113 Chatham – Luton – Hempstead Valley – Wigmore

While the 113 is first and foremost a local service, it does tie together a surprisingly varied day out if you start at Chatham Waterfront and use the route as a way to explore the older and newer faces of Medway side by side.

Begin your morning around Chatham Waterfront itself. The bus station sits right on the river, a short stroll from the Sun Pier views across to Rochester and within easy walking distance of Chatham High Street, the Brook Theatre and the Command of the Heights heritage trail up to the Great Lines. A coffee and pastry in one of the independent cafes near the Pentagon Centre is a good way to ease into the day before boarding at Stand A3.

As the bus climbs into Luton, look out for the dense streetscape of late Victorian terraces and the spire of St Aidan's Church. Luton is one of the original villages absorbed into Chatham as the dockyard grew, and a wander around Bank Street and Castle Road gives a real flavour of working Medway, with traditional bakers and family-run shops still very much in evidence.

Stay aboard up through Hempstead and step off at Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre. The centre itself is a comfortable lunch stop, with a wide choice of casual restaurants and cafes under cover, useful on a wet Kentish afternoon. From here you are also within walking distance of Capstone Farm Country Park, a 113 hectare expanse of meadows, woodland and a fishing lake that is one of Medway's quiet treasures, with waymarked walks and excellent skylark country in summer.

Back on the bus, the loop through Wigmore and Parkwood is worth staying on for the views alone, as the road threads along the ridge with glimpses south towards the North Downs. The Queen's Head at Wigmore is a long-established local pub and a natural place to break the journey for a drink before continuing.

Returning towards Chatham, consider hopping off in Luton to walk down to the Great Lines Heritage Park, where you can pick up the path past the Royal Engineers' memorial and on to the Historic Dockyard Chatham. The Dockyard, with its Victorian warships, ropery and submarine, makes a superb late-afternoon finale before strolling back along the river to Chatham Waterfront.

It is a day that mixes shopping, green space, suburban character and serious maritime heritage, all stitched together by one unassuming local bus.