Chatham itself is about 5-10 minutes by car but is not worth visiting. We do however have the excellent Chatham dockyard (15-20 minute walk) which showcases the Uk’s Maritime history and has a number of fun activities for children and adults alike (quite a few films and tv series have been filmed here). There are also ‘call the midwife’ visits which are supposed to be good. You can walk around a number of boats and a submarine. The ticket entitles you to multiple visits.

Historic Rochester is also about 10-15 minutes drive and is a lovely place to spend the day (Dickens wrote some of his books there). It has a castle, cathedral and old high street with unique shops. It also hosts a number of festivals throughout the year. Upnor (on the other side of the river) is a small, historic village with traditional pubs and a small castle.

Close to Chatham there are a number of country parks within 30 minutes drive including Riverside Country Park, Jeskyns Park and an RSPB nature reserve for birdwatchers.

Canterbury is a beautiful cathedral city and is under 1 hour away by car. It’s historic centre has lots of cafes, shops and restaurants and tourist tours.

Kent countryside- from Chatham you can explore the beautiful Kent countryside including our renowned vineyards (Chapeldown and Tenterden). The Kent seaside towns are also worth a visit on a sunny day- lovely views, quirky streets and fish and chips/oysters. Whitstable, Herne Bay and Margate (Tate gallery) and Folkestone are definitely worth a day trip (all about 1-1.5hr drive on a motorway). The Kent downs are also beautiful for walking.

London is very do-able in a day. The journey takes between 40 mins (to st Pancras) or 55 mins (to London Victoria). From these stations London is at your feet- from theatres, musicals to world-class food, museums, concerts, shopping to simply mooching about soaking up London life.

Chatham is also a good location for Dover (good castle as well as ferry and Eurotunnel links to France). We are also 1.5 hours from Gatwick Airport should you want to take a short hop to any number of European destinations. Gatwick is served by British Airways and easyJet amongst others who offer decent flights to lots of places.