Central Beach Holiday Park

The salt tang hits you before you've even stepped out — this is Leysdown, where the Swale meets open sky and the Isle of Sheppey feels properly end-of-the-road coastal. Central Beach Holiday Park sits right on that frontier, the kind of spot where caravans and campervans line up facing the breeze.

This is classic Kent seaside territory for families after bucket-and-spade days and couples who like their coast unfussy and their pitches hooked up to electric. Leysdown's beach is a stone's throw away — wide, sandy when the tide's out, popular with kite-fliers and dog walkers when the wind's up. It's not chocolate-box pretty, but it's honest and properly bracing. Dog policy's worth checking ahead if you're bringing a four-legged friend along.

Pitches come with electric hook-ups, and campfires depend on what's allowed when you arrive, so ask at reception. The vibe's relaxed and traditional — deck chairs, windbreaks, fish and chips within walking distance. If you want quiet countryside, look inland; if you want that raw, breezy, slightly nostalgic British seaside feeling, you're in exactly the right place.