The North Downs Way National Trail is a 130 mile (208km) between the high downland of Farnham and the historic city of Dover on the Kent coast. The route is described in 11 day stages from west to east with an optional detour via Canterbury.
Step-by-step route descriptions are fully illustrated with colour photographs and extracts from OS 1:50,000 mapping for every stage. The guidebook comes with a separate map booklet of 1:25,000 scale OS maps showing the full route of the North Downs Way. Clear step-by-step route descriptions in the guide link together with the map booklet at each stage along the Way, and the compact format is conveniently sized for slipping into a jacket pocket or the top of a rucksack.
The North Downs Way is one of the easier national trails with a modest number of steep (but short) ascents and descents and long sections with no noticeable height gain or loss. Several historic sites including Neolithic burial chambers, Roman roads and Norman churches are passed and much of the route follows The Pilgrims' Way.
A lifelong passion for the countryside in general, and mountains in particular, drives Kev Reynolds' desire to share his sense of wonder and delight in the natural world through his writing, photography and lectures. Claiming to be The Man with the World's Best Job, he has enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Cicerone since the 1970s, producing more than 50 books, including guides to major trekking regions of Nepal, and to numerous routes in the Alps and Pyrenees, as well as walking guides for Kent, Sussex and the Cotswolds. His collection of autobiographical short stories, A Walk in the Clouds, is a record of 50 years of mountain travel and adventures, while Abode of the Gods tells of eight of his many trekking expeditions in the Himalaya. The Mountain Hut Book, on the other hand, is a celebration of those alpine refuges perched in remote places, brought to life through joyful tales and exciting photographs.
Kev is an honorary life member of the Outdoor Writers' and Photographers' Guild (OWPG),and an honorary member of both SELVA (the Société d'Etudes de la Littérature de Voyage Anglophone) and the British Association of International Mountain Leaders (BAIML). When not away in the mountains, he lives with his wife in view of what he calls 'the Kentish Alps' with unrestricted walking country on his doorstep. But he also travels throughout Britain and abroad during the winter months to share his love of the places he writes about through a series of lectures.
Pretty good overview of the North Downs Way - what’s there, what to expect. There’s also a map guide at the end which may be useful if using the paper copy (I read on Kindle so not much use).
As always with this kind of thing, useful if you have a need for it, not at all interesting if you don’t.