Faversham

Faversham makes a relaxed base for exploring north Kent, with a good spread of hotels, inns and bed and breakfasts to suit both a weekend break and a longer stay. The town centre has several historic coaching inns and pubs-with-rooms housed in timber-framed and Georgian buildings, putting you within walking distance of the market square, the creek and the brewery. Just outside town, the surrounding villages and countryside offer converted oast houses, farmhouses and small country hotels set among orchards and hop gardens, ideal if you want a quieter rural stay with easy access to both Faversham and the nearby coast at Whitstable and Herne Bay. Because Faversham sits directly on the main Kent Coast railway line, hotels here also work well as a base for day trips into Canterbury or along the coast without needing to move on each night. Booking ahead is worthwhile around the Hop Festival weekend in early September, when the town's limited number of rooms fill up quickly, and during the summer months generally, when Faversham's creekside charm and proximity to the beaches draws steady visitor numbers. Outside those peak periods, rates are generally reasonable compared with better-known Kent tourist towns, and it is usually possible to find something suitable at short notice.

Faversham rewards a slow wander, but there is plenty to see beyond the streets themselves.

• Shepherd Neame Brewery — Britain's oldest brewer, tracing continuous brewing on the site back to 1698 (and monastic brewing on the site further still). Guided tours of the working brewery finish with a tasting in the visitor centre.
• Faversham Creek and Standard Quay — a working waterway lined with historic sailing barges, boatyards, independent galleries and a scattering of quayside cafes; a favourite spot for a creekside walk.
• Fleur de Lis Heritage Centre — the Faversham Society's free town museum, telling the story of the town's gunpowder, brickmaking, shipbuilding and hop-picking industries.
• Chart Gunpowder Mills — the oldest surviving gunpowder mills in the world, restored by the Faversham Society and a reminder that this was once a major centre of explosives manufacture for the Royal Navy.
• Faversham Market — a street market has traded here since medieval times; today's market fills the town centre on Fridays and Saturdays.
• Oare Marshes Nature Reserve — a Kent Wildlife Trust reserve on the Swale estuary just outside town, superb for birdwatching, with wide skies and views across to the Isle of Sheppey.
• St Mary of Charity Church — a large, largely medieval parish church with an unusual openwork lantern spire, one of the town's most recognisable landmarks.

Unsurprisingly for the home of Shepherd Neame, Faversham is well stocked with good pubs, many serving the brewery's Spitfire and Bishops Finger ales fresh from just up the road. The Sun Inn and The Bear on Market Place are long-standing town-centre favourites, while Faversham Creek has its own scattering of independent cafes and restaurants overlooking the water. The Friday and Saturday market brings local produce into the town centre, and being this close to Whitstable, fresh seafood — including the famous native oysters — is never far away for those willing to drive the short distance to the coast.

Faversham's setting on a tidal creek surrounded by orchards, hop gardens and the marshes of the Swale estuary makes it an appealing spot for a Kent camping trip, whether you are touring the county by tent or looking for a longer stay somewhere quieter than the busier coastal resorts. A handful of campsites and caravan parks lie within a short drive of the town, ranging from simple farm-based sites among the orchards to more established touring and camping parks with better facilities, and glamping options such as bell tents, shepherd's huts and pods are increasingly easy to find if you want the outdoor feel without packing your own tent. As everywhere in England, wild camping without the landowner's explicit permission is against the law, so it is worth booking an official site in advance, particularly in high season.

The most comfortable camping weather runs from late spring to early autumn, when long daylight hours suit exploring Faversham Creek, the surrounding footpaths and the nearby coast at Whitstable and Herne Bay, both within easy cycling or driving distance. September brings the added draw of the town's Hop Festival, when campsites in the area tend to fill up quickly, so early booking is worth it if you want to combine a countryside stay with the celebrations. The flat, gently rolling landscape around Faversham, threaded with orchards and marshland footpaths, also makes it a good choice for families and less experienced campers, while the Saxon Shore Way and other coastal paths give walkers and cyclists a direct route out from town into the reserve at Oare Marshes, a rewarding spot for birdwatching from a nearby pitch. Whatever the season, a stay at a proper campsite here means genuine Kent countryside and easy access to a proper historic market town, brewery included, rather than a purely rural retreat with nothing else nearby.