Barham Village Green

The village green at Barham is one of those proper English spots that doesn't shout about itself. It's a gentle green space just outside Canterbury where you can actually sit down with a picnic without fighting for a bench or worrying about crowds. The grass is decent, there's shade from mature trees, and you get that quiet village atmosphere that makes you feel like you've stepped off the main road entirely.

It works brilliantly if you're basing yourself at one of the nearby caravan parks - Hawthorne Trench or Canterbury Camping and Caravanning Club are both within five miles - and you fancy a proper break from site life. Families with young kids will appreciate the open space and the lack of faffing about with visitor centres or ticket queues. Walkers using the area as a pit stop will find it convenient enough, though there's nothing particularly dramatic about it as a destination in its own right.

There's no admission fee and no official opening hours to worry about - it's just a village green. You can rock up whenever suits. On a decent afternoon you could easily spend two hours here with a flask and sandwiches, especially if you combine it with a walk around the quieter lanes nearby. It's free of the tourist bustle that swamps Canterbury itself, which is exactly why it's worth knowing about. Not a headline attraction, but a proper little find for anyone who prefers substance over spectacle.