The band seem to wander around the town on weekend mornings. You can't help smiling when you see traffic held up for middle-aged men & women playing brass in a very serious way.
All adds to the charm of Hythe, which is a beautiful place - surrounded by gentle hills with a canal running through it (you can hire boats to row gently up and down, although occasionally the river is closed for an amateur fishing competition ... it's that kind of place).
Centre of Hythe, which is just west of Folkestone on the A259.
An old-fashioned seaside hotel with large, landscaped grounds and lots of different bars tucked around.
The Imperial also has a great gym and spa complex (to keep the golf widows happy, as it also has a beachside course).
Rooms are not special but are adequate.
For me the gym facilities absolutely made it.
Staff are really friendly and food is much much better than you would expect.
Ask for a seaview room.
Prince’s Parade, Hythe, Kent, CT21 6AQ,
Tel: 01303 267441
www.qhotels.co.uk/hotels/the-hythe-imperial-hythe-kent/
Hythe has a resident, solitary, dolphin who swims from the Imperial hotel away from the town centre.
He is really close to the shore and it made my Saturday to see him swimming around.
The beach, east of the town centre
On a hot summer's day on the coast of a small town in Kent, your ice cream fantasy (well, one of them) can be fulfilled!
Rio's Ice Cream operates from an ice cream van. And she works at the seafront outside the Hotel Imperial.
Not only does Rio serve up the best ice cream, she is friendly, courteous and patient (I often take my clients with learning disabilities to see her).
The view can be outstanding. Look across the Channel to France; watch the locals fish for mackerel from the rocks; take a walk up the Prince's Parade promenade; or sit in your car in the nearby car park and watch the walkers, cyclists, roller bladers, and dog walkers go by while you enjoy a double coned ice cream for £1 - not bad for Kent!
Hythe is just west of Folkestone on the A259.
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