk climbing onto Ranmore Common from Westhumble. Skirt the glorious gardens of opulent Polesden Lacey, an opulent Edwardian house, then head south across the common to join the North Downs Way for sweeping views across the Weald. Visit the "Cathedral in the Woods", Sir George Gilbert Scott’s striking St Barnabas Church, and Denbies vineyard for a glass of crisp white en route to the station.
© Planet One Images/Universal ImagBest for: sweeping views and sensational vintages
Accessible by public transport? Yes – Box Hill & Westhumble station is under 20 minutes by train from outer London, originating at Waterloo.
Epping Forest
Explore the natural and historical wonders of this former Norman royal hunting ground, now a 6,000-acre swathe of venerable trees, on an undulating eight-mile stroll. Steps from Chingford station, visit Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge, built in 1543 for King Henry VIII), for dramatic views. Beyond lies Connaught Water, bustling with herons and grebes; the 350-year-old “Monarch of the Forest”, Grimston’s Oak, soars just to the north.
Detour to the Birch Hall estate to spy the forest’s distinctive dark-hued fallow deer, then visit Ambresbury Banks, massive earthworks of a 2,500-year-old hillfort. En route to Epping station, admire some of the 55,000 hornbeam pollards, beeches and oaks that have been thriving here for centuries.
© Getty ImagesBest for: ancient oaks and Iron Age forts
Accessibly by public transport? Yes – Chingford is under half an hour from Liverpool Street on the Weaver line; Epping, on the Central line, is a little further.
Chess Valley, Hertfordshire
This rare, gin-clear chalk stream is a gorgeous companion for an eight-mile amble past cricket pitches, shady beechwoods, historic houses and, naturally, old inns. From Chorleywood station, cross the Common to access the Chess Valley Walk, tracing the river as it meanders upstream through wildflower-spangled meadows and past watercress beds – watch for kingfishers, dragonflies and orchids.
Beyond Latimer, a dinky village of timber-framed and wisteria-clad cottages, cross the river and climb through the lovely West Wood to the Tudor-era Chenies Manor, which hosted Henry VIII and Elizabeth I; pass the village green to find the equally historical Red Lion pub. Return to Chorleywood via the bluebells, ancient oaks and beeches of Carpenters Woods.
© Getty ImagesBest for: village greens and bucolic bliss
Accessible by public transport? Yes – Chorleywood is under half an hour from Marylebone on Chiltern Railways.
Knole and Ightham Mote, Kent
For high-end property goodness, tackle this ten-mile stretch to ogle a fairytale moated manor house and a stately pile cradled in sprawling parkland. From Sevenoaks station, the Greensand Way delves into Knole Park, grazed by fallow deer that have been roaming here since the 15th century.
Follow the trail to Ightham Mote, crossing the stone moat-spanning bridge to explore this wonderfully preserved 14th-century manor. Return via woods and commons to the majestic Knole, a palace that once housed both archbishops and Mary Tudor, and later the childhood home of the author, garden designer and Virginia Woolf’s lover, Vita Sackville-West. The house is adorned with portraits by Reynolds, Gainsborough and Van Dyck.
© Getty ImagesBest for: historic houses and deer-bustling parkland
Accessible by public transport? Yes – Sevenoaks is under 30 minutes by train from London Bridge.
Ibstone, Turville and Fingest, Buckinghamshire
This captivating corner of the Chilterns is like a celebrity you recognise but can’t place. But if you’ve ever watched a cosy bank holiday movie or Sunday-evening series, you’ll have seen these landscapes and chocolate-box villages.
For a personal introduction, take a seven-mile stroll south across Ibstone Common through Turville Wood to Turville village. This red-brick, flint-and-timber-framed idyll starred as Dibley (of rambunctious Vicar fame) and in various Midsomer Murders, Goodbye Uncle Tom and, incongruously, Killing Eve. Standing sentinel above is Cobstone Windmill, Caractacus Potts’s home in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Continue to Fingest, with its remarkable early-Norman church, and climb gradually through Twigside Bottom to Penley Wood before returning to Ibstone.
© Getty ImagesBest for: set-jetting spots and time-warp hamlets
Accessible by public transport? No, but under 30 minutes from zone 6 by car via the M40 – park alongside Ibstone Common.
