Get your kids out on the Deal streets, cracking codes on the Deal Treasure Hunt Trail. Find clues on statues and signposts. Or get knee-deep in activities, walks and wildlife at Betteshanger Park: build a den, hunt for fossils or check out the open-air cinema.
Take a high-speed tour of the Kent coast on a Rib Request boat excursion, spotting seals and wildlife as you go. It’s a similar story with Dover Sea Safari, whizzing you across Pegwell Bay, skirting the huge cross-channel ferries and speeding you along the White Cliffs Country coastline.
Go underground at Ramsgate Tunnels, built as a deep shelter during the war to house over 1000 local citizens. Love that? Rinse and repeat at Dover Castle’s Wartime Tunnels exhibition. Broadstairs is the place for Lilliput Mini Golf and Viking Bay, a family-friendly beach with tidal pool, kiddie rides and cool surf school.
Head to Dreamland in Margate for everything from merry-go-rounds to the amazing Teddy and Betty Land, a huge helter-skelter, plus rabbits and reptiles. Go up the wall at Revolution Climbing Centre, or skate, scoot and blade your way around the Revolution Skatepark.
Straight out of the door, Deal is instantly different. Coastal trails and bike paths abound, and the narrow and tortuous smugglers’ streets offer a range of shops, bars and micropubs to plunder, plus fine-dining restaurants and cheap-and-cheerful fresh fish and chips.
Walk the sweeping pier, wander through time at the Tudor castles, stalk the battlements at Deal Castle, then head to Walmer to see the room where the Duke of Wellington died, plus an original pair of boots (Wellingtons, obviously). Grab some more history at Canterbury Cathedral, both holy place and World Heritage Site.
Walk the path of legends on championship links golf courses at Royal Cinque Ports, Royal St George’s and Prince’s Golf Club, plus others at Walmer & Kingsdown and North Foreland. Eat, shop and drop for England at brand-new brandfest St James’ in Dover. Or take a fast ferry to France for the day and stock up on red, white and rosé.
Head to the 1200-seat Marlow Theatre in Canterbury for the best musicals, plays and international-standard ballet, opera and classical music. Catch a flick at Cineworld or charismatic Silver Screen. Wrap the day up with a crawl from The Lanes to The Thirsty Scarecrow to the sophisticated Cullins Yard Wine Bar.
