Hiking/ Walking close to London

Choccie Lover

Hey all

Just wondering if anyone has any recommendations for some good trails that are reasonably close to London (that can be done in a day trip).

Already thinking ahead to January.... and my fitness regime

Reekwind

A pre-Christmas guilt trip, fantastic

Leaving aside inner-London walking, there's the Thames Path, which is rather massive. I've done 30k along it from Hampton Court to Wandsworth though and it's a nice flat walk through some of the prettier (read: affluent) suburbs of London with some decent pubs along the way

There's also the 15-section Capital Ring Route which, rather imaginatively, rings the capital. I've been meaning to make a start on this for almost a year now

Of course, being London, there's nothing approaching a hill for miles around. The best I've seen in the south are the gentle valleys of Wiltshire; if you can stand a train journey then there's some beautiful walking country around there

who the fug

The Capital Ring Route looks interesting

Choccie Lover

Reekwind wrote: »

A pre-Christmas guilt trip, fantastic

Leaving aside inner-London walking, there's the Thames Path, which is rather massive. I've done 30k along it from Hampton Court to Wandsworth though and it's a nice flat walk through some of the prettier (read: affluent) suburbs of London with some decent pubs along the way

There's also the 15-section Capital Ring Route which, rather imaginatively, rings the capital. I've been meaning to make a start on this for almost a year now

Of course, being London, there's nothing approaching a hill for miles around. The best I've seen in the south are the gentle valleys of Wiltshire; if you can stand a train journey then there's some beautiful walking country around there

Thanks for those suggestions!

Yes......I suppose it is a bit of a pre-Christmas guilt trip.....A lot of force feeding goes on at my house during the Chrimbo

Playboy

Good website that friends of mine have used in the past.

http://www.walking-routes.co.uk/

Choccie Lover

Playboy wrote: »

Good website that friends of mine have used in the past.

http://www.walking-routes.co.uk/

Thanks! I definitely don't have any excuse now to be a slob in January

S.M.B.

I did this walk in late September and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Arundel to Amberley

Involves a train journey of about an hour and 20 minutes there and back.

Going to try go on as many similar walks as possible once the weather improves next year.

afatbollix

Reekwind wrote: »

A pre-Christmas guilt trip, fantastic

Leaving aside inner-London walking, there's the Thames Path, which is rather massive. I've done 30k along it from Hampton Court to Wandsworth though and it's a nice flat walk through some of the prettier (read: affluent) suburbs of London with some decent pubs along the way

Believe it or not but going the other way is even prettier I often cycle from Hampton court to Winsor great park. But dont cycle down the really long stright bit of road.... Thats for the Queen and no one else :rolleyes:

Mr_Spaceman

who the fug wrote: »

The Capital Ring Route looks interesting

It really is.

I walk Section 6 regularly (Wimbledon Park to Richmond) and it's superb. You'd never know you're in London at all, especially as much of it is in Richmond Park.

I keep meaning to go further and do the rest of the Ring, so hopefully 2013 is that time!

Head The Wall

I took part in a 50k in Box hill this year with 7,000 ft of vertical gain i.e up. So it's not true that there's no hills near London. The train takes 55 minutes and a return ticket is 7.50 at the weekends. Highly recommended but challenging

philologos

Choccie Lover wrote: »

Hey all

Just wondering if anyone has any recommendations for some good trails that are reasonably close to London (that can be done in a day trip).

Already thinking ahead to January.... and my fitness regime

Box Hill in Surrey, about an hour from Victoria. It's quite tough, but when the weather's decent the views are amazing.

Head the Wall: Great minds think alike!

maringo

Surrey is really beautiful. Lots of green belt although rumour is that building permission is being considered by the government on some of the green belt.

http://www.walkinginsurrey.co.uk/index.php

Choccie Lover

Thanks everyone! Some excellent suggestions there. Keep them coming....

I went to Epping forest today, which was lots of fun. Got some strange looks coming home on the tube though as I was knee-deep in mud! Fun times

Fratton Fred

Head The Wall wrote: »

I took part in a 50k in Box hill this year with 7,000 ft of vertical gain i.e up. So it's not true that there's no hills near London. The train takes 55 minutes and a return ticket is 7.50 at the weekends. Highly recommended but challenging

philologos wrote: »

Box Hill in Surrey, about an hour from Victoria. It's quite tough, but when the weather's decent the views are amazing.

Head the Wall: Great minds think alike!

I worked in Dorking for a while and Box Hill was very popular wih colleagues. I believe the Olympic road cycling went through there as well.

There is also the Chiltern Way which is a nice walk. I've only done the Princes Risborough to Marlow stretch.

The Thames Path from Windsor to MArlow is also a nice (but obviously very flat) walk with some good pubs on the way. I recommend a pint at the Bounty in Bourne End. It is an unusual pub with no road access. The bridge to it is a relatively new addition as well.

LordSutch

Choccie Lover wrote: »

Hey all

Just wondering if anyone has any recommendations for some good trails that are reasonably close to London (that can be done in a day trip).

Already thinking ahead to January.... and my fitness regime

Box Hill (Leatherhead/Surrey) = lovely gentle climb, and a very nice day trip.

Ah ha, just read Frattons post after I posted this! nice to see all the Bikes on a Sunday too . . . .

Ryu Hayabusa

Thames barrier to Tower Bridge along the Thames

Interesting to see the diversity of Riverside London e.g The abandoned Industrial areas, Greenwich, Canary Wharf/yacht Marinas and River side Cafes/restaurants

Interesting items along the route are the 02 Centre, the Cutty Sark and the City Farm amongst others

Choccie Lover

maringo wrote: »

Surrey is really beautiful. Lots of green belt although rumour is that building permission is being considered by the government on some of the green belt.

http://www.walkinginsurrey.co.uk/index.php

Cheers Maringo. Did a lovely walk in Surrey yesterday. Will definitely be going back to try out some more :-)