This guide sorts family days out in North Kent and Medway by the weather: outdoor days in parks, woods and wildlife centres, and rainy days built around museums. It covers places near Gravesend, Dartford, Swanley, Gillingham, Rainham, Chatham, Rochester and Swanscombe. Each has an InKent page.
Outdoor days: country parks and woods
Shorne Woods Country Park, near Gravesend, covers almost 300 acres of woodland, wetland and meadow, with a visitor centre and cafe, a children’s play area, a trim trail and an easy access trail. Parking is pay and display, and the park closes on Christmas Day.
Jeskyns Community Woodland is a Forestry England woodland on Henhurst Road, Cobham, just off the A2, with surfaced trails, play areas, a cafe, disc golf, a Room on the Broom family trail and a Fairy and Elf Village. Parking is charged from £2.50, by RingGo or card only, and Forestry England members park free.
Capstone Farm Country Park on Capstone Road is a Green Flag park of more than 114 hectares, with woodland, meadows, lakes, a cafe and children’s play areas. No entry charge is listed, parking is £3.50 a day, and the park closes at 4.30pm from November to February.
Riverside Country Park in Rainham is a 100-hectare Green Flag park beside the Medway Estuary, with a playground, a visitor centre, a cafe and trails past mudflats, salt marsh and ponds. No entry charge is listed and parking is £3.50 a day. It closes at 5pm from November to February, and its main entrance has a 6ft 6in height barrier.
Eagle Heights Wildlife Foundation on Lullingstone Lane, Eynsford, is a not-for-profit wildlife foundation with birds of prey, meerkats, huskies and alpacas, and a flying display at noon, weather permitting. An adult ticket is £16.95, under-3s are free and parking on site is free. It opens Friday to Sunday only, 11am to 4pm, from October to March, and daily from April to September.
Chatham Snowsports Centre is on Capstone Road beside Capstone Farm Country Park, with a 200m main slope, a 30m nursery slope, sno-tubing and a toboggan run. Tobogganing and tubing are for ages 4 and over, the centre strongly recommends booking ahead, and tobogganing was from £5.50 a ride when we checked. Hours vary by day, and sno-tubing runs only at weekends and in school holidays.
Check before you go: hours, prices and winter closing times change.
Outdoor days: town parks and play areas
Central Park in Dartford is on Market Street, with the River Darent running through it. The Buccaneer Bay play park has separate areas for under-fives and older children, and a water play area operates in summer. There are formal gardens, a cafe and a visitor centre. The park is free and unlocks at 6am, with locking from 5.45pm between November and January.
Swanley Park on New Barn Road has 60 acres of parkland run by Swanley Town Council, with a zip wire, a paddling pool and watersplash, sand play, a family enclosure for young children, The Barnyard soft play, battery cars and a miniature railway. Entry is free, with charges for some attractions. Parking is free for up to two hours, then £2.50 all day from October to March. Hours are listed as 11am to 5pm daily, subject to change.
The Strand Leisure Park on Pier Road, Gillingham, has play parks, picnic areas, crazy golf and a miniature railway beside the Medway. The splash pad is free to use, and the 1896 saltwater lido is a summer-season pool that must be booked in advance. The cafe and railway are seasonal and are not run by Medway Council. Parking is charged.
Swanscombe Heritage Park on Craylands Lane is a former quarry where the Swanscombe skull was found. It has a playground, a football pitch, grassland with views to the Thames and an accessible trail starting at a giant hand-axe sculpture. No charge is listed. Explore Kent says it has at least one accessible route but is otherwise less suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs. Check before you go, because seasonal attractions keep their own dates.
Rainy days: museums and galleries
The Royal Engineers Museum in Brompton has galleries, a First World War trench display and a cafe, with step-free access to most of it. It opens Tuesday to Sunday and bank holiday Mondays, and adult admission was £17.50 when we checked.
Dartford Borough Museum is free, in the library building at the entrance to Central Park. Displays include Stone Age finds and a reconstruction of Kerr’s draper’s shop with its overhead cash railway. It opens in the afternoons, Monday to Saturday except Wednesdays.
The Historic Dockyard Chatham has three historic warships, museum galleries and Call the Midwife filming locations. An adult ticket was £29 online, valid for a year from your first visit. It closes for winter from 16 November 2026, apart from Mission Christmas dates.
The Guildhall Museum in Rochester covers local history, the River Medway and the prison hulks in a Grade I listed building. It costs £5 and opens Tuesday to Saturday.
Lullingstone Roman Villa in Eynsford has mosaics and a heated bath suite, with galleries overlooking the remains. It is partly closed for conservation and open Thursday to Sunday, with free entry for now.
Check before you go: opening days differ, and several of these places close on Mondays.
Planning your day
- Pairs on one road: Capstone Farm Country Park and Chatham Snowsports Centre are both on Capstone Road. Lullingstone Roman Villa and Eagle Heights are both on Lullingstone Lane, and in winter both list Friday to Sunday opening. Dartford Borough Museum is at the entrance to Central Park.
- Winter: Eagle Heights opens Friday to Sunday only from October to March, Capstone closes at 4.30pm and Riverside at 5pm from November to February, the Strand lido is a summer pool, and the Dockyard closes from 16 November 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What can we do with young children on a wet day?
Dartford Borough Museum is free and has a reconstructed draper’s shop with an overhead cash railway, and the Royal Engineers Museum has a First World War trench display and a cafe. The Guildhall Museum in Rochester covers the prison hulks, and the Dockyard has three historic warships and museum galleries.
Which of these days out have no entry charge listed?
Central Park and Dartford Borough Museum are free, and Swanley Park entry is free with charges for some attractions. No entry charge is listed for Capstone Farm Country Park, Riverside Country Park and Swanscombe Heritage Park, though the first two charge £3.50 a day for parking. Shorne Woods and Jeskyns charge for parking.
Which places are open in winter?
Capstone Farm and Riverside country parks list daily opening, closing at 4.30pm and 5pm from November to February. Shorne Woods lists Christmas Day as its closure day. Eagle Heights opens Friday to Sunday from October to March, and the Dockyard closes for winter from 16 November 2026.