The Brew House Hotel

Local restaurants

Francophiles will find plenty to keep their palates entertained in Tunbridge Wells: pay a post-shopping visit to Brasserie Blanc (+44 (0)1892 559170) at Five Ways, Lime Hill Road, to refuel on a menu of tasty staples such as chicken parfait, Toulouse sausages and omelettes from Le Manoir's governor; or make a night of it at Richard Phillips' sophisticated French establishment, Thackeray's Restaurant (+44 (0)1892 511921) on the London Road, where there's also a lovely bar for pre-prandial cocktails. The ever-reliable Hotel du Vin brasserie and bar (+44 (0)1892 526455) on Crescent Road is another good Continental-flavoured option. For a complete change of culinary scenery, Mooli at 57–59 Calverley Road (+44 (0)1892 545499) is a genuinely fantastic Nepalese restaurant.

For a full list of eating and drinking recommendations in Kent, check out our Kent eating & drinking guide

Worth getting out of bed for

As well as being perfectly positioned for upscale boutique browsing in the colonnaded Pantiles, you're only a five-minute walk from The Royal Day Spa on Post Office Square (+44 (0)1892 616191) – book treatments in advance. If you pass a church on your wanders past the Pantiles, take a peek inside: King Charles the Martyr’s plaster ceiling is quite something.

Oenophiles could spend a day visiting some of Kent’s impressive vineyards: there are four within a 20-mile radius of Tunbridge Wells: Lamberhurst and Chapel Down; Biddenden (+44 (0)1580 291726); and Sandhurst (+44 (0)1580 850296).

Some of England’s most interesting bricks-and-moats attractions are an easy drive away: pick from Ann Boleyn’s family seat (Hever Castle), a 14th-century country manor (Penshurst Place), a deer park and pre-eminent private house (Knole), a romantic gothic castle (Chiddingstone), Winston Churchill’s home (Chartwell), and last but certainly not least, the eyeful of loveliness that is Leeds Castle.

For a full list of recommended activities in Kent, check out our Kent destination guide