101 Gillingham – Historic Dockyard – Chatham – Bridgewood – Maidstone

The 101 is one of Arriva Kent's longer Medway workhorses, a circular ride that strings together county town, dockyard heritage and the post-war estates of Gillingham and Twydall in a single sweep. Departing Maidstone Chequers Bus Station, the bus threads through Pudding Lane and Earl Street before passing Brenchley Gardens, where the war memorial sits among mature planes, and pulling up at Maidstone East Railway Station.

Climbing out past the Kent History and Library Centre and Springfield, the route picks up the long ridge road north towards Ringlestone. This is the most open stretch of the journey: hedged fields, the edge of Cobtree Golf Course and a sudden sense of being out on the North Downs proper, with the Medway valley dropping away to the right.

The descent into Chatham is brisk. The bus rolls past Asda and through the Davis Estate, with its 1930s semis and quiet avenues named for de Havilland aircraft, before swinging down Horsted Way. Through Wallace Road and Huntsmans Corner the streets tighten, terraces of yellow stock brick stepping down the hillside towards the river.

At Chatham Railway Station the route drops to the Waterfront Bus Station, where the Medway broadens between Rochester and Chatham and the masts of HMS Gannet are sometimes visible across the water. From here the bus runs along the dockyard wall, past Fort Amherst's chalk ramparts and up to the Main Gate of the Historic Dockyard itself, a long brick frontage that has barely changed since the days of Nelson.

Climbing through Brompton, the bus passes the Royal Engineers Museum and Mid Kent College, then drops into Gillingham proper. Medway Park, Jeffery Street and Victoria Street follow in quick succession, the town centre busy with shoppers around Britton Farm Mall. Beyond Duncan Road and Livingstone Circus the journey turns residential, looping out through Barnsole and the long avenues of east Gillingham towards Twydall.

The Twydall loop is the route's quirk: a careful figure of eight through Featherby Road, Goudhurst Road and the Evangelical Church before retracing the line back through Gillingham, Brompton and Chatham. Returning over the Bridgewood ridge in the opposite direction, the views across to Blue Bell Hill and the Medway gap open up once more before the bus rolls back down past Springfield and into Maidstone for the final stops at St Faith's Street, The Cannon and Mill Street.

The 101 makes a satisfying day out for anyone wanting to stitch together the county town of Maidstone with Medway's maritime heritage in a single loop. Start at Maidstone Chequers Bus Station with a wander through the old town, picking up a coffee on Earl Street and a quick look at the ragstone tower of All Saints' Church beside the Archbishop's Palace on the river.

As the bus climbs out past Ringlestone and over the Bridgewood ridge, settle in for the long descent into Medway. The view across to Blue Bell Hill on a clear morning is one of the best from any local bus in Kent, and the run down through Davis Estate and Horsted Way gives a real sense of how Chatham spills down its hillside towards the river.

Hop off at Chatham Waterfront Bus Station for the day's centrepiece. Walk a few minutes along the river to The Historic Dockyard Chatham, where you can spend hours among the covered slips, the Victorian Ropery and the preserved warships including HMS Cavalier and the submarine Ocelot. Fort Amherst, with its Napoleonic tunnels carved into the chalk, sits just above the bus stop and is well worth an hour of its own.

Rejoin the 101 at the Dockyard Main Gate and continue to Brompton, where the Royal Engineers Museum tells the story of military engineering from Wellington's bridges to modern bomb disposal, with a vast collection that includes a Harrier jet and Wellington's funeral carriage map case.

Back on the bus, ride into Gillingham for lunch around Britton Farm Mall or a stroll through Medway Park, where the war memorial gardens make a quiet pause. Cricket lovers might detour to the Bat and Ball ground where Kent occasionally play; in season the Twydall loop also passes the modest but characterful Gillingham Football Club ground at Priestfield, a short walk from Victoria Street.

For the return, stay aboard for the full loop back over Bridgewood to Maidstone. Finish the day with a wander down to the Lockmeadow riverside, dinner at one of the riverside pubs near the Archbishop's Palace, and an evening stroll along the towpath as the lights come up on Maidstone Bridge.