Kent is in the South East corner of England. It is easy to travel to Kent, through London. There are trains to cities and towns in Kent from Saint Pancras and Victoria stations in London.
There is approximately 1,5 million people living in Kent with the principal towns being Maidstone, Canterbury and the Medway conurbation of Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham.
Friday January 2nd 2026
I set off after work on Friday January 2nd. I caught the 16.01 from Reading to Paddington. I travelled by underground train to St. Pancras and caught the 17.20 South Eastern train to Whitstable, and I arrived at 18.41. Due to it being dark, I decided to take a taxi to the Canterbury-Whitstable Travelodge Hotel, which is on the site of a motorway type services, which serves the busy A299 dual carriageway. Unfortunately this hotel doesn't have a restaurant or bar, but the staff in the check-in desk were very friendly and helpful.
I had a quiet evening, I had a supply of snacks and the hotel supplied tea, coffee, UHT milk. I watched repeats of Top of the Pops programmes from 1976, 1978 & 1989.
Saturday January 3rd 2026
In the morning I listened to Sounds of the 60s (Radio 2). I brought some pains au chocolate with me. I had one with my morning cup of tea.
I set off to explore the other food outlets on the site, but there was only Costa & Starbucks (coffee shops) and a Budgen mini-supermarket selling groceries, primarily for motorists. However there is a Subway which serves a decent breakfast bacon & sausage roll.
I walked towards Whitstable, via Dargate, which is a small village. However there is a pub, The Dove which serves Shepherd Neames beer, which are brewed nearby, in Faversham.
I noticed on my map, there was a cafe on the route to Whitstable. The cafe, Arby's was a small building close to the Blean Woods, a popular area for camping. The lady serving me was friendly and helpful. I had an Americana coffee and a sausage and bacon toasted roll.
I proceeded with my walk and managed to catch a bus to Whitstable. Buses in this area are run by Stagecoach
I arrived in Whitstable around noon and got off the bus by the harbour. Whitstable is famous for shellfish, particularly oysters and whelks. Interestingly one of the families who are still farming the shellfish after many generations originated from Sheringham, Norfolk. The family moved as fishing for whelks and oysters was no longer productive on the Northern Norfolk coast.
I continued to walk along the seafront despite the "biting" wind. There are many narrow streets, interesting wooden and brick buildings, pubs, independent shops.
I visited the town Museum which tells the history of Whitstable, the fishing, fires and the Canterbury to Whitstable Railway. The original locomotive Invicta is the prime exhibit of the museum.
Many of the pubs in the town host live music and open mic evenings. One of the pubs, The Peter Cushing, is a Wetherspoon pub. Wetherspoon kept many of the original features of former Art-Decor cinema. It was worth just going in this building to admire the restored cinema. Unfortunately I was unable to have my lunch there as it was so busy inside and there were no spare tables. Instead I went to The Coach and Horses which is a 19th Century coaching house. I had a pint of the Shepherd Neames ale with a burger, chips and salad.
There is interesting street art in Whitstable with the tag Catman including interpretations of art masterpieces. I saw other examples of The Scream, The Mono Lisa & Vincent Van Gogh's Sunflowers
Sunday January 4th 2026
The day turned out to be sunny, although the air was cold.
I travelled by bus to Herne Bay as my nephew Richard now lives in the seaside town. I had a break between buses in the pretty seaside town of Tankerton. Tankerton's Marine Parade runs parallel with the beach. There is a grassy area between this street and the beach.
I had taken the 401 bus service to Tankerton's Priest and Sow. There is a small house by the bus stop which is a cafe. I had a coffee and a toasted tea-cake. This cafe only accepts cash, which is quite rare in 2026. Many people still think accepting cash is better than card payment especially as anything relying on computers can be a problem when the computer or Internet connections fail.
I then travelled to Herne Bay on the 400 bus at 11.08 and arrived outside the railway station at 11.27. While I was waiting for my nephew, I had a coffee in the Hat Hats cafe next to the station's booking hall. Like many stations on the southern railway network, Herne Bay Station is well looked after, clean and tidy.
When Richard arrived, we walked through the Memorial Park to the Central Parade (promenade). The promenade has a large bandstand, which has cafes and shops, a large clock tower, a pier and a break water. We walked along the breakwater and I took some photos. The wind was so strong, the waves of the sea splashed the walkers and anglers.
Richard and I had a baked potato and a beer for lunch in the Sussex Shore Wetherspoon pub. After lunch I returned by bus and then walked back to the hotel, where I listened to Radio 2 programmes.
Monday January 5th
The day was another cold, but sunny day. I had a Subway breakfast, tea & sausage & bacon roll.
I caught a bus to Whitstable town centre, and then travelled to Faversham by train.
Faversham is a market town. The town has many interesting buildings including the town hall, half timbered houses, the Royal Cinema and Faversham is home to the Shepherd Neames brewery. Both Spitfire and Whitstable are delicious ales.
I had lunch in the Wetherspoon pub, The Leading Light. The name came from the nickname of philanthropist Henry Wreight and the premises were a former Co-op shop. Many of the Art Deco features are still to be seen in the pub.
After lunch I returned to Whitstable and decided to walk part of the erstwhile Canterbury and Whitstable, also affectionally known as the Crabb & Winkle Railway. Steam trains ran passenger services from 1830 to 1952.
I returned to the hotel for the evening. The temperature that night was - 5 Celcius.
Tuesday January 6th 2026
I had a Subway breakfast before I walked to catch a bus to Canterbury bus station at 09.33. I arrived at 10.00 in bright sunshine, but the air was freezing. I stopped for a coffee in Pret a manger where I downloaded a new app Tourific. The app has self guided walking tours of cities in the UK and beyond. It appears that the free walking tours are not as popular as they were 10-20 years ago. It is a shame, as the free walking tours provided opportunities for local people to show their home towns to visitors.
My tour today started on the Butter Market, the hub of Canterbury. The Butter Market pub is one of the oldest pubs still trading in Canterbury.
The next stop was Canterbury Cathedral, the ecclesiastical centre of the Church of England. There is so much history of the cathedral!
I also passed The Crooked House, now a shop. The Crookiness is due to unseasoned timber used in its construction.
Canterbury is also known for its literal people including Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, Philip Marlowe, a playwright, who has a theatre named after him. Aphra Behn was the first prominent female writer in the English language. A statue of Aphra is outside the Beaney House Museum.
The Beaney House museum also has on display exhibits from Mary and Herbert Toutel who wrote/illustrated Rupert Bear comic strips & annuals.
In 1959 Oliver Postgate & Peter Firmin created Small films (short animated stories for TV. They worked creating the characters in farm buildings in Blean, close to Canterbury. The animated characters for TV included Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine, The Clangers and Bagpuss. Some of their work is also on display.
The self-guided walking tour concluded with Augustine's monestery and St Martin's Church, the earliest church still in use in the English speaking work. Part of the church goes back to Roman times. The church was a wedding gift for Queen Bertha from France, who brought Christianity to Kent. Queen Bertha married Aethelfred, King of Kent.
I went to the Wetherspoon pub Thomas Ingoldsby for my lunch. Thomas Ingoldsby was another literary figure who used to live opposite the pub location in Burgate.
After I visited the Beaney House Museum I returned to catch a bus towards my hotel.
