Beautiful UK county lets you step back in time from historic towns to classic seaside

Historic market towns, picturesque seaside spots and plenty of attractions for the whole family – here’s why Kent needs to be on your radar for a staycation

We arrive in Hythe at sunset, when the sky is a gentle shade of coral and our shadows are cast long. It’s a Friday and there are a few dog walkers about, the odd runner and cyclist making their way along the prom, but there’s barely anybody else on the beach at this staycation hotspot.

With the sea like a millpond, the pebbles crunching underfoot sound loud, and the stones we’re skimming out to sea seem to dent the entire ocean. It’s a perfect spring evening on England’s sleepy south coast.

This historic market town on the edge of Romney Marsh in Kent does, however, have a few claims to fame. Its Norman church, St Leonard’s, appeared in the Domesday Book and within its walls is an ossuary.

For just £5 for adults and £1 for kids we had the honour of standing before the largest and best-preserved collection of ancient human skulls (around 1,200 of them) and bones in Britain, believed to be from graveyards in the Hythe area that had fallen out of use.

The Royal Military Canal, built between 1804 and 1809 as a defence against invasion by Napoleon – runs through it and boats are available to hire.

After watching the sun sink behind the fishing boats perched on the beach, we head back to Blackbird Cottage in Ottinge, near Lyminge, our beautiful accommodation for the week.

This two-bedroom thatched barn conversion, that we’d booked through Sykes Cottages, dates back to the 1600s and has original features, stained glass windows and oak beams. Clean and cosy, and set in beautiful gardens, it felt like the set of The Darling Buds Of May, which was filmed just 20 miles away in Bethersden.

Next day we visit Folkestone. The last time I had been there I was in primary school, the purpose to catch a ferry across the Channel to France – and wow, what a transformation.

Folkestone’s Harbour Arm, which was once used by the old ferry services, with a railway line and station for passengers hopping on and off the ships, is now a trendy promenade lined with railway carriages housing independent bars, cocktail lounges and restaurants.

A laid-back crowd were enjoying live music with the sea and coastline as a backdrop, next to a market selling T-shirts, jewellery, crafts as well as an array of food options and tables in front of a big screen.

Out on the stacked-high pebbly beach, there’s The Pilot bar, with fairground dodgem cars as a fun seating option and an exciting-looking wooden playpark for kids. This has got to be one of the greatest coastal reinventions of recent times – and it was buzzing with people of all ages enjoying the British seaside.

You can sample seafood in all forms at Chummy’s, as well as lovely simple pots of cockles and shrimps from the roadside stalls. The queue out the door of Sandy’s on Back Street acted like a giant arrow pointing towards its highly-rated fish and chips.

I can confirm that the cod was white and firm, the batter crispy with a satisfying crunch. Next up on our south coast safari was Deal – a quirky seaside town with independent shops and restaurants.

We loved our stroll around the battlements and the rounds (underground passageways) of the elaborate Deal Castle, built on the seafront by Henry VIII to defend against any marauding European invaders.

We also loved our game at Roman Landings Adventure golf, complete with the self-operating Roman galley and sound effects of enemies approaching. Look out for the Time Ball Tower on the seafront. Dating back to 1855, the Timeball fell at 1pm, which enabled the mariners to tell the time. Recently restored, it now drops hourly in summertime from 9am to 5pm.

Broadstairs, on the Isle of Thanet, the peninsular forming the easternmost part of Kent, is much loved by holidaymakers for its glorious beaches – central cliff-backed Viking Bay with its sweep of sheltered sand, beach huts and children’s rides, rugged Botany Bay for its striking chalk stacks, and the awesome waves at Joss Bay.

Wander the cliff-top pathways and Victorian streets and alleyways of Charles Dickens’ favourite holiday spot (there’s a museum dedicated to him here too), then top it off with a visit to Morelli’s for real Italian gelato, served there since 1932. If you fancy a big day out in the city, Canterbury delivers on all fronts, with an array of quality shops and cafes, the River Stour winding its way around the cobbled streets, and of course, Canterbury Cathedral.

This Unesco World Heritage site, housing 1,400 years of history, is where Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered by four knights from Henry II’s household in 1170.

See his name ‘Thomas’ inscribed in red lettering on a stone tablet in the cathedral’s martyrdom area, which was designed by David Kindersley in 1985, and the single candle that burns in Thomas’s former shrine in Trinity Chapel. Another fascination, especially for those who grew up watching children’s TV in the 70s and 80s, can be found in the Beaney House of Art and Knowledge, a free museum on Canterbury High Street.

Seek out the Smallfilms Gallery which showcases the work of Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate, who created famous kids’ shows such as The Clangers from studios near Canterbury. Providing insights into early, pre-CGI animation, there’s an array of original puppets and drawings of the likes of Noggin the Nog and Ivor the Engine. But it was the complete set of original toys from Bagpuss, the saggy old cloth cat, Madeleine the rag doll sitting in her wicker chair, Professor Yaffle the bespectacled woodpecker perched on a pile of books, and the clothed grey mice and their Marvellous Mechanical Mouse Organ that floored me.

Misty-eyed, I was transported back to images of pre-school me, twirling around in my parents’ living room singing the mice’s Mending Song: “We will find it, we will bind it. We will stick it with glue, glue, glue…” I wondered if my children, with their endless viewing options, would ever feel the same way about a TV programme from their childhood.

Margate, of course, gets lots of attention for its retro appeal and arty connections. Tracy Emin grew up here, has her art studios here, and has been actively involved in protecting the town’s famously Brutalist Arlington tower block from insensitive renovations.

The Turner Contemporary art gallery, right at the water’s edge, is named after the artist who went to school in Margate and visited throughout his life.

Part of a year-long festival celebrating 250 years since JMW Turner’s birth, is his original oil painting, Waves Breaking On A Lee Shore At Margate, which captures the raw energy of a storm looking east towards the stone pier and lighthouse.

Visiting on an overcast blustery day in April, as turbulent waters smashed against the stone sea walls, it was like standing directly inside that drama-filled depiction of the Kent coast.

Go see it for yourself before April 19 next year, and you too can match the sketch to the scenery.

Book the holiday

• Seven nights at Blackbird Cottage, Ottinge, near Lyminge, Kent, is from £509. Sleeps four in one double and one twin room. sykescottages.com
• Deal Castle, adults £10, children £6, english-heritage.org.uk
• Canterbury Cathedral, £18 October – March, £19.50 April-September, £21 weekends in July and August. Under-17s free with accompanying adult. canterbury-cathedral.org
• Beaney House of Art and Knowledge, free admission, canterburymuseums.co.uk
• Turner Contemporary Gallery, free admission, turnercontemporary.org
• More info at visitkent.co.uk visitthanet.co.uk

Do you have a holiday story you want to share with us? Email us at [email protected].