Folkestone Harbour Train Station

The old railway station at Folkestone Harbour is one of those Victorian engineering spaces that stops you dead when you walk in. Built to handle cross-Channel traffic in its heyday, the building itself is the real attraction - soaring ironwork, period details, the kind of infrastructure that doesn't get built like this anymore. There's a small museum inside documenting the station's railway heritage and Folkestone's role as a major port, which gives proper context to what you're looking at.

It's the sort of place history enthusiasts will spend a solid hour in, poking about the exhibits and reading the old photographs. Families with younger kids might find it a bit thin on interactive elements - it's more about standing around and absorbing the atmosphere than doing. That said, if your children are into trains or Victorian architecture, they'll get something out of it.

Admission is modest, and you can easily fit it into a morning or afternoon without breaking your schedule. The real pull is the building itself, the sense of a working Victorian transport hub frozen in time.

Stay at Varne Ridge Holiday Park just 2.4 miles away - decent 4.2-star spot - or splash out on Greenhill Glamping if you want something posher. Both give you easy access to Folkestone's seafront and this slice of railway history without the faff of traveling far. The harbour itself is worth a wander after you've done the station.