Swanor one

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

Walked Northfleet to Swanscombe.
Route follows a signposted pedestrian and cycle route between the two stations.

With that in mind I did find some points where there were close encounters with traffic: passing through Ebbsfleet Business Park the path is shared with heavy vehicles accessing a scaffolding depot - no pavement so keep eyes peeled and ears alert; and approaching Swanscombe station the pavement disappears, so I had to cross the B road twice, both times blind due to foliage and parked cars, great care needed.
Because of these incidents I’ve knocked the star rating down. If this is the official signposted walking route I don’t want to think what an alternative would be like!

The long pedestrian/cycle bridge and path was fine apart from the lad on a large and fast electric bicycle taking no prisoners. It crosses HS1 just by Ebsfleet International station, so chance of a Eurostar sighting if you like that sort of thing.

Steep hill at Northfleet.
Definitely a keeper!.

Accurate and decent route.

Short and straightforward. Most is on a off-road joint bike/footpath route and you get glimpses through the trees of Tilbury port across the Thames.

Street lights all the way. Wheelchairs probably can't get through the motorbike barriers at either end of the foot/cycle way. Quite a steep street approaching Northfleet station and definitely no disabled access at Swanscombe station.

This is a short urban route between Gravesend and Northfleet train stations. It follows the path of a busy overcliff road for the majority of the walk. As such it is a noisy route with poor air quality. It also requires you cross a few fairly busy road junctions, though there are pedestrian crossings at all these points.

Access-wise the pavements are well maintained and have drop kerbs at most crossing points. For the majority of the walk the pavements are wide and free of obstructions, only narrowing at some points. You may also find cars parked onto the pavement at some points where the route passes through residential areas. Some overhanging vegetation was slightly overgrown at time of the review but it remained passable for most.

Due to the geography of this area there is little in the way of alternatives -- large chalk pits lie on either side of most of this route.

There are numerous refreshment points along the way, if needed. You will pass several small corner shops, a mid-size supermarket and a pub.

I walked this in the Gravesend to Northfleet direction on a clear winter night. At the time of the review the one ticket machine at Northfleet station had been vandalised and so not working.

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