A walk around Lullingstone country park to the village of Shoreham via the Shoreham Memorial Cross and then back along the River Darent.
Starting from the Lullingstone visitor centre car park, it is a 9 mile loop around the beautiful Darent Valley, mainly on well-defined footpaths with a few short road sections. Passing by Lullingstone castle, home of the Hart-Dyke family, through the country park to Shoreham, we will stop for elevenses at the Shoreham Aircraft Museum (a wonderfully quirky tea-room and store of WWII memorabilia). We then loop around Shoreham before returning to Lullingstone along the river path.
The aim is to return around 2pm (hence the earlier than usual start time of 9.30a.m.), so that there is an opportunity for those interested to visit the Lullingstone World Gardens, run by Tom Hart-Dyke (a highly knowledgeable and exceptionally enthusiastic gardener) in the afternoon. It should be the perfect time of year to see the gardens at their best. Tickets are £9 for adults, but entrance is free for RHS and Historic Houses members and 2 for 1 for English Heritage and Gardener's World members.
For those not going on to the Gardens, Lullingstone Country Park has a cafe and toilets and is a perfect spot for a picnic lunch
There is a £3.50 parking charge at Lullingstone Country Park. You can pay by card at the machine or by Ringo, ParkBuddy, PaybyPhone. The location code is 682602