Summer staycations: the best walks, villages and pubs in uncrowded Kent

While the crowds converge on Cornwall, Kent sits pretty in quiet seclusion – the perfect escape for a socially-distanced break. Sure, there are busy tourist sights, from Canterbury cathedral to the sunny strands at Margate, but there’s also the Kent only locals know about, with old-fashioned country pubs, tree-shaded trails and beaches that see more seagulls than sunbathers.

If you want to escape the city and evade the countryside crowds, this is one of the best places to do it. Here’s our pick of the best things to see and do in Kent.

Best pubs

The hop garden of England has pubs to spare. In the dainty village of Hollingbourne, the Dirty Habit is in tottering distance of Leeds Castle on the Pilgrims’ Way, with sourdough pizzas and sea bass with samphire to help the beers slide down. Monks used to stop in for ales and ciders as early as the 11th century.

Further south in Biddenden, the Three Chimneys is the definition of a cosy nook, with candle-lit, timber-clad corners where you can retreat with a pint of Kentish ale. It’s just a short hop from Sissinghurst Castle, the flamboyant garden cultivated by the bohemian writer Vita Sackville-West.

For outdoor drinking, the charmingly wonky Parrot – Canterbury’s oldest pub - was built in the 14th century over Roman foundations, with a hidden courtyard garden at the back. Alternatively, head out of Canterbury to the Dog in Wingham, a tasteful village retreat with inventive gastropub grub and Whitstable ales on tap.

Best beaches

Kent’s most famous strips of sand – Botany Bay, Viking Bay, Margate Main Sands – draw hordes of day trippers, but it’s easy to find a more secluded stretch of beach by heading along the cliffs. Pocket-sized Joss Bay and Kingsgate, just north of Broadstairs, were rumoured haunts of the 18th-century smuggler Joss Snelling, who managed to evade the king’s taxes, and prosecution, till the ripe old age of 89.

Better yet, head straight to Kent’s southern coast, where long, empty stretches of sand and shingle are the norm. At the Sandwich Bay estate south of Ramsgate, a £7 per car entry fee slows visitor numbers to a trickle on weekdays, making it easy to find an exclusive picnic pitch on a stretch of shoreline frequented by warblers, sandpipers and whimbrels.

Best village

Meandering lanes, flint-walled churches and hop drying sheds define Kent’s country villages. Pretty Biddenden has twin claims to fame – Graham Garrett’s Michelin-starred West House, serving imaginative takes on traditional English country fare, and the Biddenden Maids, conjoined twin sisters who set up a fund to feed the poor in the 12th century. The light-on-the-palate ciders produced by Biddenden Vineyards are another great reason to swing by.

Best family days out

Social distancing with children can be tricky, but Kent serves up plenty of uncrowded family fun. Wander south past the tidal paddling pool at Broadstairs to Louisa Bay and small holidaymakers can spend happy hours filling buckets with shrimps, crabs and tiddlers in the rock pools at low tide.

Find prehistoric sealife at the bottom of the cliffs at Beltinge, where the fossilised teeth of ancient sharks spill out from the mud in astonishing numbers; tack on the Saxon and Roman ruins at Reculver and you’ve got a day out fit for the Famous Five.

Best restaurants

As well as Biddenden’s highly-regarded West House, Michelin critics have doled out stars to the Sportsman in Seasalter, a once run-down seaside pub reinvented as a haven for seasonal Kent produce and locally netted seafood, and the Fordwich Arms, which cooks up a storm under the tutelage of Daniel Smith, former Observer Young Chef of the Year.

Best shopping

Antiques and bric-a-brac are Kent’s stock in trade, and the Whitstable Bends hosts one of the best open-air boot fairs in the southeast, with the odd genuine treasure cropping up amongst the chipped crockery.

Margate has the delightfully ramshackle Scott’s Furniture Mart – with a one-way system to help with social distancing as you navigate the maze of stacked dressers and Victoriana – while dealers at Ramsgate’s Petticoat Lane Emporium sell everything from WWII bayonets to vintage leather jackets.

Best cycling

Green, pleasant and dotted with country pubs, the Kent countryside was made for cycling, and the Crab & Winkle Way offers a chlorophyll-filled back-route from Canterbury to Whitstable, traversing the ancient Blean Woods. Use it as a warm up for the Viking Coastal Trail, a 32-mile loop linking Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate.

Best walking

Despite ending at the white cliffs of Dover, the North Downs have never achieved the same recognition as the South Downs, which means fewer walkers in this stunningly green Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The North Downs Way traces an ancient pilgrim trail that once led all the way to Rome, with jaw-dropping sea views on the section from Wye to Dover.

Best culture

Canterbury Cathedral is, unsurprisingly, Kent’s top attraction, but even with social distancing measures in place, you won’t find many quiet corners. A short drive west, Leeds Castle (yes, they know it’s not in Leeds) has an achingly picturesque lakeside setting, and oodles of empty space in its 500 acres of grounds.

Back on the coast, Margate balances the ‘kiss me quick’ hats with the agreeably cultured Turner Contemporary gallery. The interesting exhibitions are rarely mobbed, and passing ships viewed through the picture windows almost morph into the paintings Turner created on his retreats here in the 1820s.

Best tipples

All those oast-houses are there for a reason. Kent has dozens of breweries making crisp English ales from the county’s hops (I rate Ramsgate Brewery and Angels & Demons). Most brewery tours are temporarily suspended, so head to local beer gardens to drink at a distance; try the Captain Digby at Kingsgate or the Coastguard at St Margaret’s Bay for stunning sea-cliff views.

Best fish and chips

No visit to the British seaside would be complete without fish and chips, best enjoyed on a quiet section of the sea wall. Local favourite Ossie’s Best Fish and Chips fries up Whitstable’s finest portion of cod and potatoes, while Lewis's Fish & Grill in Maidstone was voted best newcomer in the 2020 National Fish & Chip Awards.

Best places to stay

You can’t do much better than staying in Leeds Castle; there are four-poster beds in the main hall, b&b rooms in the stables, holiday cottages that once housed the castle servants and glamping in jousting-style tents in the lush gardens.

Canterbury serves up another full hand of history at the Canterbury Cathedral Lodge, overlooking the towering buttresses from within the Unesco-listed Precincts. Rooms are smart and contemporary, not stuffy and classical, and you’ll get a head start on the tourist crowds. 

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