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ACCOMMODATION

The route guide (Part 4) lists a comprehensive selection of places to stay along the full length of the trail and often in each town or village there are a number of options. The three main types are camping, staying in hostels/bunkhouses, or using B&Bs/hotels. In the ever-more populated and prosperous south-east low-cost accommodation is increasingly hard to find. Proximity to London, soaring property values and a healthy demand for rooms from business travellers drives prices up.

Camping
It isn't possible to camp all along the North Downs Way and few people probably would anyway – there is always the temptation to have a hot bath in a cosy B&B and rest your head on a feather pillow. You will be carrying a heavier pack and this can slow you down and could add an extra day and additional costs to your walk. you'll have to buy breakfast and won't have the fuel which a full English breakfast provides and you might buy more snacks and energy boosters as a result.

While on other trails you could expect to pay anywhere from £2-6 per camper, on the North Downs Way organized sites can cost as much as £12 for a pitch. A number of sites are a fair distance from the trail though some owners may be willing to come and collect you from the trail. Some sites have no facilities, others have coin-operated showers and laundry whilst others are swish holiday parks with some tent spaces.

Wild camping Camping on land that is not a recognized campsite is possible along the route and I've met several people doing it but you must obtain the landowner's permission first. The amount of cultivated arable land in Kent reduces the number of potential sites and Surrey is very wooded so I�m told the most versatile set up is a bivvy bag or lightweight tarp.

Wild camping is not permitted on National Trust (NT) land – this will usually be signposted as you enter NT Land. Expect wardens to be particularly alert to campers in Surrey where there have been problems with raves in the past. Wild camping is not for the faint hearted and you'll be carrying extra gear but it does add a sense of freedom and adventure. See also p59.

Camping barns/bunkhouses and hostels
There are two camping barns along the North Downs Way: one at Puttenham (see p72) and one at Coldblow Farm (see p142). These provide comfortable accommodation either on foam-lined wooden sleeping platforms or a bunk bed, with showers and electricity on meter and a basic kitchen facility. A sleeping bag is essential. Puttenham opened in April 2005 in a restored Grade II listed building and charges £9 per person. Booking is essential for both.

Youth hostels have come a long way since the days of crowded dorms and chores. Sadly only three Youth Hostel Association (YHA; tel 01629-592700, web www.yha.org.uk) hostels on this trail remain open: Tanners Hatch (see p92), Canterbury (see p164) and Dover (see p180); Kemsing (see box above) has just been closed. Holmbury St Mary Youth Hostel (see p88) lies a good distance off the trail but you can get to it by bus. Tanners Hatch at Ranmore Common is busier than ever.

The downsides of YHA hostels are that opening hours are often limited, the beds in the dorms tend to be short, so if you're tall you'll spend the night with your feet dangling off the end, and the chances are you'll end up next to a Vesuvial snorer so bring ear plugs. You don't have to be a member of the YHA to stay at their hostels but you will pay an additional £3 per night.

Membership is currently £15.95 per year (£9.95 for under 18s); if you pay by direct debit it's usually a bit less. You can book hostels online on the YHA website (see above) or by either calling the central reservations number (tel 0870-770 8868), or the hostel direct.

There is a Y Centre (formerly YMCA) in Guildford providing very good accommodation at B&B prices and an excellent independent hostel, Kipps (see p165), in Canterbury, with prices from £14 and it has additional tent pitches.

B&Bs
The B&B is a British institution. Although normally a reserved nation, you're welcomed into people's homes as a guest, provided with a comfortable bed (usually) and sent on your way the next morning with an enormous full English breakfast – often bacon, sausages, eggs, sometimes baked beans, maybe black pudding, all fried and washed down with lashings of tea or coffee and of course accompanied by buttered toast and marmalade. it's great but two weeks of this and you're ready for the cardiac unit.

More and more B&Bs offer a lighter, kinder on the arteries, help yourself buffet breakfast of cereals, fruits, pastries and breads which comes as a welcome relief. Alternatively, and particularly if you are planning an early start, it may be worth asking if you can have a free packed lunch instead of breakfast.

Some B&Bs are charming, some luxurious, others are modest. Prices vary, the least expensive on this trail is £17.50 per person but reckon on spending at least £25-35 and up to £50 at the top end. The listings in this book concentrate on establishments close to the trail but you should be prepared to walk for up to a mile, sometimes more, descending off the North Downs ridge to the villages and towns below at the end of the day. Some B&Bs proudly display four stars, others no stars, some are vetted by Tourist Boards, for others it is a low-key sideline business. In my experience the number of stars is not a sure guide to quality and it'll all depend on how enthusiastic the owner is.

Rooms vary but in general you'll find few single rooms. Twin rooms usually have two single beds with a gap between the beds and a double room has one double bed but sometimes two single beds pushed together. Family rooms sleep at least three people – often a double and a single so check in advance if you would prefer three actual beds.

More and more B&Bs offer en suite facilities; these are often squeezed into the corner of an already tight room. It can take Houdini-like contortions to shower in a tiny cubicle fighting back a clinging shower curtain. Some B&Bs offer an evening meal, though often you need to book this in advance, and they may also make a packed lunch.

Owners may offer to collect walkers from the trail but do check when booking. it's an added service, so an offer to pay the petrol money will be appreciated. Your offer will probably be refused but it's a courtesy that doesn't cost much. Increasingly B&Bs ban smoking on their premises so check when booking if this is likely to be important to you.

Rates quoted in this guide are per person in a single (sgl), double (dbl), twin (twin) or family room (fml). Often the solo walker will pay a supplement (�5-15) to occupy a double or twin room when a single isn't available.

Pubs/inns
Many walkers write off pubs as noisy and perhaps not offering the best in the way of B&B. That's not been my experience. True they're sometimes less personal, but no worse for that and often a great deal less precious about muddy boots. I've got to confess the Devil's at my elbow and it's difficult to resist the sybaritic pleasure of bed, bath, booze and board under one roof at the end of a long day's walk. Prices per person start at £25. If you want to get an early start the next day, do check that this is possible – landlords tend to keep late hours.

Hotels
Generally not considered the first choice of billet for walkers but if you want a touch of luxury at the end of the day and you can afford it there's no harm in spoiling yourself. There are several hotel options along the North Downs Way, some very upmarket. Quite a number of business travellers use hotels during the week so you'll probably find some discounted rates at the weekend at several hotels on the trail.

FOOD AND DRINK

Breakfast and lunch
Breakfast is usually included when staying at B&Bs though some owners and pubs offer bed-only rates in larger towns where there are breakfast options nearby.

Hosts can usually provide a packed lunch for an additional cost but let them know in advance, though, there is really no hardship in preparing your own lunch. If you buy local produce (see box opposite) so much the better. Details of lunch places, tea shops, pubs and eateries are in Part 4 but for an overview look at the Village and Town Facilities table on pp22-3. Always bring some food with you and don't rely on making it to a pub for lunch – country pubs usually finish food service by 3pm at the latest and frequently close for the afternoon.

Evening meals
There is nothing like a pint at the end of a day's walking and many of the pubs on the North Downs Way can trace their origins back to the 15th and 16th centuries. However, most are now owned by one or other of the drinks conglomerates but by and large retain their individual character thanks to a resident landlord. Many have – la carte restaurants as well as a bar menu, which is usually cheaper, and some have become ‘gastropubs’ serving restaurant quality food in a pub environment, but often at near restaurant prices.

There is a wide choice of restaurants and takeaways in the larger villages and towns from Italian to Indian, burger joints to modern British, Asian fusion to fast food. Of course the Great British culinary institution, the fish ‘n’ chip shop, can also be found along the route – there's even one serving up deep-fried Mars Bars (see p166) – a culinary rarity down south.

Camping supplies
There are plenty of shops along the North Downs Way for you to buy food and there are outdoor shops in Farnham, Guildford, Dorking, Redhill, Canterbury and Dover where you can get gas and other essential camping supplies.

Drinking water
There are no drinking-water fountains along the North Downs Way so take plenty of water with you each day – at least a one-litre bottle or a pouch. I usually get through two in a day making sure to drink regularly before I get thirsty and dehydrated. There are five rivers on this walk and drinking water from those is not recommended. Even if you do purify the water using a filter or iodine tables you will not succeed in removing heavy metals or pesticides present from run-off from roads and agricultural use.

Luckily there are many tea shops, pubs and refreshment kiosks within easy access of the North Downs Way so buying bottles of water should not be a problem. You could always just ask the owner if they'd mind filling up your water bottle from the tap.

WHEN TO GO

Seasons
The old joke is Britain doesn't have a climate; it has weather and if you don't like it just wait five minutes. Walking the North Downs Way can be enjoyed year-round as long as you dress suitably and take it for granted that even in summer there may be parts of the trail that are muddy. However, severe conditions of heat, cold or rain seldom last for long.

You may get wet on the North Downs but you're unlikely to perish. Temperatures seldom dip below 0?C in winter or above 32?C in summer and the south-east tends to have the highest temperatures and the greatest number of sunshine hours in Britain. In summer it tends to be slightly cooler by the coast because the sea takes longer to heat up. Conversely in winter it takes longer for the sea to cool so it's milder by the coast because of the warming effect of the sea.

Spring
This is a great time of year for stands of bluebells and spring wild flowers along the Surrey sections of the North Downs Way. With the first leaf growth coming on there is a tapestry of green before the views become obscured later in the year. it's difficult to predict the weather from year to year but there's often a settled period of fine weather around mid-May. The trail is generally quiet but gets busier around the Easter and May holidays. Days are getting longer and temperatures are rising, pubs open beer gardens and a few brave souls turn their minds to BBQs.

Summer
June can start unsettled and blustery but later in the season it can get very hot on the Downs; we've had some scorching days in the past few years. Fortunately much of the Surrey section is wooded so while you may miss the views the worst of the heat is taken by the trees. The open fields of Kent can be like outdoor ovens so bring plenty of water with you. Expect the trail to be busier and you'll be competing for accommodation with other holidaymakers and those on their way across the Channel. With early dawns and long days there's little need to rush on the trail though you may find it dusty across the Kent arable fields as the farmers gather in the harvest.

Autumn
The weather is generally settled early in the season and everything seems to slow down after the August Bank Holiday. Children are back at school, holidays are over and it's easier to find accommodation. September is a wonderful time to walk. There can be crisp bright days with a slight chill in the air and later the vivid autumn colours emerge as the leaves begin to change and the nights start to draw in. Farmers will be ploughing so you can expect some tough-going over recently ploughed fields especially if it's been raining.

Winter
There is nothing like a bright, clear, frosty day to admire the views from the North Downs’ ridgeline and we often get a spell of weather like that early in the New Year. But it's wet, relatively mild, damp days that are the norm. With good waterproofs there is nothing to hold you back from walking the North Downs even if it's a bit dispiriting. With the leaves off the trees the views on a clear day are uninterrupted. Most pubs and B&Bs remain open as their business here is year-round so it will be easier to find accommodation but do make sure you get an early start each day as the nights draw in quickly.

TEMPERATURE

Temperatures are pleasantly warm during the summer and generally seldom drop below 0?C in the south-east in winter.

RAINFALL

Rain falls in every month of the year and is highest in winter as expected. England is affected by weather systems coming from the south-west containing a lot of rain.

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