133 Chatham – Rochester – Strood – Cliffe Woods – Cliffe

The 133 is one of those workaday Arriva services that turns out to be quietly scenic once you settle in by the window. Beginning and ending its loop in the village of Cliffe, out on the lonely fringe of the Hoo Peninsula, it links the marshland villages with the dense, historic heart of Medway before turning around and heading back again.

Picking the bus up at The Six Bells in Cliffe, the first few minutes are a slow trundle past Norwood Close and the old station site, with brief glimpses across the flat fields towards the Thames Estuary. The bus then climbs gently through Cliffe Woods, a post-war village in a clearing of mature trees, before dipping back down through Wainscott past Mockbeggar Farm. The hedgerows here are deep and the views open out across orchard country towards the chalk ridge of the North Downs in the distance.

At Frindsbury the character changes sharply. Suburban closes (King Arthur's Drive, Clarendon Drive, Slatin Road) give way to the long descent into Strood, with the Medway suddenly appearing below: a wide tidal river framed by cranes, warehouses and the spires of Rochester on the far bank. The bus crosses the river and the historic core of Rochester opens up, the Norman keep of the castle and the cathedral tower visible together in one sweep as you pass the Guildhall Museum.

Through Rochester High Street the route passes the railway station, Star Hill and Jacksons Fields, all Dickens country, before slipping along into Chatham past St Bart's Hospital. The descent into Chatham Waterfront Bus Station is one of the more dramatic urban arrivals in Kent, with the curve of the bus station set against the masts and rooftops of the Historic Dockyard beyond.

From Chatham, the bus loops back through Huntsmans Corner and Holcombe, retraces the run through Rochester and Strood, then climbs once more onto the peninsula. The light changes noticeably as you leave the towns behind; the sky widens, the houses thin out, and by the time the bus is rolling back into Cliffe past the village club and The Six Bells, you feel as if you have travelled much further than the map suggests.

The 133 makes a genuinely interesting day out if you treat it as two halves: the rich, historic Medway towns at one end of the route, and the wild Hoo marshes at the other. Starting from Chatham Waterfront Bus Station gives you the easiest access by rail and the widest choice of shops and cafes before you set off.

Before boarding, it is worth walking the short distance from the bus station to Chatham Historic Dockyard. The Georgian and Victorian buildings here cover eighty acres and include HMS Cavalier, the submarine Ocelot, and the ropery where rope was made for the Royal Navy for over four centuries. It is easy to spend half a day among the slipways and forges alone.

Reboarding the 133 and heading back towards Rochester, hop off at Rochester Guildhall Museum. The High Street here is a long ribbon of independent shops, antique dealers and tearooms in timber-framed buildings. Rochester Castle, with its tall Norman keep, sits in a green park above the river, and Rochester Cathedral, the second-oldest in England, stands just opposite. Both are within a few minutes' walk of the bus stop.

Charles Dickens spent much of his childhood and final years in this area, and the connections are everywhere. Restoration House on Crow Lane is the model for Miss Havisham's Satis House in Great Expectations, while the Six Poor Travellers House on the High Street features in his Christmas story of the same name.

Back on the bus and across the river, Strood is a good place to stretch your legs along the Medway towpath, with views back to the castle and cathedral. The route then climbs into the quieter villages of Frindsbury and Wainscott, where the pace of the day slows considerably.

The final stretch out to Cliffe is the highlight for nature lovers. Alight near The Six Bells and walk down to the RSPB Cliffe Pools reserve, a network of former clay pits now flooded and alive with wading birds, terns and, in winter, huge flocks of wigeon and dunlin. The footpaths give big views across the Thames towards Essex and Canvey Island.

Round off the day with a pint at The Six Bells before catching the bus back into Chatham, where the waterfront restaurants make a relaxed end to a route that packs in Norman castles, Dickensian streets and one of the most atmospheric stretches of estuary in the South East.