Lady’s Country Walk in Surrey

Today I want to share my guide to a country walk in Surrey, England with you. Just south of the UK capital, this country ramble is an easy day trip from London and a great excuse to get out and discover the English countryside.

The Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers parts of the North Downs and Greensand Ridge. It’s filled with rolling hills, chalky soil, and great views. A Surrey walk is the perfect way to take it all in.

Country Walk in Surrey

There’s no shortage of options when it comes to taking a country walk in Surrey. From the famous Box Hill to walks near Guildford, locals and visitors are spoiled for choice. This county has some of the best country walks near London.

I’m here with friends to do a walk from Dorking to Gomshall. It’s called Walk the Chalk in reference to the area’s famous chalky grassland.

The ramble is a 7-mile (11-kilometer) station-to-station walk from Dorking station to Gomshall station, which means it’s easy to do by train from London.

Our country walk in Surrey will take us 3.5 hours, and at the end we’ll enjoy a pub lunch in a sunny garden in Gomshall. I can’t wait.

How to Get to Surrey

My friends and I meet at Victoria station in the morning and board a train to Surrey just before 11am. The journey is quick and direct, and we arrive at Dorking station just under an hour later.

Dorking

We start our country walk in Surrey at the station exit, heading through the streets to get to the trails.

Along the way we pass schools and houses as the area becomes increasingly quiet and less developed.

Surrey Hills

Soon we reach a public footpath lined with yew trees, which love the area’s chalk soil. Shortly after that, we turn onto a path leading to Denbies Hillside and then another that’s an old carriage road built in the 19th century by a local estate owner.

As we go, we take in everything from woodland areas to farmland. It’s a sunny day, and we’re excited to be out in the English countryside spotting chalkhill blue butterflies and whitethroats.

North Downs

Soon our country walk in Surrey brings us to a path that runs along the bottom of the North Downs, a ridge of chalk hills in southeast England that stretches from Farnham to the White Cliffs of Dover.

We walk along it for a mile, taking in bucolic scenery and adorable Belted Galloway cows as we go. We also spot more of the chalk-loving butterflies the Surrey Hills are known for.

Eventually we turn off on a narrower path and hike up past a bank of yew trees to get to God’s Seat. The views across the countryside and into the surrounding towns are breathtaking.

Country Walk in Surrey: North Downs Way

Tearing ourselves away from the panoramas, we continue our country walk in Surrey along the North Downs Way. It’s one of many long-distance national trails in this part of Britain, and it offers over 150 miles (241 kilometers) of countryside rambling.

The stretch we’re walking today is dotted with pillboxes from World War II.

The viewpoints along the North Downs were of strategic importance during the war, and small concrete forts were built at points along the ridge. They formed a ‘stop line’ to repel an anticipated German invasion.

Blatchford Downs

As we walk along the North Downs Way, we traverse Blatchford Downs, a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Surrey Hills.

The scenery includes grassy downland, dappled woods, and flora and fauna like silver birch trees and marbled white butterflies.

Hackhurst Downs

Soon our country walk in Surrey takes us across an ancient byway called Beggars Lane and through a kissing gate in a wooded area. We’re on our way to Hackhurst Downs. It’s another Site of Special Scientific Interest and a local nature reserve for Surrey’s wildlife.

We walk past juniper trees (this place is home to the largest remaining juniper population in the North Downs) and through National Trust land as we make our way diagonally down a hill.

Gomshall

At some point we lose the main trail (we’re not sure how, as it’s well signposted and we have a map). But we’re almost at the end of our walk and it’s not hard to find our way to Gomshall using our phones.

The village has cute shops and cafes, and there are local pubs with beer gardens. Our country walk in Surrey ends at one of them, and we enjoy a late lunch of fish and chips in the sunshine.

Afterwards, it’s a short walk to Gomshall station, where we board a train to London Bridge around 5:30pm (trains run infrequently so we make sure to time it right).

We change quickly at Redhill en route, and by the time I get back to the city I’m happy to have gotten out for a country walk and some fresh air.

Country Walk in Surrey

I hope this guide to a country walk in Surrey has inspired you to head out and get into the English countryside. If you want to Walk the Chalk, you can find the route and map we followed here.

I’ve also put all my country walks in Britain into a single blog post if you’d like to see additional routes. You can read about more walks and find further details in Time Out Country Walks: 52 Walks Near London, too. You can get it here.

Find this post helpful? Buy me a coffee!

New here? Join thousands of others and subscribe to the A Lady in London blog via email.

One of the links in this blog post is an affiliate link. At no cost to you, I earn a small commission when you click on it and make a purchase. It doesn’t affect the way you shop, and it’s a great way to support the A Lady in London blog.

Pin it!