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Kent, England’s oldest county, Kent, England
Penshurst Place, near Tonbridge
Hever Castle, near Edenbridge
Kent, England’s oldest county
What will you do today? You could be viewing the world’s oldest seagoing vessel, the Bronze Age Boat, at Dover Museum, or cheering a medieval joust beside a magical castle.You could be chugging on a Victorian steam train through beautiful countryside, or standing on the exhilarating White Cliffs.
So near, yet surprisingly different. In Kent, the trail to enticing castles and stately homes is via picturesque rural lanes. Tales of battle swirl on tangy sea breezes at coastal forts. ‘Living history’ means staying in your very own oast house, charming fishermen’s cottages or sumptuous country house hotels.
Kent has more castles and historic houses than any other county. Put another way: it’s brilliant for a spot of improvised time travel. Feeling romantic? Lose yourself in the ravishing formal garden at Penshurst Place near Tonbridge, a rare surviving example of Elizabethan design.
A short drive away, double-moated, 13th-century Hever Castle opens the door on Anne Boleyn’s childhood and courtship by Henry VIII. Another drive away: Leeds Castle, once the residence of six medieval queens, rises from its lake in 500 acres of parkland.
Kent’s enthralling heritage is so rich and diverse that you can travel thousands of years and still have time for a leisurely lunch: locally caught seafood in a chic restaurant, orchard-fresh apple pie and cream in a quaint village pub. Right on London’s doorstep, England’s oldest county is perfect for those spontaneous escapes.
For your free Visitor Guide and for further information on what to do and where to stay in Kent, please visit our website www.kenttourism.co.uk
More information?
Web: www.kenttourism.co.uk
Where to stay and things to do in Kent
Hotels | Bed and Breakfast | Pubs and Inns | Self Catering | Places to Visit | Antiques and Collectables | Museums and Art Galleries | Arts, Crafts and Fairs | Gardens | Castles | Cathedrals | National Parks | Railways | Wildlife | Weddings and Honeymoons | Apartments | Conferences, Seminars and Corporate Events | World Heritage Sites | Abbeys and Priories | Nature Reserves | More Kent Information
UK Heritage links
Cadw | Great British Heritage Pass | Heritage Britain | Historic Houses Association | The Churches Preservation Trust | The National Trust | The National Trust for Scotland |
England Heritage links
Bedfordshire |
Historic Bedford |
Historic South Bedfordshire |
Mid Bedfordshire |
Berkshire |
Historic Windsor |
Reading |
Buckinghamshire |
Aylesbury Vale |
The Chilterns |
Wycombe District |
Cambridgeshire |
Cambridge |
Ely and East Cambridgeshire |
Peterborough |
Cheshire |
County of Cheshire |
South East Cheshire |
Vale Royal |
Cornwall |
County of Cornwall |
Historic Restormel -
The Daphne Du Maurier Festival |
North Cornwall |
Cumbria |
Carlisle |
Ulverston and Low Furness
The Lake District Peninsulas |
Derbyshire |
Amber Valley |
County of Derbyshire |
Historic Derby |
Devon |
Clovelly |
Historic Exeter |
Dorset |
Historic Christchurch |
Historic Purbeck |
Durham County |
Derwentside |
Easington |
Sedgefield |
Teesdale |
Wear Valley |
Essex |
County of Essex |
Historic Chelmsford |
The District of Braintree |
Gloucestershire |
Gloucester |
Royal Forest of Dean |
Stroud |
The Gloucestershire Cotswolds |
The Severn Vale Cotswolds |
Hampshire |
East Hampshire |
New Forest |
Portsmouth |
Test Valley |
Hertfordshire |
Hertford |
St Albans |
Kent |
Chatham Historic Dockyard |
Historic Rochester |
Kent, England’s oldest county |
Maidstone |
Royal Tunbridge Wells |
Lancashire |
Wyre |
Leicestershire |
Historic Leicestershire |
Historic Melton Mowbray |
Lincolnshire |
Boston |
East Lindsey |
East Lindsey |
Hotels and Attractions in
Historic West Lindsey |
Lincoln |
Merseyside |
Liverpool, Merseyside, European Capital of Culture 2008 |
Norfolk |
South Norfolk |
Northamptonshire |
Corby |
East Northamptonshire |
Historic Kettering |
Northampton |
Northumberland |
Berwick-upon-Tweed |
Chillingham Castle |
Historic Alnwick |
Historic Northumberland |
Nottinghamshire |
Newark and Sherwood |
Oxfordshire |
Henley and South Oxfordshire |
Historic North Oxfordshire |
The Oxfordshire Cotswolds |
Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire |
Wallingford |
Somerset |
Bath |
Exmoor and West Somerset |
Frome |
Taunton Deane and the Heart of Somerset |
Staffordshire |
Cannock Chase |
County of Staffordshire |
Stafford |
Suffolk |
Historic Suffolk Coast |
Surrey |
County of Surrey |
Historic Guildford |
Richmond |
Sussex |
Chichester |
Historic 1066 Country |
Historic Mid Sussex |
West Sussex |
Warwickshire |
Rugby |
Warwickshire |
Wiltshire |
County of Wiltshire |
Heart of Wiltshire |
Historic North Wiltshire |
Historic Salisbury and Stonehenge |
Swindon |
Worcestershire |
Bromsgrove |
Historic Worcestershire |
Worcester |
Wychavon |
Yorkshire |
Experience Wakefield |
Harrogate |
North York Moors National Park |
Scotland Heritage links
Fife | The Kingdom of Fife | Perth and Kinross | County of Perthshire |
Wales Heritage links
Cardiff |
Cardiff |
Conwy |
Historic Conwy, Llandudno and Colwyn Bay |
Gwynedd |
Gwynedd and Snowdonia |
Portmeirion |
Merthyr Tydfil |
Merthyr Tydfil |
Powys |
Mid Wales |
Swansea |
Swansea |
Torfaen |
Blaenavon Industrial Landscape
A UK World Heritage Site |
The Channel Islands and The Isle of Man Heritage links
Channel Islands | Guernsey | Historic Jersey | The Isle of Man | The Isle of Man |
County Information
England
Bath | Bedfordshire | Berkshire | Birmingham | Bristol | Buckinghamshire | Cambridge | Cambridgeshire | Cheshire | Cleveland | Cornwall | Cumbria | Derbyshire | Devon | Dorset | Durham County | Essex | Gloucestershire | Hampshire | Herefordshire | Hertfordshire | Isle of Wight | Kent | Lancashire | Leicestershire | Lincolnshire | Liverpool | London | Manchester | Merseyside | Norfolk | Northamptonshire | Northumberland | Nottinghamshire | Oxford | Oxfordshire | Rutland | Shropshire | Somerset | Staffordshire | Suffolk | Surrey | Sussex | Tyne and Wear | Warwickshire | West Midlands | Wiltshire | Worcestershire | York | Yorkshire |
Scotland
Aberdeenshire | Angus | Argyll, Mull, Bute | Ayrshire | Borders | Dumfries and Galloway | Dunbartonshire | Dundee | Edinburgh | Falkirk | Fife | Glasgow | Highlands and Islands | Kincardineshire | Lanarkshire | Lothian | Moray | Orkney Islands | Perth and Kinross | Renfrewshire | Stirling |
Wales
Anglesey (Isle of) | Bridgend | Caerphilly | Cardiff | Carmarthenshire | Ceredigion | Conwy | Denbighshire | Flintshire | Gwent | Gwynedd | Merthyr Tydfil | Monmouthshire | Newport | Pembrokeshire | Powys | Rhondda | Swansea | Torfaen | Vale of Glamorgan | Wrexham |
Northern Ireland
Antrim | Armagh | Belfast | Down | Fermanagh | Londonderry | Tyrone |
Ireland
Carlow | Cavan | Clare | Cork | Donegal | Dublin | Galway | Kerry | Kildare | Kilkenny | Laois | Leitrim | Limerick | Longford | Mayo | Meath | Monaghan | Offaly | Roscommon | Sligo | Tipperary | Waterford | Westmeath | Wexford | Wicklow |
The Channel Islands and The Isle of Man
