#igtravelthursday: exploring kentish town sevenoaks

Happy #IGTravelThursday and welcome to join me to explore my little hometown – Sevenoaks, in Kent, South East England. Sevenoaks is just 20 minutes with train from London Bridge, yet the town is no suburb of London, but rather rural, and very beautiful countryside area with plenty of forests and greenery.

Sevenoaks autumn

This town of some 18000 people has a lovely little centre with plenty of restaurants and cute little shops to explore (but sadly no bakeries other than the coffee houses), lovely streets to walk up and down to enjoy the architecture of pretty houses and well-maintained gardens and of course the surrounding nature to enjoy too.

Sevenoaks centre

The gem of the town is of course Knole Park in the middle of the centre – the amazing house surrounded by acres and acres of hilly meadows and forest and grazing deers – and the park is free for everyone of enjoy, and I head for my morning runs there often. Knole is a National Trust property, and we got several other great ones is Sevenoaks region: my favourite one being Chartwell, the former home of Winston Churchill.

Other great NT properties to visit in the area are Emmetts Garden,  Ightham Mote (watch my video photo story from Ightham here) and Quebec House. A lovely garden (not an NT property though) to visit would be Riverhill HImalayan Gardens.

Sevenoaks forests

If you enjoy walking and hiking Sevenoaks offers a lot also, as it’s part of the pilgrims trail, North Downs Way, from Farnham to Canterbury. Just find one of the parking lots and go for a hike – great views are guaranteed. More specifically I’d recommend going to  Toys Hill (which is owned by NT, but has free parking and access) for sweeping views towards Tonbridge.

Sevenoaks School

Sevenoaks is also known for its schools, especially the Sevenoaks School, which is located by the Knole Park. Besides having good school, many of them are also rather old and beautiful buildings.

Saturday market

Saturday morning is a great time to visit Sevenoaks as the farmer’s market comes to High Street – I so love those savory loaves, cheeses and other treats they sell there, all so tasty and oven-fresh!

Sevenoaks

I’d recommend a day trip to Sevenoaks and the surroudning areas – create an agenda of walks, a castle of two, few other historic places to see, a lovely meal in town and depending on your luck, maybe even a play or live gig at the local theatre – the Stag. Come and explore what a little Kentish town outside London has to offer!

kent Oast House

Want still to know more about Sevenoaks and its’ history? In that case take a peek to a post I wrote some two years ago about the town and what I discovered about it...

School and bunting

Sevenoaks resturants

Knole House

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