The North Downs Way National Trail is a 130 mile (208km) between the high downland of Farnham and the historic city of Dover on the Kent coast. The route is described in 11 day stages from west to east with an optional detour via Canterbury. Step-by-step route descriptions are fully illustrated with colour photographs and extracts from OS 1:50,000 mapping for every stage. The guidebook comes with a separate map booklet of 1:25,000 scale OS maps showing the full route of the North Downs Way. Clear step-by-step route descriptions in the guide link together with the map booklet at each stage along the Way, and the compact format is conveniently sized for slipping into a jacket pocket or the top of a rucksack. The North Downs Way is one of the easier national trails with a modest number of steep (but short) ascents and descents and long sections with no noticeable height gain or loss. Several historic sites including Neolithic burial chambers, Roman roads and Norman churches are passed and much of the route follows The Pilgrims' Way.
Introduction
- The North Downs Way
- Walking west to east
- Where to stay
- Waymarking and accessibility
- When to go
- Getting there – and back
- Using this guide
- Along the way
The North Downs Way
Stage 1 Farnham to Guildford
Stage 2 Guildford to the Mole Valley (A24)
Stage 3 Mole Valley to Merstham
Stage 4 Merstham to Westerham Hill
Stage 5 Westerham Hill to Wrotham
Stage 6 Wrotham to the Medway
Stage 7 The Medway to Detling
Stage 8 Detling to Harrietsham
Stage 9 Harrietsham to Boughton Lees
Direct Route to Dover via Wye
Stage 10 Boughton Lees to Etchinghill
Stage 11 Etchinghill to Dover
The Canterbury Loop
Stage 10a Boughton Lees to Canterbury
Stage 11a Canterbury to Shepherdswell
Stage 12a Shepherdswell to Dover
Appendix A Useful contacts
Appendix B Recommended reading
Appendix C Route summary table
Updates
Kev Reynolds is a freelance writer, photojournalist and lecturer. A prolific compiler of guidebooks, his first title for Cicerone Press (Walks & Climbs in the Pyrenees) appeared in 1978; he has since produced many more titles for the same publisher, with others in the pipeline. His passion for mountains and the countryside remains undiminished after a lifetime's activity, and he regularly travels throughout Britain to share that enthusiasm through his lectures.