Length: 18.9km (11.7 miles) or 14.9km (9.3 miles) with a short cut.
Buy a day return to Tunbridge Wells. Technically this is not valid for the one stop from Tonbridge to Leigh, but it would be a hard-hearted ticket inspector who made a fuss.
This very pretty little Kent walk has not had an outing for a couple of years. It ticks all the boxes, with a stately home (Penshurst Place), a classic English village, and lovely pasture and wood scenery. At the end you come to Tunbridge Wells where you can go for the tourist option and have tea in the Pantiles, or try other places in the town centre.
Lunch is at one of two pubs - the Spotted Dog and the Bottle House Inn. Full disclosure: my walk poster research these days is confined to checking pubs have functioning websites: both these do, but if relying on the you might like to phone and check they have a space. One - the Spotted Dog? - has a gorgeous outside terrace with fabulous views.
An earlier option in Penshurst village is the Leicester Arms. If you stop here, or if you have sandwiches, you could do a short cut that reduces the walk to 14.9km (9.3 miles). You might even fit in a visit to Penshurst Place, which is famous for its Tudor architecture and garden design.
Trains back from Tunbridge Wells at at 09 and 39 past.
2 comments:
For anyone wanting an even shorter short cut, it looks like the bus is running from Penshurst village to either Leigh or Tunbridge Wells train stations.
n=14 on this walk on a glorious w=warm_and_sunny day. Ten at least stopped at the Spotted Dog, most eating there, which although relatively busy had no problem accommodating us. All, I think, sat on the outside terrace at the back. In the afternoon we passed one of our number stretched out on the grass at the edge of a field enjoying the sun, and probably in danger of nodding off. I went straight for the train when we reached Tunbridge Wells, but both the Pantiles and the High Street were busy and buzzing with life.
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