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Kent driving tour?

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Elpenor

Haytor’s gonna hate
I want to do a little tour of Kent next week. I’ll be staying with my dad for a few days a few miles west of Ashford and I want to get out and about during the day as being retired he is quite a busy man and hasn’t got time to entertain me :D

Places I’ve thought of visiting - I have 3.5 days to fill:

Isle of Sheppey - fond memories of fossil collecting here as a kid, but what else is there to see?

Battle of Britain memorial which is between Folkestone and Dover

Botany Bay at Broadstairs.

Dungeness

Rye Harbour nature reserve

Any other suggestions?

I’m not going to be out during the evenings in these places as I have the filial duty of dining with my dad to perform.

I have a car, so getting about is fine to anywhere. I don’t have very good walking at present due to sciatica, so walking more than 10 minutes at a time is a challenge.
 
Driving through the Alkham valley between Dover and Folkestone is nice but doesn’t take too long but could be done enroute to Broadstairs.
Also enroute that way is Sandwich. Lovely town. Very pretty.
 
Fav spots close to you:

1. Folkestone clifftop walk
Park at Clifftop Cafe and walk towards Dover - turnaround and head back when bored
www.google.com

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
www.google.com www.google.com

Loads of killer views - inc France! Other highlights include bit of path cut into the cliff with a hand barrier
The military concrete sound mirror thing
Hougham Battery is a good point to turn around

I think Folkestone Harbour is well worth a visit too -lovely

2. Dungeness for sure

3. Rye Harbour and town

4. Stone Street (B2068) is a cool old straight Roman Road that runs to Canterbruy - worth a drive down if youre heading anywhere that way
www.google.com

Stone St

www.google.com www.google.com

4. Rent a kayak or canoe from Canoe Wild, or just walk along the Great Stour

5. North Kent coast highlight is Reculver for me
 
Last edited:
The sound mirrors are great. Various coastal locations. Google them and choose ones you fancy, fit with other plans.

RHD railway is ace too. And Dungeness where it ends is unique.
 
Elpenor said:
Isle of Sheppey - fond memories of fossil collecting here as a kid, but what else is there to see?
Click to expand...
I drove to Shellness in the summer, that's got to be one of worst "roads" in the UK, nearly shook my car to bits. I think they keep it like that to keep tourists away from their little private enclave.

I think this photo sums it up.
shellness-private-estate-near-leysdown-isle-of-sheppey-kent-uk-male-E4C9K2.jpg
 
Elpenor said:
I want to do a little tour of Kent next week. I’ll be staying with my dad for a few days a few miles west of Ashford and I want to get out and about during the day as being retired he is quite a busy man and hasn’t got time to entertain me :D

Places I’ve thought of visiting - I have 3.5 days to fill:

Isle of Sheppey - fond memories of fossil collecting here as a kid, but what else is there to see?

Battle of Britain memorial which is between Folkestone and Dover

Botany Bay at Broadstairs.

Dungeness

Rye Harbour nature reserve

Any other suggestions?

I’m not going to be out during the evenings in these places as I have the filial duty of dining with my dad to perform.

I have a car, so getting about is fine to anywhere. I don’t have very good walking at present due to sciatica, so walking more than 10 minutes at a time is a challenge.
Click to expand...

There’s a small BoB museum at Hawkinge. I went many years ago but it was an interesting little place.

www.kbobm.org

The worlds largest Battle of Britain collection of memorabilia, Artefacts from over 700 crashed aircraft on display.

The worlds largest Battle of Britain collection of memorabilia, Artefacts from over 700 crashed aircraft on display.
www.kbobm.org www.kbobm.org
 
Thanks all. Some great ideas here. I do like a nice scenic drive so Alkham valley sounds a good shout, as do the sound mirrors. Hopefully my legs will allow me to walk enough to get about.

Reculver I would like to take a look at. Never been but did some work experience with an archaeologist who did a lot of the excavating back in the 60s.

Will definitely ride the railway. The last time I was at Dymchurch I ran a marathon along the sea wall.

Sandwich, Canterbury and Deal I’ve been to quite recently so won’t revisit.
 
Elpenor said:
I want to do a little tour of Kent next week. I’ll be staying with my dad for a few days a few miles west of Ashford and I want to get out and about during the day as being retired he is quite a busy man and hasn’t got time to entertain me :D

Places I’ve thought of visiting - I have 3.5 days to fill:

Isle of Sheppey - fond memories of fossil collecting here as a kid, but what else is there to see?

Battle of Britain memorial which is between Folkestone and Dover

Botany Bay at Broadstairs.

Dungeness

Rye Harbour nature reserve

Any other suggestions?

I’m not going to be out during the evenings in these places as I have the filial duty of dining with my dad to perform.

I have a car, so getting about is fine to anywhere. I don’t have very good walking at present due to sciatica, so walking more than 10 minutes at a time is a challenge.
Click to expand...
i think you can drive most of the clifftop walk....
for example here is the sound mirror
https://www.google.com/maps/place/A...7ffccab1d4be1b3c!8m2!3d51.1017105!4d1.2436183
https://www.google.com/maps/place/A...7ffccab1d4be1b3c!8m2!3d51.1017105!4d1.2436183

you can see the road alongside - not sure what access is like to it though, but pretty sure ive seen the odd car there
 
ska invita said:
Thinking about drives: from the castle driving Upper Road down to St Margaret's Bay is a nice bit of road with a dramatic decent into St Ms Bay with big car park on the beach
Click to expand...

St Margarets Bay is lovely but empty and also has the longest and tiniest road down to it.

Also, if you go there your phone will go to a French mobile signal, so if you're on a contract you'll atteact roaming charges. Which is mad
 
My recollection of Kent is that it is all a bit bigger than it seems: everything takes longer than you thought.

Also (adapted Kenneth Williams joke) you can never forget where you are because locals will shout the name of the county as you speed through their villages.
 
Whitstable is an excellent little town. Lovely mix of working seaside town with a lively tourist scene.
 
There's a beach next to Folkestone called the Warren, which is my favourite beach. Fossils, sea glass, some kind of WWII dock or something and you get Spitfires flying over regularly. We go at least once a week. It's a bit tricky to find, down a Eurotunnel service road but take the right down the hill once you've found the little road and you can usually park there. Otherwise it's a bit of a walk.


You can park up in Folkestone right on the harbour, or up at the Leas, and there are plenty of benches there overlooking the Channel.
 
Tenterden is a very charming little town. While there, there is the Kent and East Sussex Railway which goes down to Bodiam, with its castle.
If you go near Ashford the Brogdale Farm is worth a visit.
 
If you like quaint little historic villages then the area around Tenterden/Biddenden/Headcorn is really nice. Lots of places with historic old cottages and pubs.
 
Monkeygrinder's Organ said:
If you like quaint little historic villages then the area around Tenterden/Biddenden/Headcorn is really nice. Lots of places with historic old cottages and pubs.
Click to expand...
My dad lives bang in the middle of this area so I know it well.
Maggot said:
Rye Harbour Nature Reserve is good, but I wouldn't recommend as it involves lots of walking.
Click to expand...
I was hoping I could at least make it as far as the new visitor centre, and then to the Bosuns Bite for some food. They do a decent FEB there.

Thanks all, some great suggestions here, I’ve done a few already in the last few years, so I know they’re good.It’s unusual for me to have a few days down there when I haven’t got things to do so I’ve got lots of things to fill my next visit. I don’t think I’ve been to Rye since 1994 for a school trip so I should really plan to go. Folkestone I loved hearing about in the radio 4 WW1 drama “Home Front”, so a look around there too sounds good.

Will see if my Dad has an English heritage / NT card I can pinch, though it’s probably a pensioner one.
 
Bit specialist; the lifeboat museum at Chatham Dockyard. I think you can do a call the midwife tour there.
 
Bear in mind because of the M20 you can get to Folkestone in no time, while Whitstable for example would be quite a trek I'd say, even though as the crow flies they aren't that different. In Folkestone you can admire the harbour and Leas Cliff and the Warren and the process of planned gentrification through the arts with the aim of raising property prices :). Agree that the Alkham Valley route Folkestone to Dover is nice. You could do that in one direction, the clifftop route with stops in the other direction. The other way up the M20 it will be easy to get to Leeds Castle, if you like that sort of thing, though Dover has the more properly castley castle. I'd recommend Rye, and you can get there by train from Ashford if you're tired of driving. And recommend seeing some of the High Weald area for the scenery - Tenterden and beyond. I don't rate Dungeness myself but if you like bleak flat places with nuclear power stations it will suit you.
 
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