Top Things to do in Ashford
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The 8 Best Things to Do in Ashford, United Kingdom (UK)
Discover the best top things to do in Ashford, United Kingdom (UK) including Godinton House & Gardens, Ashford Designer Outlet, Wye National Nature Reserve, Willesborough Windmill, Ashford Borough Museum, Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, St Mary The Virgin Church, The Ashford - Tank WW1.
Restaurants in Ashford
1. Godinton House & Gardens
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 210 reviews
Discover a Jacobean house with a Medieval hall and lose yourself in the incredibly beautiful Gardens and ancient parkland. Fabulous events and workshop programme throughout the year. Gardens open daily: 1st March- 1st November 1pm-6pm Guided House Tours and Visitor's Tearoom open Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays: 25th March- 2nd October 1pm-5pm
Reviewed By Tony B
A charming and interesting property to spend some time. There is lots of interesting history to absorb plus some beautiful Gardens where you are free to stroll. The guides are very knowledgeable. The tea room is splendid with really happy and helpful staffThank you for your feedback, we are glad you enjoyed your visit. The Gardens are looking stunning at the moment, the scent in the Italian Garden is amazing. We look forward to welcoming you back to Godinton.
2. Ashford Designer Outlet
Reviewed By KittyKatKar - Essex, United Kingdom
Good day here. Lots of different shops to choose from definitely prefer Ashford Designer Outlet to the Bicester Village. Ralph Lauren is one of my favourite shops and there was good deals.
You have to pay for parking £1 for 3 or 4 hours and I think it was £9 for the whole day. I thought we would go over 3 or 4 hours however we didn’t which was good. Lots of different discounts around each shop. Definitely go
3. Wye National Nature Reserve
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 53 reviews
Reviewed By Clive B - Dartford, United Kingdom
Despite a lack of signposts, it is very hard to miss as the view can be seen from the road (Use Postcode TN25 5HE for Satnav). The car park is small but functional, and best of all free. There are bins and an information panel, but little else. Inside the park, since the closure of the nearby restaurant there are no facilities here, but being so close to Wye that isn't a problem if planned for. There are a lot of dog walkers here, but not much mess is left behind, most you'll find is left by livestock and rabbits. There is one concern, inside the Devils Kneading Trough itself is a risk of a number of unexploded bombs, left over from the Second World War, but there is a well-worn path to stick to, and as long as you don't pull any metal objects sticking out of the ground, you should be safe enough and the main park area is safe. That all said you come here for the view and it is wonderful if you can visit on a clear day you can see for miles and many of the surrounding towns and villages. Perhaps the best view in Kent, it is well worth the journey.
4. Willesborough Windmill
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 52 reviews
Reviewed By hwoodywoodpecker - Saint-Maur-des-Fosses, France
We visited the mill on National Mill week-end when the sweeps were working. Very interesting and a very friendly welcome from the volunteers who do an excellent job. Lovely to see so many children there. Do go along and take the children or grandchildren. Tea and cakes in the barn
5. Ashford Borough Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 43 reviews
Dr. Wilks Hall was originally the Ashford Boys grammar school built in 1635 & named after the sponsor "Norton Knatchbull". No.18 is our Railway section on the ground floor. We cover the history of Ashford Borough from Neolithic to present day.A lot to see and very educational for all ages. All run by volunteers,open from April to the end of October. Free entry.
Reviewed By Ken O - Nottingham, United Kingdom
The volunteer staff are friendly, charming and helpful. As other visitors have noted its in a cramped cottage in the Close of the (lovely) Parish Church.The museum mostly contains three sorts of things: railway artefacts, wartime/military artifacts and some information about the town. It;s style reminds me of the local museums of my (distant) childhood. Every single inch of space is filled up with something. I got the impression that the curators had a lot of metal objects and had grouped them as space allowed.
My wife and I longed for two things: a story and a selection. She, who was born and grew up in Ashford, longed for a narative of the origins and pre-20th century history especially its llinks with the surrounding agriculture and it's evident social decline into a place of boarded up shops imprisoned behind dual carriageways, and the Railways and motorways to northern France. I wanted much less stuff (especially 'boys' stuff) and instead be able to see it in relation to one or two themes. Instead of such a lot of metal, would it be possible to trace, for example, the role of women in Ashford. What was their experience of the war? No one it seems has tried to gather the stories of Ashfordians (older ones especially) about their actual lives: what was it like to live there? What was their relationship to some of the military artifacts? What did the social life of people consist of in relation to, eg. local clubs and societies, the churches, the farms and fruit picking. How does the town's past connect with the town's present? Why cannot the town give more space and money to tell the stories of it's past and more support to the curators to help them do it?
6. Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 28 reviews
Lying just 15 miles south east of London and covering 878sq.km of Kent's stunning countryside, the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is one of the most enchanting parts of England to explore. Dramatic cliffs (including the White Cliffs of Dover), ancient woodlands, meandering rivers, chalk downland, traditional orchards and tranquility with pockets of postcard-picture villages dotted throughout, await the visitor.
Reviewed By ACMW1705 - London, United Kingdom
Fantastic views across from the Downs into the Stour Valley. An under-appreciated gem of the Kent countryside. Always worth stopping off to have a look on the way to Canterbury or the White Cliffs. The Devil's Kneading Trough is particularly worth seeing, as is the Wye Crown.
7. St Mary The Virgin Church
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 31 reviews
Reviewed By Ken O - Nottingham, United Kingdom
Others have said how attractive the church is, inside and out. It is. And harmonises perfectly with the other smaller buildings in the compact close. It is free of the noises and most of the smells of the 2010. Like other old churches it has strike a balance between catering for its parishoners - or at any rate those who use it for prayer and worship - and keeping its financial head above the water to enable it to be repaired and maintained
So I'm glad the space is used flexibly and for 'secular' events. Churches are only partly for the converted. They should also be open to the faithless to show them what the church is about and to reach out to them. Jesus didn't sit at home simply entertaining his friends and family. He got his sandals dirty and freely mixed with the hoi polloi. I'm an atheistic member of the hoi polloi and I'm grateful for this church allowing me to enjoy its beauty and atmosphere and I'm very happy that its found a way of doing but still remaining unapologetic about being a working, religious building.
8. The Ashford - Tank WW1
Overall Ratings
4 based on 35 reviews
Reviewed By therichastill - Stevenage, United Kingdom
It's quite impressive that a piece of WW1 history has been preserved in Ashford however I could not find any information on why it is in Ashford, how it got here and does it have any local significance.
That said it's not something you see everyday (unless you live in Ashford).
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