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Hops, apple blossom and quaint villages tucked in rolling hills, Kent is a pretty county but the ‘Garden of England’ is also a great place for a family holiday. Here are ten of the best attractions:

Sand and sea

On a bright summer day, sand castles and parasols compete on Margate beach and there are donkey rides, rock pools, mini-funfair and candyfloss stalls. It’s a popular resort but this north-east corner of Kent, known as the Isle of Thanet, is threaded with secluded coves, cliffs and caves where little disturbs the peace but the cry of seagulls.

Beaches slope gently into the sea from the great sweep of Minis Bay to Ramsgate with its glistening marina and broad sands. Queen Victoria played there as a child and Dickens wrote much of David Copperfield in nearby Broadstairs, a lovely little harbour with fine sands, Victorian bandstand and lawns on the cliff top. Follow the coast to the south and you will find beaches to please everyone, shingle or sand.

The Enchanted Forest

Imagine a Celtic forest with spiral maze and standing stone, an Indian tepee around the corner and dinosaurs rearing their head down by the lake in Jurassic Valley, Groombridge Enchanted Forest is all adventure and imagination. Walk up the hill through the estate’s vineyard and you are greeted by the resident zeedonk – a cross between donkey and zebra- and maybe a herd of rare Menil deer if you are really quiet. But excited children rush straight to the board walk zigzagging for almost half a mile across the slopes, with tyres to crawl through, swinging ropes, swaying bridges and 200 steps.

Deep in the forest you will find a mysterious Blue Pool with a Spring of Life and giant Australian tree ferns and gypsy caravans tucked under the trees. Later you can watch the falcons, gaze at peacocks as you picnic under the apple trees or cruise on a canal draped in weeping willows. The 17th century Formal Gardens include a giant chess board and strangely-shaped yews.

The world’s smallest railway

Founded 80 years ago by captain Howey, the 13 ½ mile long Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway is a brilliant way to explore the borders of Romney Marsh and neighbouring seaside towns. Miniature carriages in red or green and steam engine to match, it puffs through quiet countryside, crossing the Royal Military Canal and eerie marshlands haunted by smugglers’ tales. Lambs frolic in the meadows, skylarks whirl across the sky and herons hide in the reeds. A rover ticket lets you hop on and off as you wish.

The line begins in Hythe, a good place to stock up on ice cream at the station, passes through the ‘children’s paradise’ of Dymchurch, all beaches and funfair, St Mary’s Bay, home of Edith Nesbit, author of ‘the Railway Children’, New Romney with its a hands-on exhibition of model railways and toys, and Romney sands before reaching the shingle headland of Dungeness. It’s is no place to swim but this wild land’s end of Kent claims a unique flora and fauna, fabulous views from the old lighthouse and some of the best fish and chips in the land.

Dickens’ World

Chatham’s latest attraction is spooky to perfection. Step into the semi-darkness of the Victorian town square where magicians and jugglers perform their tricks and you feel a shiver down your spine, before you even reach the Haunted House. Up there, Scrooge and his friends are waiting, their ghosts coming to life as you approach, transporting you deep into a bygone age.

It’s education and fun, including a 4D screen show relating the writer’s travels across Europe and the New World. There you’ll feel the ocean breeze ruffle your hair, shudder as Vesuvius erupts or the train crashes into the river on his return through Kent. The schoolroom tests your knowledge of Dickens through a computerised game of snakes and ladders but for most visitors, the highlight is the boat ride over murky waters, past dark lanes and graveyard, barking dogs, sewers and water splash. Look out for rats, they say, but we never saw them.

Rare Breeds

Did you know that butterflies taste through their feet or that a cow can produce 10 000 litres of milk in a year?

The South of England Rare Breeds Centre is full of amazing facts and farm animals you may never have seen, giant rabbits, long-horned cattle, sheep with black curly wool, pigs with straight tails. Butterflies the size of your palm flit in the tropical greenhouse and a country walk leads to the top of the hill, past Parsley Meadow and the Secret Lake to a Rainbow Wood sprinkled with woodcarvings and tiny wild life around the lily pond.

Meanwhile on the farm, it’s time to meet and cuddle your favourite creatures before cheering the pig race or riding around the estate on the Big Red Trailer.

Diggerland

Fasten your seat belt and you’re off, operating a real digger, driving a dumper truck or mini tractor. Pull the lever, turn the wheel, mind the pedals and there you are, digging for treasure, plucking plastic ducks out of the water, shifting bricks around or reshaping the great mounds of earth left by earlier would-be builders. When you feel like a rest, try the Spin Dizzy ride if you dare or climb aboard the Sky Shuttle for a bird’s eye view of the park, 50 feet below.

Overlooking the Medway Valley, Diggerland is a brilliant day out but be prepared. There’s plenty of mud after rain –the children will love it- but if you’re caught in a shower, just pop a coin into the machine and out comes your raingear. Height restrictions apply to some rides but everyone is welcome and tickets allow unlimited access to most activities.

Happy Hoppers

There’s no better Kentish landmark than an oast house and the Hop Farm country park claims the largest collection. The Oast Village and farm, formerly Whitbread, has interactive museums where waxwork characters relate the story of hops and yesteryears, a display of wartime vehicles and children’s play areas in and outdoors. Little ones can make their own greetings cards or badges in the craft centre, or paint a piece of pottery to take home, while the new tree jumpers sky park is a must for adrenaline junkies.

Look out for the shire horses in the working stables and you might enjoy a nostalgic dray ride around the estate. The farm holds special events throughout the year, including a hop festival in early autumn.

Tunnels and dungeons

Perched on the legendary White Cliffs, Dover Castle bears witness to 2000 years of history from Roman times to World War II. It was rebuilt by Henry II around a new keep where you visit the State apartments, relive the story of a medieval siege and look down on a double ring of walls bristling with towers and gates. Walk along the windswept battlements to dream of ancient battles and stop at the Admiralty look-out for superb views over the harbour and the Channel, right across to the French coast on a clear day. There are tunnels from medieval and Napoleonic times and secret World War II tunnels, complete with underground hospital and all the smells and sounds of the day. It’s eerie and dark and you are glad to return to the sunlight, relax on the lawns and seek out the Roman lighthouse or the Anglo-Saxon church.

Medieval fanfares echo around the walls in season and before the pageantry gets under way, you may have to learn to curtsy, ready for a royal visit from the past.

Wild encounters
Fancy a safari on the African plains, looking for black rhinos and giraffes, wildebeest and ostrich? Port Lympne is as near as it gets to the real thing but be sure to stop at the Discovery Zone to meet tarantulas and snakes and tiny zebra mice. Explore the 600 acres of ground and you’ll see Indian tigers, African elephants and lions roaming in large compounds designed like their natural habitat. Everyone loves the gorillas in the Palace of the Apes and Kruger, the newly-arrived bull elephant, as he competes to steal the show. If some of the animals seem familiar, that’s probably because you saw them on BBC TV’s Roar.

Dedicated to breeding and conservation of endangered species, Port Lympne and its sister park Howletts were set up by John Aspinall and delight all animal lovers. Howletts has its own endearing residents, including deer from India, lion-tailed macaques and dusky langur monkeys with babies the colour of apricots.

Out and about

Lush pastures, ancient woodland, quiet lanes and flowering hedgerows, orchards, deep valleys, wide open spaces and hills with breathtaking views, it’s little wonder so much of the Kent Downs should be a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, crisscrossed by footpaths and circular trails to suit all ages and abilities.

Following at times the old route of the Canterbury pilgrims, the North Downs Way is a scenic and varied trail with kissing gates and stiles and wild flowers lining the way. In the spring, the Perry Woods Nature Reserve is carpeted with bluebells and anemones and cowslip mingle with gentians and rare orchids. Another favourite is the Wye Downs Way winding around hills and coombs to the Devil’s Kneading Trough, a steep spectacular valley formed during the Ice Age. Tread gently, look around and before you return to the village for a delicious Kentish tea, you could meet a deer, a lesser-spotted woodpecker or a host of golden butterflies.