North Downs Way - Rochester to Otford

One of the National Trails I have always been interested in doing has been the North Downs Way - primarily because having grown up in Guildford, there are sections of it where I have done a lot of family walks growing up. However, while I have frequently walked the stretch from Guildford to Dorking, other parts had remained unwalked and so the majority of the route remained completely new. This offered both a chance to do something new and to reconnect with sections already explored.

These days I live up in the frozen north of the country, but I had earlier in the year walked the stretch from Rochester to Dover (via Canterbury) and was now returning to walk from Rochester to Farnham, to complete the opposite end of the walk (I am yet as of writing to have done the alternate loop section to Dover via Folkestone).

As a starting point, Rochester is quite useful if you want to split the North Downs Way into two parts for two reasons:

1. It is fairly near the middle of the North Downs Way in terms of distance and it also marks a direction change in the walk, which makes it feel natural as a stopping or starting point
2. Being on the HS1 line it is a very easy destination to reach from St Pancreas which is in turn quite an easy location to get to

Although Rochester is relatively easy to get to, I was both heading down from Darlington and looking to complete a full days walking on the first day and so started the day by heading off on the 6:31 train to Kings Cross. Once at Kings Cross you have to swap to St Pancreas (a short walk), and if you have a smooth arrival you can just about arrive in time for the 9:20 train to Rochester, although I instead used the extra half an hour until the next train to buy and eat some lunch to save needing to get anything later in the day.

The train journey from London to Rochester is not the prettiest, but once you do arrive Rochester is a very pleasant historic town and so began the pre-walk walk through Rochester, past the castle and cathedral, heading off towards the M2 - where the North Downs Way passes along the edge of Rochester.

If you are going through in one trip there are places to stay in Rochester if you are willing to take the extra steps off route (which is probably worth doing), but alternatively you can see a Premier Inn alongside the M2 bridge as you cross it - which is probably one of the closest-to-route options for accommodation in the area. You will just have to be content with McDonalds and Cineworld for your night time entertainment.

Rochester Castle (on my way to join the North Downs Way)

The last time I came this way, I headed under the M2 and then headed left to set off towards Dover - but this time it was a right turn before the motorway, crossing the bridge over the Medway.

The bridge over the Medway isn't really what you hope for on a countryside walk - with the M2 sitting alongside you on the bridge - but the views over the Medway are good and it's not as bad as it is made out on other write ups. I found it okay and on a par with a lot of other paths alongside busy road roads.

But eventually you find yourself having crossed over the bridge and then with a last look back to consider what Rochester could be without the M2 sitting overhead (while the Eurostar flies by) it is time to look ahead to some more pleasant walking country.

The bridge over the Medway including a Eurostar train on its way to Paris

Ahead lies Cuxton and the train station at Cuxton can offer an alternative start point that skips the Medway crossing or starts you off at a point closer to the actual path (half hourly trains run from Strood) - albeit missing the sights in Rochester as a result.

This section was one of the early highlights of the trip, with a mix of crops and wild flowers giving a very pleasant early scene. 

Ranscombe Farm Reserve near Cuxton

A long way to Farnham, Otford the destination for today

This section heading past Cuxton I really enjoyed and after Ranscombe Farm Reserve there are some more scenes that are typical of the general agriculture on the downs, before heading through a mostly wooded section. Eventually though, the route pops you out just past Holly Hill offering views to the south, again of typical chalky downs agriculture.

The view out from the downs just after Holly Hill

Here the path heads down and puts you into this chalky landscape :

A very typical scene along the entire stretch of the North Downs Way after descending after Holly Hill

Having made it down the hill there is a brief stretch following the fields at the base of the downs, but upon reaching the road it is time for a climb back up to the top of the hill as you head into Trosley Country Park - where a bench is a welcome rest given that this walk was being done on the first of a four day heatwave (happily enough, the exact four days of walking 😏).

I actually stopped at a much less pretty bench, but a welcome rest!

Having got used to the path being very quiet and being largely my own to occupy, all of a sudden the path gets much busier as you head up to the visitors centre, but it is not long before you are once again heading back down to the base of the downs and joining up with a small country road that nevertheless has some fast moving 4x4 cars.

Parts of this road allows you to follow a route alongside the road, while on other sections you will have to convince the drivers that it probably isn't worth running you down for the extra 10 seconds it might save them getting home. The best thing to do (in my opinion) on country roads is to move over but not too quickly as that encourages a bit of brakes use before they come past. If you make it too easy for them to get past they will brake as little as they can get away with.

After a fair stretch on this road, you pop out on a roundabout on a much busier road, that provides a crossing over the M20 (on this stretch of the North Downs Way you will make the acquaintance of and perhaps even form a deeper bond with a lot of the southern motorway network).

This busy road is best crossed at the roundabout - I initially headed down to what looked like the intended crossing point, but you simply cannot see round the bend, so had to head back and once again try and persuade the drivers that they probably didn't want to run me down as I headed across. It is a busy road, but if you are patient you will get a gap eventually so just try and enjoy the scenery and enjoy a bit of an enforced rest.

But - fortunately - the flirtation with the M20 is a very brief one, because before long it heads north, while you follow a quiet track along the base of the downs. Eventually it becomes time to head back up to the top of the hills again and this climb, whilst a bit roasty-toasty in the heat, gives some good views of the countryside below.

Already looking pretty nice heading up the hill

But looking better once you make it up to the top and have a rest

With it being so hot, the climb was fairly heavy work, but this was a nice spot to stop for a bit and enjoy the views.

One of the issues along this stretch, however, is that the motorways have limited sound protection in places and so the motorway definitely dominates the landscape. That said, this section is also extremely pretty and I enjoyed this stretch into Otford as a highlight of the day (along with the stretch going past Cuxton), so just get used to the novelty of the motorway and try and enjoy the countryside all the same.

View out over Kemsing

Passing Otford Manor is also a particular highlight, with some nice benches at this spot and there are plenty of opportunities for a lazy slow end to the day, pausing at the available benches to look out over the surrounding countryside.

From here it is time to drop down into Otford where the path rejoins the train network for the first time since Cuxton. Otford is very pretty - although it was very busy with determined traffic when I arrived around the evening rush. On this occasion there were some train cancellations, so I walked down to Bat & Ball station stopping off to get some food on the way and afterwards took the train from Bat & Ball down to Sevenoaks to stop over for the night. From Otford to Sevenoaks you don't need a ticket - you can just tap in and out with contactless.

Click here to see the route writeup for day two - Otford to Merstham

Alternatively, click here to see the writeup for the walk running from Rochester to Dover done earlier in the year.

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 178 and 188 OS Landranger maps - while there is also a North Downs Way guidebook which includes OS mapping (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in general well way-marked.