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Visit Medway

Medway attracts over 4.6m visitors each year, many enjoying our array of free festivals and events, and world-class military, religious and industrial heritage.

It is home to the highest concentration of listed buildings and scheduled monuments in the country, two theatres, and the Royal Engineers Museum, Library and Archive (the only designated collection in Kent).

Medway has received significant Heritage Lottery Fund investment, at The Historic Dockyard Chatham, Rochester Cathedral, Eastgate House, the Huguenot Museum and the Great Lines Heritage Park.

The River Medway has an increasingly bustling and vibrant waterfront with exciting development opportunities – distinct from it’s protected and highly-valued marshland areas – and is at the heart of Medway’s plans. Culturally, Medway excels.

Beautiful green spaces

The rural areas of Medway offer great opportunities for walking, cycling, birdwatching, fishing and water sports. The area has some of the highest value landscapes, environmental and heritage features, many derived from the area’s military past. The RSPB has major reserves on the Hoo Peninsula at High Halstow and Cliffe, offering spectacular views of birdlife over the marshes. Ranscombe Farm Reserve in Cuxton occupies 560 acres on the slopes of the Kent Downs, offering opportunities for quiet walks with links to the wider countryside.

For the young and young at heart

If you need to keep the kids busy, we’ve got you covered. There are pools, parks, and play sessions aplenty. And for the more adventurous, there’s so much to enjoy. What are you waiting for?

  • Escape rooms
  • Trampoline parks
  • Diggerland*
  • Buckmore Park Go Karting
  • Roller skating rink
  • Soft play centres
  • Indoor laser tag arena
  • The Fenn Bell Inn zoo
  • Parks and playgrounds
  • Skate parks

Food and drink for all tastes

Medway boasts a fabulous choice of independent eateries and chain restaurants to suit all tastes and budgets.

  • Casual gastro dining – Powder and Magazine, Smoke & Liquor, Olivers
  • Waterfront eating and drinking – Pier 5, Ship and Trades International cuisine – Don Vicenzos, El Kendro, Hollywood Bowl, Curry houses and Chinese
  • Trades International cuisine – Don Vicenzos, El Kendro, Hollywood Bowl, Curry houses and Chinese
  • Cafés – Playopolis Game Board Café, Tiny Tims, Nutmegs Patisserie
  • Kent – the birthplace of micropubs, – Past and Present, Prince of Ales, the 10:50 from Victoria,
  • Copper Rivet Distillery
  • Chatham Maritime Festival of Food and Drink

Get active

Super athlete or just after keeping fit, there are so many places and things to try.

  • Sailing and water sports
  • Planet Ice – Ice Rink
  • Chatham Snow Sports Centre
  • Sports centres, pools and gyms
  • Guided cycling and walking groups
  • Gillingham Golf Course
  • The Strand outdoor lido pool *
  • Sports clubs
  • Disability sport
  • Events and competitions
  • Avenue Tennis *

Shop till you drop

Charming artisan shops lining Rochester’s cobbled High Street or big brand names at our shopping centres there’s plenty to keep you busy.

  • Chatham Dockside Outlet Centre
  • Pentagon Centre, Chatham
  • Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre
  • Independent shops
  • Farmers markets
  • Supermarkets and warehouses
  • Bluewater, Stratford, London within easy reach

The great outdoors

Lose yourself in the beautiful country and riverside parks around Medway. Equivalent in size to 14 Hyde Parks you can walk, cycle and enjoy the great outdoors all year round.

  • 7 Green Flag parks
  • 70 miles of cycle routes*
  • Countryside routes
  • Riverside walks
  • Extensive estuary and marshes

Heritage and galleries

In Medway you can walk in the footsteps of history, rich with castles, cathedral and museums and enjoy wonderful arts in our galleries.

  • Rochester Cathedral*
  • Rochester Castle*
  • Upnor Castle*
  • The Historic Dockyard Chatham*
  • Royal Engineers Museum*
  • Fort Amherst*
  • Huguenot Museum
  • Guildhall Museum
  • Nucleus Arts
  • Sun Pier House Gallery
  • Temple Manor
  • Old Brook Pumping Station
  • Rochester Art Gallery
  • A rich history with Dickens

Enjoy yourself…

Medway’s rapidly emerging continental-style cultural scene is proving a magnet for artists, performers, and many others.

  • Bowling alleys
  • Multiplex cinemas
  • Central and Brook Theatres
  • Rochester Symphony Orchestral
  • Pubs, clubs and bars
  • Gillingham Football Club
  • Over 30 days of free festivals and events each year

Messing about on the water

With the River Medway located at its heart, there’s so many things to enjoy doing on or in the water, with or without a wetsuit!

  • Boating marinas
  • Yacht clubs
  • Jet Stream river cruises and tours
  • Arethusa Venture Centre
  • Whitstable, Margate, Dover and the Kent coast within easy reach

Why Medway?