Shepway Library

Shepway Library sits quietly in Maidstone, the sort of place you'd walk past without realising it's there unless you actually need a book. It's a proper community library - nothing fancy, just shelves, computers, and staff who know what they're doing. You'll find the usual mix: fiction, non-fiction, kids' sections, sometimes a local history corner that locals swear by. Free to use, as libraries should be, though you'll need to join if you want to borrow.

This works best for families based at one of the nearby caravan parks - Bearsted Caraton and Motorhome Club is closest at under three miles away - who want a wet-weather option or somewhere for the kids to raid the children's section on a rainy afternoon. Walkers and history types might pop in to check their local studies collection before heading out into Kent's countryside. It's not a tourist attraction in any traditional sense, but that's rather the point.

Allow half an hour to an hour depending on what you're after. Opening hours and whether there's any charge for non-members aren't confirmed, so ring ahead before you go. If you're staying at Oak View or Chegworth Mill Glamping further out, it's worth the short drive into Maidstone if you've run out of reading material or need to charge devices. Not essential, but genuinely useful.