Leaving the beautiful cathedral city of Canterbury the 'Crab and Winkle' cycle route mostly follows an old disused railway line. George Stephenson and his son Robert built the Invicta, the locomotive which ran on this line. The route passes through the ancient woodland of the Blean, and the fascinating 'Winding Pond'. The pond was built in 1829 to store the water that the steam winding engines needed to pull the passenger carriages up the hill out of Whitstable where Thomas Telford built the harbour. Isambard Kingdom Brunel inspected the route's railway tunnel, which is now closed off, the first in the world to take passenger trains.
Whitstable, with its working harbour, strange alleyways and quirky shops has restaurants galore to sustain you for the return trip. Yes, there is a hill up/down from the town at each end, but the main part of the route is fairly flat and wonderfully relaxing.
crabandwinkle.org/past.htm
Google map: bit.ly/HgoHiq