Chatham

Chatham is dominated by its naval history, and that history makes for a strong family day. The Historic Dockyard is the main event, with a Victorian warship, a Cold War submarine you can walk through and a ropery still in use, and it comfortably fills a day. Fort Amherst nearby is a Napoleonic fortress with tunnels cut into the chalk, which children tend to enjoy more than the guidebooks suggest. The Odeon covers a wet afternoon, and the Medway towns give riverside walking between the bigger attractions.