Sevenoaks to Westerham walk

18.6km (11.6 miles)

With detour to lunch pub in Sevenoaks Weald: 19.6km (12.2 miles)

6 out of 10: quite hilly in places

OS Explorer 147, OS Landranger 188

The first mile of this walk is on suburban streets in Sevenoaks and then there is a two mile stroll across the deer park of Knole House. A slightly awkward section follows, crossing a busy A21 road on a bend, and then along a bridleway through coppiced woodland, with noise from a nearby dual carriageway, though fine escarpment views too.

Then the traffic noise ceases and you find yourself in a beautiful area of undulating fields and farms that is as lovely as anywhere in England. One of the two possible lunch pubs is in the village of Sevenoaks Weald at the start of this section, reachable by a short diversion off the main walk route. The route then climbs in stages up onto the Greensand Ridge, with increasingly fine views to the south.

Both in the section just after the A21 and on the Greensand Ridge there are some large areas of wild garlic (ransoms), in full flower in late April and early May, and both these places also have bluebells (mid April to early May), the best displays being on the ridge. This section is also good for sweet chestnuts, producing nuts and golden leaf colours in late October and November.

All of this brings you to the picturesque hilltop village of Ide Hill, where you find the second of the two possible pub lunch stops. After this the route turns north-west, passing through the National Trust's Emmetts Gardens on a public footpath that also runs right past its tea room, and then through the beech woods of the Chart - vibrant with new green leaves in late April and early May, and producing fine golden tints in November.

The walk ends in the scenic and historic village of Westerham which has various pub and tea options, and from where there is a regular Transport for London bus back to London.

There are several trains an hour from Charing Cross, Waterloo East and London Bridge to Sevenoaks, taking 30-35 minutes from Charing Cross, 22 minutes from London Bridge. Which you take depends on where you aim to have lunch. It is 12.8km (8 miles) to the Cock Inn in Ide Hill, and so if you intend to eat there get a train not much later than 9.30am. If aiming to eat in The Windmill in Sevenoaks Weald, you could potentially get a train as late as 10.30am.

At the end of the walk, Westerham is not on the railway, but it is served by a London Transport bus, the 246, which runs at least hourly till midnight seven days a week (twice an hour until 6pm Monday to Saturday). You can use Oyster cards and contactless payment on this bus, and will be charged just the normal single London bus fare for the whole journey. LT travelcards are also accepted. The bus takes 43 minutes to get to Bromley South station, from where there are frequent (20 minutes) trains to Victoria. A day return to Sevenoaks is valid on this service, as Bromley South is on the Blackfriars-Otford route to Sevenoaks.

You can also get off the 246 bus at Hayes station (31 minutes from Westerham), from where there are trains every fifteen minutes to London Bridge and Cannon Street or Charing Cross, taking 38 minutes, but your Sevenoaks return will not be valid for this.

In addition there is an hourly 594 or 595 bus from Westerham to Oxted station (20 minutes), with the last bus around 5.30pm.

The Brewhouse Cafe at National Trust-owned Knole Park is a possible coffee stop 2.7km/1.7 miles into the walk.

The Windmill in Sevenoaks Weald (01732 463330), 7.8km (4.8 miles) into the walk and requiring a 1km diversion off the main walk route, is a pleasant and comfortable pub, which offers a fairly conventional pub menu. It is not a large place, so perhaps worth ringing to check it can accomodate you. Food is served 12-2pm Wednesday to Saturday and 12-5pm on Sunday.

The Cock Inn in Ide Hill (01732 750310), 12.8km (8 miles) into the walk, is a characterful, popular and reasonably capacious pub with a good food menu, served from 12-3pm and 5-8pm Monday to Saturday and 12-4pm Sunday. The pub is open all afternoon daily for drinks. It has some outside tables, looking out onto the village green.

Ide Hill has a Community Shop which serves hot drinks, soup and other snacks, and has a couple of outside tables when the weather is fine. It is open until 5pm Monday to Friday, but only to 2.30pm on Saturday and midday on Sunday.

The tea room at National-Trust run Emmetts Garden, 14.7km (9.1 miles) into the walk, is a possible early tea stop or late lunch stop (it serves soup and sandwiches). It is open until 4.30pm from March to October, and until 4pm in November and early December - see www.nationaltrust.org.uk for details

In Westerham the Tudor Rose Tearooms are only open until 3.45pm Monday to Friday and 4.30pm weekends, but on the left-hand edge of the green there is a Costa Coffee, open till 5pm daily. Between the two is the Grasshopper on the Green pub, while other pubs are to the left of it, in the village centre.

For picnics there are some fine spots in paragraphs 43 (at the top of the field) and 53 of the walk directions. The green at Ide Hill is also very pretty

After the walk, please leave a comment, it really helps. Thanks!

You can also upload photos to the SWC Group on Flickr (upload your photos) and videos to Youtube. This walk's tags are:

National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234

Apr-24 Peter