Tonbridge Castle - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

Haysden Country Park is a six-time winner of the Green Flag Award, offering 64 hectares of beautiful countryside and a relaxing setting for a variety of leisure activities. With two lakes and a stretch of the River Medway running through the park, it is a popular venue for water activities and a great location for a family day out.

Penshurst Place is an authentic stately home with 11 acres of formal gardens and a beautiful historic house. It is the ancestral home of the Sidney family, and was the birthplace of the great Elizabethan poet, courtier and soldier, Sir Philip Sidney. The original medieval house is one of the most complete surviving examples of 14th-century domestic architecture in England. Part of the house and its gardens are open for public viewing. Many TV shows and movies have been filmed at Penshurst.

Ightham Mote is one of the oldest medieval manor houses to survive in England. The core of the house dates from the 1340s, although a complicated series of alterations and additions were made in the late 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. Ightham Mote and its gardens are owned by the National Trust and are open to the public. The house is a Grade I listed building, and parts of it are a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Dunorlan Park was originally a 78-acre landscape garden of a grand mansion built by the Yorkshire-born merchant Henry ReedIt was a special place where everyone can enjoy a richly varied Victorian garden, meadows, and wildlife, as well as the amenities of a modern park. There’s plenty to do besides admire the grounds, however – the park has a putting green, an events field, and a welcoming cafe, and, in the summer, boating takes place on the lake. There are also so many things to see and do here.

Riverhill Himalayan Gardens, near Sevenoaks, Kent is an i9conic attraction in this area. There are over 12 acres of historic gardens to explore, punctuated with contemporary sculpture, as well as woodland paths, breathtaking views and plenty of benches for quiet moments. Home to the Rogers family since 1840, these family-run gardens offer visitors space to explore, gardens to admire and excuses to celebrate.

Take a steam train ride through the beautiful Wealden countryside from Tunbridge Wells to High Rocks, Groombridge and Eridge. The Spa Valley Railway is a standard gauge heritage railway that runs from Tunbridge Wells West railway station in Tunbridge Wells to High Rocks, Groombridge.