Kent Downs to the coast 🍤⛵️

75 km | 46.6 mi from Lenham feat. Whitstable, Chilham & the Kent Downs.

Hop on the train to Lenham, a nice village on the edge of the Kent Downs AONB, in order to ride all 75 km on beautiful quiet roads. On this ride you will discover the beauty of the Downs sceneries with the highlight possibly being scampi and chips at Whitstable harbour.

Rating > Difficult

Terrain > Rolling hills and country lanes

Elevation Gain > 680m | 2,230ft

Expect a little hill to get out of town, but being just on the edge of the Kent Downs AONB makes Lenham an ideal starting point. Within minutes we were already riding in some lost lanes and getting that weekly dose of nature we were craving.

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After 21kms, you’ll arrive in Chilham, a quaint Kent village. We were there on the Jubilee weekend so there was a street party to celebrate. Mini Union Jacks everywhere, roasting hog, people cheering and dressing up…quite an experience for a French person, and it made my day!

Another few kilometres and you’ll finally spot the blue horizon: sea ahead! It is then (almost) only downhill all the way to Whitstable harbour where you must have the classic scampi and chips: a different kind of coffee stop but...

...don’t we all ride for chips? The only downside is that it’s not so easy to get back on the bike after such a feast!

Thankfully the next 25 kms are flat so you can get some speed and digest. You’ll then enter the Downs again and if you are there late afternoon on a sunny Spring / Summer day the light on the wheat fields is an absolute treat. The perfect day out on the bike.

Enjoy the ride!

Download the gpx file here:

Kent Downs to Whitstable

.gpx

Download GPX • 164KB

Getting there:

By car: Lenham Station, ME17 2HR

By train: Lenham Train Station

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Disclaimer

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