Hotels near Rochester Airport - RCS, Rochester

average place ,royal artillary place worth a visit but handy for vising other places .Rochester only 7 minutes away by train.Asfar as feeling safe ,about the same as any other place you visit only had short stay so cannot comment on night life.transport good,major shops apart from asda conviniently all together

Chatham town itself may not be anything special - a typical south-east England town. But there are some places of interest nearby, and Chatham could be a very good base from which to explore and visit other sites on the south coast and even in London. For example, in Chatham there is the Historic Dockyard, a must for all ages with an interest in naval history. Rochester nearby has the castle, now a ruin but the site of an overnight stay by king Henry the 8th.

The historic High Street is a short walk from the train station. The pavements and road on the High Street can be uneven, with cobbles in places , which adds to the charm. Favorite places to eat-in are: The Quills (offering breakfast, lunch, dinner and cocktails), Padrino's Pizzeria (eat in & takeaway/delivery), Cathedral Pie (offering traditional pie and mash with parsley sauce/gravy, jellied eels), Pizza Express and there are also tapas, Japanese, fish and chips and a variety of cafes and bars. The Cathedral, Castle and local museums are always interesting, with local events going on.

Gillingham is a good centre for visiting Chatham (for the Dockyards), Rochester and Maidstone. The town itself has a few eateries, good supermarkets, a pedestrianised precinct and some shops. Good train links to London and the South-East. Good bus links to the surrounding area. The town itself does not boast many facilities for tourists (eg. museums etc) but is a good base.

Chatham town centre has various places to visit. The Dockyard is a must see. There are various places to done and drink. We went to a fabulous Indian restaurant called the Sultan which provided many tasty local Indian dishes to satisfy it's diners taste buds. It's an easy place to get around by car or on foot. Walking through the town centre does not give the visitor much to fill them with excitement. Many facilities are tired, dated and you feel need regeneration. Hopefully in the future this could be rectified to show off more of the Maritime history the town is noted for.

Different places and things appeal to different people. OK. But I'm more than happy to put in a word for Rochester, It was, until 1998 when "Medway" (population 250,000 was created from Rochester, Chatham, Strood, Gillingham and Rainham, all today more or less contiguous) a historic and important small City. Now Rochester is just a "Town", which seems frankly ludicrous. Population only 60,000 and they have problems. The High Street includes far too many Charity Shops, although also some beautiful and historic buildings. Too close to London. But Rochester also has the second oldest Cathedral in England, and still largely Norman Architecture rather than Canterbury's huge late Gothic. Rochester also boasts the tallest and best preserved Norman castle keep in both England and France. Then there are all the links with Charles Dickens and much else besides. And then the Chatham Historic Dockyard, worth a day's time of anyone interested in British history and only a few miles from Rochester. I note the 2021 Lonely Planet Great Britain (page 162) manages just over 2 column inches on Chatham Dockyard. And that's it. Not even a mention of Rochester or "Medway" in the index. That, in my book, is all you need to know about "Guide Books"!