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15 Best Adventure Days Out In Kent
Much of Kent's adventure list is underground, and the chalk is the reason. Fan Bay Deep Shelter and The Wartime Tunnels at Dover Castle are cut into the cliffs. Ramsgate Tunnels run beneath a town. The Shell Grotto is a passage found under one. All four are flagged indoor and not outdoor, which is technically true and slightly misleading: underground is dry, but it is also dark, cold, narrow and low, and that is a completely different proposition from a soft play centre with a roof. Above the ground, Go Ape Leeds Castle and Hangloose Adventure Bluewater take the opposite approach and put children in the air.
Top adventure days out in Kent
Showing 1–12 of 15
AdventureFan Bay Deep Shelter
Activity CentresGo Ape Leeds Castle
Activity CentresHangloose Adventure Bluewater
AdventureRamsgate Tunnels
Parks and PlaygroundsLower Leas Coastal Park
AdventureThe Wartime Tunnels at Dover Castle
CastlesLeeds Castle
AdventureThe Shell Grotto
AdventureThe Royal Tunbridge Wells Mystery Treasure Trail
AdventureAdventure Kidz
AdventureFaversham Mystery Treasure Trail
AdventureDeal Treasure Hunt Treasure Trail
It is worth noticing that even the high-level options here come from the same rock: Hangloose Adventure Bluewater hangs above a worked-out chalk pit. Beyond those, Leeds Castle is filed under Castles and Lower Leas Coastal Park under Parks and Playgrounds, so the fifteen entries cover a wider range of days out than the category name implies. Decide first whether your child wants to go down, up, or simply somewhere they can run.
Adventure Days Out in Kent: FAQs
Are the tunnels suitable for young children?
It depends far more on temperament than on age. Underground sites are dark and enclosed, and a child who is fine with both will love them while a child who is not will want out almost at once. Some sites run guided routes you cannot easily leave partway. Our records carry no age guidance at all, so read the site's own notes and be honest with yourself about which child you have.
What does the indoor flag mean on an underground site?
That there is a roof, and not much more. Four of these entries are flagged indoor because they are enclosed, but enclosed and comfortable are different things — expect cold, uneven footing and limited light. They are genuinely rain-proof, and on a coast this exposed that counts for a lot, provided everyone is dressed for a temperature the season does not alter.
And for the child who wants to be outside?
Go Ape Leeds Castle is the high-ropes option and Hangloose Adventure Bluewater the fast one. Lower Leas Coastal Park is filed under Parks and Playgrounds and is the run-around answer rather than a booked activity, which suits a family that wants an afternoon without a start time. Ten of the fifteen records carry an outdoor flag, so the above-ground half of this category is larger than the underground half.
Can we combine an underground site with something else?
The Dover end lends itself to it, since a cliff shelter and a castle both sit at that end of Kent and both turn up on this list. That gives you a short, intense underground visit and then somewhere with air and space to recover in. Doing two underground sites in one day is possible but rarely enjoyable; the novelty is most of the effect, and it does not survive being repeated.