Our latest hike took us to Eynsford in Kent, where we walked a long the Eynsford Circular. This lovely country stroll was a nice walk, even in the rain.
Getting There | The Walk | The Sights
Getting to the Eynsford Circular
Just 45 minutes by train from Blackfriars, trains leave every half hour out to Eynsford. We took a ThamesLink service there and back.
Walk 59 – The Eynsford Circular
Our walk was based off the Saturday Walkers Club Eynsford Circular Walk. We decided to take a shorter option of this walk so we could pass through Shoreham and by the Mount Vineyard, bird sanctuary, a castle, and a historic Roman villa. This route is rated a 5/10 on the Saturday Walker’s Club website and it made for a lovely weekend stroll, even with our backpacks loaded up.
After getting off the train at Eynsford, we set on the road for a bit before joining the trail. That is where we saw our first giant snail of the walk.
Then into the woods we went. Though a somewhat chilly, grey and gloomy day, the buds were starting to appear on the trees! Spring is coming, at last!
Through rolling downs, we passed green fields and sheep.
At the highest peak, we could just make out view under the clouds. After our trip to Lake Bled, we’ve learned to accept that sometimes the weather is going to interrupt the views.
At this point, we bumped into snail #2.
Through fields and residential areas, past horses and golf courses we went.
The Sights of the Eynsford Circular
Almost through the golf course, we saw a sign advertising The Mount Vineyard. It declared their wines “Kent Wine of the Year” and that it was less than a 10 minute walk away. We were intrigued.
We continued on to Shoreham where we planned to stop for lunch. Andrew Googled the vineyard and saw that they were having a tasting in just twenty minutes. The website made it sound like it would be fully booked, but we figured we’d stop by and see.
You’ll see what we discovered there in my next post, tomorrow!
From Shoreham, we had just a couple miles to go before getting back to Eynsford station. These miles were mostly flat, but exciting! In them we passed a few sites of note.
Before our detour and before we knew it would be raining so much, we thought we may check out more of the sights along the path. Passing them by that didn’t look that exciting in the rain so we didn’t stop, but they were cool to see.
First, we came upon Lullingstone Castle. Made from brick, it is beautiful from the outside and there were many tour groups there. There has been a settlement on the site for thousands of years and you can visit the Lullingstone Roman Villa to learn more about the history of the first homes there.
During our walk, we passed lavender fields in the distance. I imagine this hike is beautiful in the spring time with tree covered paths and those fields in view. After that, it was a quick walk back to the station and a fairly quick journey back home. A lovely hike!
Jenn is an American expat living in London, spending her time freelancing, traveling and writing on this here blog. Thank you for reading. Are you planning a trip here? Tell me your plans in the comments!
