Botley Hill

The walk up Botley Hill from Warlingham takes about twenty minutes and rewards you with one of the better viewpoints across the North Downs. You're standing at 879 feet, which doesn't sound much until you realise how much of Surrey and beyond spreads out below you - London's skyline visible on clear days, the South Downs rising up further south. It's a proper Surrey spot: open downland, a few mature trees, wind that tends to pick up as you climb.

Walkers get the most from this one. There's no visitor centre, no café, no facilities whatsoever - just the path, the grass, and the view. Families with young children might find it a bit of a plod getting up there for limited entertainment once you arrive, but teenagers who can manage a gentle slope without complaining will absolutely get it. Allow an hour return trip from the nearest car park.

The real value sits in combining it with a proper walk across the Downs - it's not a destination in itself, more a waypoint on something longer. Free, obviously. Summer weekends draw the obvious crowds, so weekday mornings feel considerably less busy.

If you're based at Milberry Green Meadows, Botley Hill makes a genuinely useful afternoon sortie - close enough to feel like a proper outing without eating your entire day. Alderstead Heath Caravan and Motorhome Club Campsite, five miles away, sits equally convenient. Neither location feels far from proper Downland walking, which is really the point out here.