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Good sightseeing and lunch stop for tomorrow between Dover & Kew Gardens

Good sightseeing and lunch stop for tomorrow between Dover & Kew Gardens

Old Jul 26th, 2011, 11:38 AM
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Good sightseeing and lunch stop for tomorrow between Dover & Kew Gardens

I have left this until late but thought maybe I would get lucky with all the knowledgeable folks here at Fodors. We are staying in Dunkirk tonight and taking the car ferry to Dover tomorrow morning. WE will be driving to Richmond to stay tomorrow night and then will visit the Kew Gardens the next day. I know the direct route takes us through Ashford and Maidstone. Are there any must stop villages are places to see on our route? And any suggestions for places to make a lunch stop somewhere from Ashford to Maidstone would also be welcome. I think both places a kind of large so we are happy to stop in a smaller more car friendly place if possible!

Thanks in advance. We are hoping to do better than a rest stop restaurant at least.
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Old Jul 26th, 2011, 02:34 PM
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There are soooo many places to stop -- just depends on what you are in the mood for.

Dover Castle of course.

But farther along your route are places like Leeds Castle (not my Fav) just outside Maidstone, Knoll and Chartwell just off the M25, and Hever just south of Chartwell. All of the above have cafes on site.
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Old Jul 26th, 2011, 02:52 PM
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Have a look at this place http://www.secretgardenkent.co.uk/ with easy access to M20
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Old Jul 26th, 2011, 02:53 PM
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You could add Penshurst Place, near Hever Castle, to Janis's list.
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Old Jul 30th, 2011, 01:31 AM
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Thanks so much for all the suggestions! We lost internet contact before I could see these, but ended up having a wonderful lunch out in the country about 20 minutes from Maidstone at a place called the Mulberry Tree:

www.themulberrytreekent.co.uk/

It was quite good-they place an emphasis on local and organic foods. They bake their own bread and have the flour milled locally for them at on old mill. It was a bit chilly for an outside lunch-but it was lovely looking out-they have a mother cat who just had 5 new born kittens-so we enjoyed watching them frolic around. The menu was very nice with both a fixed price option and an open menu. All in all a great find.

But all your terrific suggestions will hold us in good stead since we are coming back to the same ferry departure point in Dover. I just made a lunch reservation at the secret garden for lunch the day we will be down in that area-so thanks again
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Old Aug 9th, 2011, 07:52 AM
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So we did stop and have dinner at the Secret Garden on our way back to Dover. The meal was terrific and as it turns out they are very familiar with the Mulberry Tree since they are both in the running annually for awards for the best locally procduced food in Kent. So thanks so much braaiseason for the suggestion!

Also, for lunch we stopped in Bath and wanted to eat a bit light in anticipation the dinner to come later on and we read about a vegetarian place called Demuths:

http://www.demuths.co.uk/about/introduction/

It was terrific-probably the best food we had during our ten days in England. And I am a pretty dedicated carnivore! Everything was really really fresh, lovely looking and inventive. Definitely worth a stop if you are in Bath. They are connected to vegetarian cooking school, so next time I may plan a trip to be able to take a short course while I there.

Again, thanks for the great ideas!
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Old Aug 11th, 2011, 01:11 AM
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Glad to hear it was a great meal & worth the recommendation.

Now where do I get those smilies ?

:0)
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