Kent
 

Hello again--Can the Master Travelers out there tell me everything they know about Kent? Much Obliged, bmk

More than you probably can use. What sorts of things do you want to know?

From a tourist perspective or are you relocating?

If a tourist, where are you staying? when? for how long?

what sorts of things interest you?

Not lacking hubris Janis?

Oh well Janis can cut and paste with the best of them

Visit Kent | Official Kent Tourism & Travel Website For Kent Tourists
Kent Tourism Website - The garden of England, English countryside at its best. ... England, UK Project part-financed by the European Union ...
www.visitkent.co.uk/

While the other(s) continue to squabble, I could say that Kent has some marvellous places to visit.

My favourites would all be obvious - Dover Castle (I could spend all day there), Rochester and Hever Castles, Canterbury. Kent also has some very pleasant scenery.

The Wikipedia entry is also a useful place to find information (less biased than VisitKent)

bobbymckaye: My point was - I have spent a LOT of time in Kent (as have others) and we can help you. But we can really help you more if we know a bit about what sort of info you are looking for.

PQ - how childish! The OP asked a very broad question and I am trying to help him narrow it down. You contributed exactly what sort of useful info? (huh - where did I cut and paste???)

PalenQ - your weary cynicism is getting a bit old and tired. janisj consistently offers some of the best advice on this website.

bobbymckaye - the more you can tell us about yourself, travel expectations and/or restraints, the more helpful we can be.

Kent and East Sussex are also two of my favourite places. As well as the places willit mentions, you could consider: Rye, Chartwell, Sissinghurst, Knole, Groombridge Gardens, Walmer Castle & Gardens, Ightham Mote, Bateman's, and the 1066 area around Battle. The village of Pluckley is supposed to be one of the most haunted villages in England, and Beachy Head (in Sussex) is spectacular.

Add Penshurst Place, home of Sir Philip Sydney, to the list. It's a nice contrast to the huge Knole House. Ightham Mote is also interesting.

A good place to stay is The Rose & Crown in Tonbridge, a nice little town.

Thanks rickmav, but I think it is hopeless. :(

Here are a couple of posts from the OP's other thread. While I really like Kent/East Sussex (REALLY like the area) - for what bobbymckaye is looking for, I honestly think somewhere w/ better connections to LHR would work out better . . . . .

<font color="blue">Author: flanneruk
Date: 08/11/2008, 01:50 pm
Well, in your shoes, I wouldn't go to Kent. Getting there from Heathrow involves crossing London: most of it's commuter territory, so by the time you've got to the uncommuter bit, you've been 2-3 hours in some form or other of train or tube. I have to admit to a bit of prejudice: I personally find a lot of Kent, even 60 miles from London, a wee bit suburban. There are interesting - even rather wild - areas (like round Romney Marsh), but they're not quite my idea of the archetype rolling English hills,

I'd get the bus from Heathrow to Reading station, then one of the the direct trains to the Cotswolds or thereabouts. Get off at Moreton in Marsh or Castle Cary.

Or the bus from Heathrow to Woking, then the train to the New Forest. Brockenhurst's the handiest station (specialises in renting bikes out).

All three of these destinations have slick direct trains into London for the second half of your trip.


Author: janisj
Date: 08/11/2008, 04:01 pm
I agree 100%. Kent is lovely but mostly for castles and gardens - for the most part not really pretty walking country. W/ a car and several days you can see a lot though.

I'd pick either the New Forest or the Cotswolds for 1) easier access to LHR, and 2) nicer walks.

I notice now you are the poster w/ the new thread about Kent . . . .

The New Forest would be amazing for what you want. Walks in the New Forest, Bucklers Hard village, Beaulieu, and even a day trip over on the ferry to the Isle of Wight w/ some terrific walks.

Or of course - the Cotswolds based from Moreton-in-Marsh is nothing BUT great walks every which direction.

Either would be preferable to Kent if you are arriving at LHR
</font>

people are telling you loads of good things about Kent, but bits of it are minging - mainly the bits near London and the Isle of Sheppey. These are as grim as it gets.

Isn't this true of all counties?

Even near pefection is spoilt by Aldershot !

Another vote for the New Forest area....love it.....but in a few weeks' time I'll be in Kent anyway....family research around Mersham &amp; Elham....and I'll take in Hevers, Scotney or Bodiam Castles, maybe a garden or two.....basing ourselves at Rye....Rupert Bear Museum at Canterbury!!?? (Last time we did Winnie the Pooh at Ashdown Forest....or is that Surrey? Never mind, it's all good).

Kent does have some fine walks, especially along Pilgrim's Way from the outskirts of London all the way to Canterbury, over a course medieval pilgrim's took going to Canterbury Cathedral, then one of Christiandom's holy shrines.

I've done most parts of this walk and it's as nice as any walk i've taken - follows a ridge much of the way - parts are on very narrow minor roads such as the part just before Canterbury via Painter's Forestall.

I'd say this area of Kent is as bucolic as any in southern England - rolling hills, conical oast houses, hop fields, old houses, etc. I rode my bike over this region for ten years and it's as scenic as about any part of lower England.

Chilham Castle is just off the route and it is a neat castle and castle town that is often overlooked.

I've been racking my brains over this because in an earlier thread the OP specifically said they wanted an area close to London with nice walks. Trouble is, most of the home counties areas immediately adjacent to the capital are either very suburban, or if rural, only in a very agricultural boring flat-fields-of-rapeseed kind of way.

There are some nice coastal walks all around North Norfolk, but I'm guessing that's too far away based on the original criteria. The nicer parts of Kent are also a fair old trek from central London. Plus the OP has said (I think) that the visit is scheduled for Oct, when the weather, though unlikely to be very cold, might not be that dry and bright.

I quite like the East Sussex suggestion, with some nice forested areas, a few decent castles, and the seaside not too far away.

The original question was about Essex and there is the Colne Valley area with the railway and a couple of castles (Framlingham just over the border in Suffolk is one of them). Quite a pretty area...

Kent has the North Downs way, very nice. North Kent is a bit of a grot-bag place to be honest. It starts getting nice halfway down - and then you'll find some really beautiful areas. If you have a car to get off the beaten track then there are some lovely villages.

Sevenoaks is another lovely small town, useful as a base, perhaps? Right near Knole House (fascinating place-referenced above...)

rickmav - i agree that Janis is a font of knowledge about Britain - recently i actually said i thought she must be British because only a Brit could know so much about Britain. That said she started attacking me for no apparent reason some time ago, charging me with 'plagiarizing and always cutting and pasting' - a bogus charge as i told her several times yet she persists in attacking me. Hopefully she will leave me along and i'll let her alone - i am mystified why she continually attacked me and thus .... well you know. But enough i agree - hopefully she will stop.

PQ: &quot;<i> . . . . charging me with 'plagiarizing and always cutting and pasting' . . . . </i>&quot;

Be fair. I apologized for the <u>plagiarizing</u> bit long ago. But you just keep bringing it up. Every time I disagree w/ you about trains, rail passes or anything else, it becomes a personal snub of some sort.

And to be more fair - you do copy/paste lots of things from the media to start your many threads . . . . .

So: plagiarizing - no.
copy/paste- continually

and what is wrong with copying and pasting to start a thread - i always attribute the source - but you know well that you've accused me constantly of copying and pasting everything - things i've wholly written, etc without any proof. I do not mind if you disagree at all. Just the bogus charge of copying and pasting like you claimed i always do - like i never write anything of my own which is very very unfair. Enough said, others are right, time to drop it on my part. I'll drop it - disagree with me all you want, of course and that's as it should be. Peace and cheers. You are a fantastic source of tremendous knowledge on Britain and Fodorites are lucky to have you aboard.

The north downs way from canterbury to dover is very nice. Its either a long (~20miles) day walk or a comfortable 2 day walk with bit of sightseeing thrown in. I overnighted in Oast Cottage near Shepherdswell.

Other nice day/weekend walks within easy reach of London (not in Kent though) include the Clarendon way from Salisbury to Winchester and the Ridgeway between Avebury and Marlborough.

The norfolk coastal path starting near Hunstnton is also great for weekend walking. Not many rolling hills, but fantastic long and wide sandy beaches that are practically deserted 500m away from the parking lots.

Windsor to Richmond is sort of nice, in a 'lets-gawk-at-the-rich-people' kind of way.

I'm sure there are loads of others (books and books of them), but i can personlly vouch for those above.

The Isle of Sheppey can be fun though, as a day trip from London or some Kent base. Sheerness, the main city is an old seaside resort with a nice path along the Thames Estatuary - the city has a weather-beaten and yeh down at its heels look and is a time trip back to the 50s

I took the train there and you change at Sittingbourne to a shuttle train that goes across a big lift (i think) bridge to the island proper

Near the terminus station there is a large super store for picnic supplies

No not the most scenic place but a kinky one that is something different from the same ole same ole

The Isle of Sheppey can be fun though, as a day trip from London or some Kent base. &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;

Not by any normal definition of &quot;fun&quot; it can't. It's full of wrong 'uns.

I had fun, thus Sheerness at least can be fun. Granted most tourists would not consider it fun a'tall but a dump. I like dumps. As i remember there is a huge steel works or something right by the train station and a working port. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

The Cinque Ports - or five old royal ports i believe are old towns once on the sea but now in cases silted up - Sandwich is one of these and makes a good base from which to hop to several neat nearby places.
Famous for the Earl of Sandwich association whose name is now known around the world for the sandwich, this rather small but old town sits a few miles inland. Nearby is Ramsgate, still an active port and Broadstairs, where Charles Dickens' house or something to do with him is there, i think but not totally sure, the town appears in some of his novels and then Margate, still a fairly thriving seaside resort popular on weekends and esp bank holiday weekends with Londoners. (I was there one bank holiday weekend and the place was mobbed with seriously partying younger folk - young 'birds' running around pubs with hats that said &quot;I'm a certified alcoholic, buy me a drink&quot;). Margate has the usual tacky clutter of seaside resorts - Bingo parlour, greasy cafes, taudry pubs, 'rock' and eels for sale, and a general down-market look and feel.

and you need not have a car to go to any of these places as the trains go constantly along the coast from Sandwich to all these places.

Canterbury also makes a great base and trains run in a few minutes from there to all these eclectic places of interest.

vvvvhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinque_Ports

Margate and Ramsgate are both fairly grim. True Ramsgate is undergoing some regeneration, particularly around the harbour, but I still wouldn't recommend either of them to visitors.

GREAT WALKING FROM SANDWICH TO DEAL

This part of Kent also has some of the most thrilling walks in England to me - especially the coast cliff-hugging path from Sandwich to nearby Deal, another historic seaside town.

An unusual part of the walk goes on a footpath from Sandwich that actually goes right along a part of fabled sea- and cliff-side Royal St George's Golf Course, which periodically hosts the British Open. (We actually ended up by mistake on the course, dodging golf balls so pay attention.)
This 'ramble' follows the cliff's edge, but from a safe distance - be sure to heed the warning signs at places that warn that the cliffs there could crumble. Eventually the path, going up rather steeply if i remember from Sandwich, crests to a fine view over the English Channel (but you can't see the Chunnel, of course) and then descends to Deal, a fading former mini seaside resort with a few bingo-esque remainders of days gone by.
These seaside and cliff-side walks are always a favorite of mine no matter where in Britain they are.
Walmer Castle is on the edge of Deal - and this seaside blockhouse like thing is rather famous. Again in Deal, or even by Walmer Castle, you can hop trains to anywhere in Kent.

Sandwich, Kent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sandwich is a historic town in Kent, south-east England. ... Sandwich has two world-class golf courses, Royal St George's which hosts The Open Championship ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandwich,_Kent

WALMER CASTLE
From Deal wide cycle and footpaths go along the sea a mile or so to Walmer Castle, one of England's trove of unique and historic castles - in this case more of a fort as Walmer Castle was built by Henry VIII as one of a string of coastal defenses and evolved into an artillery bastion defending the coast.

It later became the residence of the Lords of the Cinque Ports with such lords as William Pitt and the Duke of Welling (who resided here 23 years) - In the castle itself is a Wellington Museum with lots of artifacts and a pair of original Wellies - or Wellington Boots as this ubiquitous English walking thru mud boot has become to be called.

The Queen Mum also stayed here frequently and there is a garden in her memory that is open - the garden being given to her for her 95th birthday.

So for a great day of the Kentish Coast hop trains or cycle or ramble between towns like Broadstairs, Sandwich, Deal and Walmer Castle (there is a train station near the castle).

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/s...show/nav.14948

Broadstairs, where Charles Dickens' house or something to do with him is there, i think but not totally sure, the town appears in some of his novels &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;

He lived there - there's a museum to him. Also Bleak House is in broadstairs.

He almost annoys me as much as Jane Bloody Austen.

C-W is indeed correct, Charles Dickens did stay in Broadstairs. He wrote some of his books here and yes we have the Dickens House Museum, housed in the house he based Betsey Trottwood's home, in David Copperfield on. Bleak House is now a private home and not open to the public, but we have a very pretty beach &quot;Viking Bay&quot; and a High Street with enough little shops to provide for most needs, a small supermarket, for the picnic needs. What more can I say.

I live in Broadstairs.

The Dickens you say! Yes, I think seaside Broadstairs could make a perfect low-key base for the many things within a short train or car or bicycle ride away - are they ample B&amp;Bs like i would expect in a seaside town? Thanks for the info given above.

Broadstairs, Kent, England, is a small town with a population of about 22000 ...
www.btinternet.com/~pdbean/

DEAL - ST MARGARET'S AT CLIFFE - MARTIN MILL - DOVER

Big Deal! Well Deal is not all that much but a nice old seaside resort and the neat Walmer Castle so time to hike onto St Margaret's at Cliffe, which as its name implies is right where the famous White Cliffs of Dover begin - a tad before town. If i remember right you cannot walk from St Maggies up the cliffs themselves as there is a wall of rock at the southern edge of town - so you can walk inland to the Martin Mill train station - a few miles - where next to the station is one of those wondrous English rural pubs - the Ugly Duckling - an ancient looking pub with slanting floors, etc. It's known also for its fine pub grub. From Martin Mill you can hop frequent trains to Dover, which though far from being England's prettiest town, is certainly one of its most captivating - what with its still very active port with ferries coming and going to France and perched on the White Cliffs just above these hectic Eastern Docks, one of England's most awesome castles, Dover Castle.

TBC - A Look at Unusual Dover - Lots and lots to see and do in Kent IMO

Oops forgot to cut and paste Deal's entry in Wiki:

Deal is a town in Kent, England. It lies on the English Channel eight miles north-east of Dover. It is a small fishing community situated between Dover and ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deal,_Kent

I spend a lot of time walking in Kent, especially over the past couple of months. Favourite places include Wye (great walking country) Leeds Castle, Dungeness, Deal to Dover (with lunch at the Zetland Arms) and Penshurst.

Another option that hasn't been mentined is to head for the Chiltern Hills which is handy for LHR and London. There's great walking around the Princes Risborough/Wendover area.

Londonres - curious as to what route you took from Deal to Dover - can you go up the cliffs from St Margaret's - i was doubtful but not sure

and the view from the top of the Cliffs of Dover - awesome - can see France and similar cliffs on a clear day.

PalenQ - there are good steps down the cliff to the car park and beach, quite close to the public toilets. We tend not to eat at the Coastguard Inn at St Margaret's Bay as we've had a bad experience there. The Noel Coward cafe, up the road at the side of the pub and opposite the Pine Gardens, does really good food. Huge slabs of homemade cake which are impossible to finish if you've already had lunch at the Zetland Arms (Kingsdown).

I've just remembered a great place to stay in Wye, The Wife of Bath:

www.thewifeofbath.com

Possibilities in the Chilterns include:

www.rosecrowninn.co.uk
http://www.thecoppins.co.uk/

Hi y'all,

As a past resident of Kent I read this with fascination - so many places I never went to.

but have you noticed that the OP seems to have disappeared?

I diagnose a case of IO - information overload.

regards, ann

yes but once i got started on one of my favorite English places... well and i think i will use it for a separate post about &lt;Kent is Hopping&gt; or some such title - making rough draft here and other folks may be interested. so i'm not writing for OP but because of the fun of it.

And annhig - i have learnt some good stuff from folks like Londonres - about the St Margarets area hikes, etc.

It must be the heat here, because I am very confused. I realize we lost the original poster, but PalenQ, are you planning a trip to this area or is it that you've been before and are continuing to share and gain new information? And I don't get the remark about cutting and pasting - is that suppose to be a joke or ??? Isn't that what janisj accused you of and you objected? I think I need a drink.