The Dell

A proper woodland walk just outside Faversham, The Dell is one of those places that feels secret even though it's not. The forest floor here is thick with leaf litter, the canopy dense enough that you'll forget the A2 exists somewhere beyond the treeline. It's ancient woodland, the kind where you half expect to bump into a forester from three centuries back. Paths wind through beech and oak, opening occasionally into clearings where the light floods in and suddenly you can breathe again.

Walkers will get the most from this - bring proper boots, as it gets muddy after rain. There's a pleasant loop of about 45 minutes to an hour depending on how many times you stop to listen to nothing but birds. It's free to wander, and there's something genuinely moving about that. Families with younger kids might find it a bit relentless; it's not a manicured park with benches every hundred yards. But if your children are the type who like climbing over fallen trees and turning over logs to see what lives underneath, they'll be in heaven.

The Dell works nicely as a half-day venture if you're staying at Painters Farm or Chegworth Mill. Both are close enough that you can combine it with a proper lunch in Faversham itself - which has proper pubs and decent coffee - rather than trying to make a full day of woodland alone. Go early morning if you can. The place belongs to the mist then.