Extra Walk 46 (variation) – Richmond to Hampton Court
Length: About 12½ km (8 miles). Toughness: 1/10

Meet in the booking hall of Richmond station at 11:00. Either take the 10:39 Reading train from Waterloo (Vauxhall 10:43, Clapham Jct 10:49, Putney 10:53), arriving at 10:58; or the Overground or a District line tube (see the TfL site for times). Richmond is in Zone 4.

Trains back from Hampton Court (in Zone 6) leave for Waterloo at xx:05 & xx:35. If you finish at Kingston, trains back from there are also half-hourly at much the same time (xx:04 & xx:34).

The full Extra Walk 46 goes from Wimbledon to Kingston, but Wimbledon Common can be very muddy in winter and this walk's second half along the Thames Path combined with the optional extension to Hampton Court looks more suitable for January.

From Richmond station I suggest crossing over the main road, going through an alleyway to a side street and turning left to reach Richmond Green. Go diagonally across it and down Old Palace Lane to the river. Turn left and simply follow the Thames Path for about 8 km to Kingston. There are plenty of refreshment opportunities in this large town, including several riverside pubs.

Unless you want to finish the walk here, cross Kingston Bridge and keep left on the other side. The walk notes give you the choice of walking through Bushy Park (to the north of the A308) or Hampton Court [Home] Park (to the south). If you take the latter route note that you can no longer get into the Palace Gardens via the back gates, so you have to head back to the main road or (on the other side of the Long Water) find the unobtrusive gate leading out to the river. There are refreshment places in the informal gardens at Hampton Court (free to enter) and near Hampton Court station (on the other side of the river, just across the bridge).

You could probably get by with the brief notes above but more detail can be found on the Wimbledon to Kingston Walk page. T=swc.46.d

Extra Walk 46 (variation) – Wimbledon to Kew Bridge
Length: About 16 km (10 miles). Toughness: 2/10

10:24 Dorking train from Waterloo, arriving Wimbledon at 10:40. Alternatively, there are frequent District Line tubes, taking about 20 minutes from Earl's Court. As there are trains arriving in Wimbledon every few minutes on different routes I suggest meeting upstairs in the booking hall.

There are trains back from Kew Bridge to Waterloo every 15 minutes, at 11, 26, 41 & 56 past. If you finish at Richmond there are frequent trains to Waterloo plus Overground and Underground services.

Wimbledon and Kew Bridge are in TfL Zone 3; Richmond (if you finish there) is in Zone 4.

This London walk has had half a dozen Sunday postings since it first appeared on the website in 2008, but so far no-one has deemed it suitable for the Saturday crowd. Still, there are plenty of wide open green spaces in this part of SW London and it might suit anyone looking for an early finish and a spot of Christmas shopping in Richmond (but do try to make it past the shops in Wimbledon Village).

There are no leaders on these walks and this one doesn't have a well-defined route across Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park, so be prepared to find your own way. A London A-Z would be fine, although I see that someone has uploaded a plausible GPS route if you don't fancy old-fashioned map-reading. The GPS route turns left at Richmond to head upriver to Kingston, but on these short days I suggest doing the alternative finish to Kew Bridge: an equally nice riverside stretch with views of Old Deer Park, Kew Gardens and Syon House.

For lunch choose between the self-service Tea Rooms at Pembroke Lodge (inside Richmond Park) or one of Richmond's pubs: the midweek evening walkers usually go for the Roebuck (020-8948 2329) on Richmond Hill. You'll find various places around Kew Green if you want some refreshment at the end of the walk. The Extra Walk 46 page lists more places and summarises the main attractions along the route. T=swc.46.b