Maidstone Distillery

The Maidstone Distillery sits just outside Aylesford, where you can watch gin and spirits being made from scratch. It's the sort of place where you actually see the copper stills at work, smell the botanicals being prepared, and understand why what ends up in your glass tastes the way it does. Not just a gift shop with a distillery tacked on - they take the production seriously.

Spirit enthusiasts will find plenty to absorb here. The tour walks you through the whole process, from grain to bottle, and you get to nose the different stages. There's usually a tasting at the end, which makes the whole thing feel less like a school trip and more like time well spent. Families with teenagers who fancy something beyond theme parks will get more from this than younger kids, though there's enough visual interest that a ten-year-old won't be completely bored.

The distillery works well as a half-day activity from any of the nearby parks - Oak View Holiday Park and Kits Coty Glamping are both within a few miles. It's exactly the sort of thing that breaks up a week in a caravan without requiring hours of driving. Aylesford itself has decent pubs and restaurants, so you can easily turn the trip into lunch and a proper afternoon.

Do check opening times before you head over, as they're not open every day. It's the kind of place worth ringing ahead about anyway - you'll want to know if a tour is running when you visit.