Teston Bridge Country Park

If you haven’t been out to Teston Bridge on a sunny weekend, you’re genuinely missing one of Maidstone’s better-kept secrets. The play area covers the basics well — slides, swings, a climbing structure, and a water feature that younger kids absolutely lose their minds over. Ages 2 to 12 are well catered for, and while they’re running it out, you can claim a picnic table and actually relax for once. The river walk is the real draw for me though — proper scenery, the old bridge, and if you time it right, there are cows in the fields which sounds daft but kids go absolutely mad for it. Parking, loos, benches — it’s all sorted, so you can make a proper afternoon of it.