The Green Chain Walk is the kind of route to make other London walks – well, almost as green with envy.
Stretching an impressive 52 miles in length, it links together over 300 different green spaces in south-east London. Stomping through ancient woodland tracks and manicured parks, you could almost believe the rest of the city had melted away.
The walk’s split up into just over a dozen manageable sections, which you can mix and match to create your own linear or circular route. They’re all signposted well enough that you can just set off without a map and hope for the best – you’re looking for wooden posts with a yellow arrow in the green spaces themselves, and more standard green metal signs on the (very occasional) times you’re on the street.
Kevan/Flickr
Each section takes around 1.5 – 2 hours to cover at a leisurely pace, and you can follow more specific directions on the Inner London Ramblers website. The most popular option is to link together sections 2, 3, 6, 8 and 10, which make up a 20 mile walk in total (about 6-7 hours in one go).
If you want to build your own adventure, though, here are the individual chunks:
- Section 1: Thamesmead to Lesnes Abbey – it’s one of the Green Chain Walk’s starting points, taking you through a 1960s development and Southmere Park with its expansive lake, and ending up at the 12th century Lesnes Abbey. At the start you might be lucky enough to catch seals in the Thames, and you could also tack on a visit to the bizarrely beautiful Crossness Pumping Station.
- Section 2: Erith to Bostall Woods – Another starting point, this time further east along the Thames. It’s a bit steep in places, but you’ll walk through some beautiful ancient woodland on the way.
- Section 3: Bostall Woods to Oxleas Meadow – This is where the route starts getting really popular – partly because it passes a pub along the way, and partly because of the amazing views over Kent and Surrey that greet you when you finish this section. Oxleas Wood is over 8,000 years old in some parts, and is really quite scenic.
Oxleas Meadow – Robert Scarth/Flickr
- Section 4a: Charlton Park to Bostall Woods – This is pretty much an alternative to section 3 if you’re doing a linear walk from the river, or you can build it into a big circle. It takes you through woods and wild commons – you can technically still graze your cattle on Plumstead Common if you’re so inclined.
- Section 4b: Plumstead Common to Oxleas Meadow – Another super-popular stretch that can easily be built into a circular walk. It’s steep, but the pay-off is the amazing panoramic view you get at the end – plus it’s pretty much all surfaced so it doesn’t get muddy. Ideal for novice, fair-weather London ramblers, basically.
- Section 5: Thames Barrier to Oxleas Meadow – Another starting section that leads from the futuristic-looking Thames Barrier down to some pretty scenic spots, including Severndroog Castle and Charlton House. You’ll walk through quarries, a deer park, and up Shooter’s Hill, which was once a grisly gallows site where they’d keep the bodies up as a warning. Quaint!
Eltham Palace
- Section 6: Oxleas Woods to Mottingham – This part tacks on nicely to 3, 4b or 5, and also moonlights as the first two sections of the Capital Ring orbital footpath, if you feel like switching route at the end. It’s an easy walk, mostly on surfaced roads apart from the stretches of woodland. The star attraction of this section is the one-of-a-kind Eltham Palace, a regal and aristocratic residence that’s part medieval hall, part art deco mansion.
- Section 7: Shepherdleas Wood to Middle Park – A dog-friendly alternative to section 6 that’s a bit more rural – expect mud, the occasional flood, and barely any buildings.
- Section 8: Mottingham to Beckenham Place Park – this is one of the most urban stretches of the Green Chain Walk, but all is forgiven when you hit Beckenham Place Park. It’s a sprawling expanse of greenery complete with a huge lake where you can go wild swimming, and a majestic mansion that’s now home to a café, yoga classes, craft workshops, markets and more.
Beckenham Place Park
- Section 9: Mottingham Lane to Beckenham Place Park – This is a more southerly alternative to section 8, which goes through woods filled with tree carvings; the 800-year-old Sundridge Park; and finally Beckenham Place Park.
- Section 9a: Elmstead Wood to Chislehurst – A short and sweet section that takes you through three patches of woodland and winds up in the charming borough of Chislehurst (famous for its caves). You can also start here at Chislehurst for a long walk all the way to Crystal Palace.
- Section 10: Beckenham Place Park to Crystal Palace – This four mile section links up two of the biggest parks in South London, and is really easy to get to and from on public transport. It does, however, also go along a lot of residential streets in between, so it’s not the most rural patch of the walk. Don’t forget to visit the dinosaurs when you get to Crystal Palace Park, and reward yourself with a slap-up roast at The Alma.
Ewan Munro/Flickr
- Section 11: Crystal Palace to Nunhead Cemetery – A starting point or finishing point, depending on which way you’re going. Along the way you’ll pass the excellently named Horniman Museum with its taxidermied animals and treasures from around the globe; the quirky Walters Way development, a cul-de-sac of 1970s prefab houses; the Sydenham Hill Wood Nature Reserve, home to hundreds of different species; and Nunhead Cemetery, whose overgrown Gothic graves are surprisingly atmospheric. Just don’t get there too late in the day.
- Section 11a: Dulwich Park to Sydenham Wood – Just over a mile, this short section runs mostly through park and woodland, and connects about halfway along section 11 (so you can decide whether to go north to Nunhead or south to Crystal Palace). This makes for an excellent Sunday stroll, starting off in the scenic Dulwich Park and passing by Dulwich Picture Gallery where you can check out an exhibition – or get brunch – en route.
- Section 12: Eltham to Greenwich – Prepare to off-road. This final section was planned out in the 70s with the others, but never got its signposts – so you might need to be a bit more attentive to a map with this one. Starting from the ends of section 6 or 7, you’ll head from Eltham Palace through the wetlands of Sutcliffe Park, past Grade I listed buildings, eventually winding up in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Greenwich…
…which links up quite nicely to all these great Greenwich pubs.
Fancy more of a challenge? Check out these amazing hikes near London