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Possible five days in Kent... where to base?

Kathy

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Charley and I have five days to spend in the UK next May, after our time in Cornwall. We're thinking we'd like to return to Kent, as we were only there for two days probably 20 years ago. On that trip we stayed in Rye and visited Sissinghurst and Leeds Castle. (On another trip we visited Hever Castle on a day-trip from London.) I want to re-visit Sissinghurt, and we'd like to visit other gardens as well as Chartwell and other historic sites, perhaps do some short walks, maybe visit Canterbury. We're interested in a day along the coast, but since we'll have just spent almost two weeks in Cornwall, that's not our highest priority. We'd have a car, and would need to make our way to Heathrow for the sixth night before an early morning flight to Provence.

We envision staying in a pretty village, big enough to have a pub or two and a village shop, centrally-located for day trips. We'd like to find a rental if that's possible for less than a full week, but also open to an interesting small hotel or guest house.

This article identifies some villages to consider: Villages in Kent: 10 of the prettiest places to go Any thoughts on any of these villages as a base? Or other ideas of a central place to stay? I'm also open to any ideas of favorite places and experiences in Kent.

Kathy
 
My first thought was Rye or Winchelesea, although they are in East Sussex rather than Kent...

There is also Tenterden or Goudhurstboth of which are attractive small towns/villages with a selection of pubs.
 
We are headed to Kent in May and are staying in Woodchurch. It is very convenient to visit so many places nearby, i.e., Canterbury, Dover, Hastings, Sissinghurst, Leeds, etc. have fun!
 
I wanted to post back about our stay in Kent, because it was really great!

We ended up with a rental for five nights in the market town of Tenterden. This was a great base for us, and I'd highly recommend it. The High Street offers just about everything you could want, and there is a Tesco and also a Waitrose. We had excellent meals at an Indian restaurant and a Turkish restaurant on the High Street near our rental cottage. We also had dinner at an Italian restaurant (unfortunately noisy due to two groups) and very good takeout pizza from another place. We had been eating a lot in pubs in Cornwall, so we didn't try any of the pubs, though there are several in Tenterden.

Early May was a very good time of year to visit for the gardens. The flowers were so beautiful, and there were bluebells and wild garlic.

We found a great cottage... I will post a separate review about this.

We have Royal Oak cards (National Trust) this year, so we went twice to Sissinghurst. I have wanted to go back there for over 20 years!

We loved Hole Park, a privately-owned estate just outside Tenterden... this is a fabulous garden with a big woodlands area. The wild garlic was at peak when we visited (see below)... apparently we just missed the peak of the bluebells, but I thought they were still pretty fabulous. The owner was selling the tickets out in front of his house. I had not heard of this garden and highly recommend it.

19421


We did a longer day trip to Chartwell on the bank holiday. Lots of people there and families enjoying a pretty day, but the entry to the house was by timed tickets and the volunteers in each room were very very helpful.

On another day we took a train from nearby Headcorn to visit Canterbury. This was a very busy city but attractive and interesting. Lots of French students visiting the day we were there. We spent two hours in the cathedral and could have stayed longer. We also did a ride on a "punt" down the little River Stour that's kind of hidden in the medieval town. (We did not do the punting!)

We could easily have enjoyed two weeks in this area. There are so many historic houses, gardens, interesting villages, then of course the sea. There are also quite a few wineries. (We're skeptical of this, but with more time would have visited Chapel Down.)

I would love to go back to this part of Kent again and would happily stay at this same cottage.

The driving was more challenging than what we've experienced in the Cotswolds and other parts of England. The roads were often very narrow, twisting with little hills, blind curves, fast local drivers, some big trucks. I'd recommend getting a small car. We rented our car at Tonbridge (easy train trip from London) and returned it at Heathrow.

(Sorry I don't have time to post more photos!)

Kathy
 
It sounds as if you had a great time. I grew up on the edge of the North Downs and eventually went back after nearly 50 years. I was amazed by how narrow and windy many of the A roads still were. They hardly seemed to have improved and were carrying so much more traffic.
 

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