197 Chatham – Rochester – Strood – Lower Upnor – Lodge Hill

The 197 is a quietly rewarding Nu-Venture service that stitches together the three Medway towns and then strikes north into the peninsula villages above the river. It begins at Chatham Waterfront Bus Station (Stop A4), where the wide quayside opens onto the tidal Medway and the masts of the Sun Pier are visible just downriver.

Leaving the waterfront, the bus passes Anchorage House and Hospital Lane before threading along the river road towards Rochester. The view through the window is dominated almost immediately by the keep of Rochester Castle and the squared towers of Rochester Cathedral, two of the most photographed silhouettes in Kent. The bus calls at Bath Hard Lane, Furrell's Road and the Community Hub, then drops passengers at Rochester Railway Station and the Guildhall Museum on the High Street, with its bow windows and Dickensian shopfronts.

From Rochester the route crosses the Medway by the Strood bridges. The river opens out wide here, with moored yachts, the Esplanade walk, and views back to the castle on its bluff. On the Strood side the bus calls at Canal Road and the Post Office before turning up through St Mary's Road and into Frindsbury, climbing past the English Martyrs Church and The Ship pub.

Beyond Frindsbury the suburbs of Wainscott take over, a sequence of quieter residential closes (Povey Avenue, Hollywood Lane, Jarrett Avenue, Greenfields Close) that gradually give way to open Hoo Peninsula countryside. The land flattens, hedgerows replace fences, and to the east you catch glimpses of the Medway estuary mudflats.

The most atmospheric stretch comes next. The bus drops down to Upper Upnor, calling opposite the Elizabethan artillery fort of Upnor Castle, built in the 1560s to defend the Royal Dockyard at Chatham. The cobbled village street, the timber-framed cottages and the Tudor Rose pub make this one of the prettiest corners of Medway. At Lower Upnor the road runs almost at river level, with views across to the Hoo Marshes and the masts of the Medway Yacht Club at Upnor Pier.

From the riverside the bus climbs inland for the final stretch, past Kirby Road and Swinton Avenue, before terminating at Lodge Hill Lane on the high ground above the peninsula. It is a short ride, but a satisfying cross-section of Medway: dockyard town, cathedral city, river crossing, Tudor fort and open peninsula sky.

The 197 makes a relaxed half-day out, pairing the cathedral city of Rochester with the Tudor riverside at Upnor. Start at Chatham Waterfront Bus Station, where the quayside cafes overlook the tidal Medway and you can pick up a coffee before boarding.

The first natural stop is Rochester, just a few minutes up the line. Step off near the Guildhall Museum on the High Street and you are within a short walk of Rochester Castle, whose Norman keep is one of the tallest and best preserved in England. Next door, Rochester Cathedral, founded in 604, is the second oldest in the country and well worth half an hour for its Romanesque nave and medieval wall painting.

The High Street itself is pure Dickens territory, with bow-fronted shops, the Six Poor Travellers House and Eastgate House all featured in his novels. There are plenty of independent tearooms and pubs for lunch, including the timber-framed Coopers Arms near the cathedral.

Back on the 197 across the Medway bridge, the bus climbs through Strood and Frindsbury and out into the lanes of the Hoo Peninsula. Alight at Upper Upnor, opposite the castle, for the highlight of the day. Upnor Castle is an English Heritage site with cobbled approach, riverside bastion and views across to the old dockyard. The village street running down to the water is a conservation area of weatherboarded cottages and the Tudor Rose inn.

A short walk along the foreshore brings you to Lower Upnor, where the Medway Yacht Club and the Pier pub sit right on the river. This is a fine spot for an afternoon drink watching the dinghies tack across the channel, with the Hoo Marshes opposite alive with curlew and oystercatcher.

From Lower Upnor you can either reboard for the short hop up to Lodge Hill, or simply catch the next 197 back through Strood and Rochester to Chatham, perhaps stopping again to see the Historic Dockyard before the day is out.