Box Hill Walks

When I lived in London, my weekdays were spent planning how to get out of London. It wasn’t that I didn’t like London (although admittedly a lot less than I like Vancouver).

It’s just after 5 days commuting on the tube, living in noisy Brixton and being surrounded by London’s pretty toxic air, I needed to get out of the city and find some fresher air.

Despite the fact that day trips out of the city aren’t always the easiest, there are some that are. A day trip to Box Hill from London is one such example. Box Hill in Surrey is just 40 minutes away from London by traim from Vauxhall to Box Hill and Westhumble station.

If you’re looking for a nice walk near London then be sure to check out this guide to some Box Hill walks and how to do a Box Hill walk from London including a Box Hill map!

Navigating while on the trail: You can find this hike on AllTrails which is my usual go-to for planning my hikes, navigating, checking trail conditions and, if hiking solo, making sure others know I’m safe. The OS Map app is one of the best hiking apps for trails in the UK and is just like having hundreds of OS maps in your pocket!

About Box Hill London

Box Hill is the perfect place for a countryside walk near London in the Surrey Hills. Box Hill makes up part of the North Downs and has views across the surrounding countryside.

It’s also a popular place with London’s cyclists who race up and down the hill where the London 2012 Olympic cycling race was held. 

Box Hill, Surrey gets its name from the box woodland that’s found on the west-facing chalk slopes. This part of the hill in the west is owned and managed by the National Trust.

At its highest point, Box Hill is 224m. However, the most popular Box Hill viewpoint, the Salomons Memorial which overlooks the town of Dorking, is a little lower at 172m. 

It’s estimated that around 850,000 people visit Box Hill every year! On summer weekends you can expect the hill to be full of people picnicking.

However, leave the main viewpoints and things get instantly quieter. With some of the best walks near London being on Box Hill, plan a Box Hill day trip next time the weather is nice! 

Want more Box Hill walking routes? Get this guide which makes a great Box Hill walks map

Where is Box Hill Surrey?

Box Hill lies within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is a summit of the North Downs in Surrey. It’s approximately 30km southwest of London so not too far to go for some Box Hill walks.

Best Box Hill walks

There are lots of different walks in Box Hill and walks near Box Hill that you can do. You can go from the station straight up to the “summit”, or you can take one of the longer, circular routes. We chose to do a longer, circular route broken up with a pub lunch. The route is covered in more detail below:

Box Hill Circular Route

OS Maps are awesome for hiking in the UK. I’ve never found anything quite like them when in other countries. They have all features like churches, rivers, peaks, viewpoints and more. You can get paper maps (which are great for finding new places), and their app is super useful too.

One of the best Box Hill, Surrey hikes near London is the circular walk. If you’re planning to spend a day in the area and are looking for a good moderately difficult Box Hill hike then try this Box Hill circular route.

There aren’t any of the stairs you’ll come across on the summit route, there are fewer people and there’s a fantastic pub two hours into the walk which makes for a great pit-stop! 

This walk at Box Hill crosses a series of hills in a clockwise loop north and east of Box Hill and Westhumble Station. It’s probably the best of the walks from Box Hill and Westhumble Station and you’ll walk through Norbury Park, Mickleham Downs, Headley Heath and then reach the top of Box Hill itself. 

There’s a gentle gradient up around the hills with nothing too steep as you pass through the Nature Reserve of Norbury Park. Keep your eyes open for butterflies as the Box Hill area is famous for being home to around 40 species of butterflies! 

On reaching the top of Box Hill grab a spot of grass or a bench to sit on. The view from up here is pretty impressive and you can see the planes taking off and coming to land at Gatwick, as well as miles of rolling hills everywhere else. 

After finishing the loop you have the choice of doing some more walks around Box Hill, of looping back round to Box Hill and Westhumble Station or heading straight to Dorking. There isn’t too much difference in terms of distance. 

There are very detailed directions on this Box Hill hiking route here.

• Distance: 9.2 miles (15km)
• Duration: 3-4 hours 

Boxhill walk Surrey hiking London – summit

Hiking to the top of Box Hill from the train station means you’re in for a steep climb. It’s less than 2 miles to the top. Unless you’re really short on time and just want to walk Box Hill to the top I’d say skip this and do the circular route. 

Box Hill Stepping Stones walk

This walk starts from the Box Hill visitor center at the top of the hill. Follow the surfaced path from the visitor center and continue walking parallel to the road. Soon you’ll come to an impressive view from Salomon’s Memorial.

From here you’ll walk through Yew woods and see glimpses of the river Mole before coming out at the Stepping Stones across River Mole. There are two choices: you can take a bridge or you can tackle the Box Hill Stepping Stones and jump your way across the River Mole. 

After this, you’ll walk through Burford Meadow and see the wooded chalk cliffs known as the Whites before ending up by Box Hill Fort and the visitor center where you started.

This is a good walk for families since it’s not too long and has a fun bit in the middle for kids. 

Route directions here

• Distance: 2 miles (3.4km)
• Duration: 1.5 hours 

Box Hill restaurants and Box Hill cafes

There are lots of restaurants and cafes near Box Hill which are perfect for refueling after, or during, a nice walk.

We went to The Tree on Box Hill during our Box Hill circular walk (to turn it into a Box Hill pub walk) and came out absolutely stuffed on a Sunday Lunch Carvery. Unfortunately it’s now closed.

King William IV, Mickleham

One of the popular Box Hill pubs, this is another good lunchtime spot on the Box Hill circular walking route. It has a good selection of local beers as well as home-cooked food. It served food until 2 pm Monday-Saturday and all afternoon on Sundays. There’s also a terraced garden if the weather is nice.

The Running Horses, Mickleham

Another of the popular pubs in Box Hill, this is a good alternative if the above is full and pretty similar in terms of food, drinks and pricing.  Does a good Sunday lunch.

National Trust Visitor Centre Cafe

Good option if you’ve done the Stepping Stones walk at Box Hill or are just in need of some cake and ice-cream! There’s lots of seating both indoors and outdoors. 

Ryka’s Cafe

This cafe is open until 6 pm on weekends and serves lots of different food and drink. It’s popular with motorbikes and you’ll pass it on the way back to the station on the circular route. 

Getting from London to Box Hill

Wondering how to get to Box Hill from London? Getting to the Box Hill train station from London is very easy. The closest Box Hill station is the appropriately named ‘Box Hill and Westhumble Train Station’.

At the time we lived in South London and caught the train from Vauxhall to Box Hill and Westhumble Station which takes about 45 minutes. You can also get the train from Victoria Station. 

You can book trains online in advance by using TheTrainline.com which makes it super easy to plan your journey ahead of time!

The great thing about most of the Box Hill hikes is that you can begin the Box Hill walks from the station. This is exactly what we did with this Box hill walk from the train station to the pub and back! 

Last Updated on August 9, 2024 by Hannah