Botany Bay Beach

The moment you drop down onto Botany Bay Beach near Birchington, you're confronted with something altogether different from your standard English seaside. Chalk cliffs tower overhead - proper dramatic stuff - creating a kind of miniature version of Dover, though far fewer tourists clogging the shingle.

It's a geological classroom disguised as a beach. Those white cliffs are riddled with fossils if you know where to look, and the rock pools at low tide give kids a genuine reason to crouch about rather than complain about their phones. The beach itself is shingle and sand, exposed at lower tides when you can walk right up to the cliff base. Don't expect golden sand and ice cream vans; this is no-frills seaside Britain.

Historians will find the spot genuinely interesting - this is where William of Orange supposedly landed in 1688, depending on which account you trust. The cliffs themselves are late Cretaceous chalk, over 70 million years old. Reality check though: it's a working beach without facilities. There's a car park up top near the village, but amenities are thin on the ground.

Walkers get the most from Botany Bay, especially anyone tackling the wider coastal path towards Reculver Tower or back towards Westgate. If you're staying at Birchington Vale Holiday Park, it's a decent afternoon sortie rather than an all-day commitment. Allow two hours, three if you're serious about fossil hunting. Go at low tide for the best exploring. Families with older kids will get more out of it than toddlers - the shingle is relentless and there's genuine cliff exposure to watch.