Kent (Slow Travel)

Folkestone resident and globe-trotting travel writer Simon Richmond turns the spotlight on his home county in this brand new title, part of Bradt's award-winning series of Slow travel guides to UK regions. Walkers, cyclists, families, food and art lovers, and wildlife enthusiasts are all catered for, with coverage of a wide range of attractions, as well as all the practical information you could need to plan and enjoy time spent in this delightful corner of England. The diversity of Kent is striking, from awe-inspiring Canterbury Cathedral, part of a Unesco-listed World Heritage Site, to natural wonders such as Dungeness, Kent’s southernmost point, a vast shingle headland that is misrepresented as a desert but is, in reality, teaming with plant and bird life. Superb hiking trails, including the North Downs Way and the English Coastal Path, provide access to some of the most beautiful parts of the county if not the UK. This in-depth guide covers all the most popular places as well as many of the lesser-known ones, dividing the county into five easy-to-follow chapters. Explore Dover and spend time at its iconic White Cliffs, saunter through Vita Sackville-West's gorgeous gardens at the National Trust's Sissinghurst estate, visit the grave of Pocahontas in Gravesend, and contemplate the delightful and thought-provoking public art of the revitalised seaside town of Folkestone. History has been made in Kent, at Hever Castle, where Anne Boleyn spent her childhood and which was later restored by William Waldorf Astor, and at Chartwell, the family home and garden of Sir Winston Churchill. Kent's food and drink offering is increasingly celebrated, with a growing reputation for high quality restaurants and boutique wineries, not to mention the world's oldest brewer and largest collection of fruit trees at Faversham. From flora and fauna to castles, watersports, beaches and wildlife, discover Kent with Bradt's unique Slow guide.