Walmer Castle & Gardens

Walmer Castle is a Tudor fort that became a seaside home, and its gardens are the main reason many people come. English Heritage cares for more than eight acres of award-winning gardens here, with flower-filled borders, a kitchen garden, wildflower meadows, shady woodland walks and the restored Glen garden. The well-drained chalk soil and sea air give this stretch of the Kent coast a maritime microclimate.

You approach across the castle meadow, lined with holm oaks planted in the 1860s, and the dry moat around the castle is itself a garden of trees and shrubs. Next to the castle is the Queen Mother's Garden, designed by Penelope Hobhouse in 1997, with a long pool, a viewing mound and a classical pavilion. The Broadwalk forms the main axis, lined by the undulating yew Cloud Hedge, which grew out of shape during the Second World War and was kept that way. Beyond it lie the Oval Lawn, the Italianate terraces and the paddock.

Kitchen gardeners should spend time by the two restored glasshouses, now used as cold greenhouses, and the beds of vegetables, fruit trees and flowers around them. The tea rooms in the castle are handy for a break, children have a play trail through the woods, and you can walk along the coast to Deal Castle. High winds can close the gardens at short notice, so check before setting out on a stormy day.