NX007 Dover – Canterbury – Hempstead Valley – London Victoria

The 007 is National Express's daily coach link between Dover and London Victoria, threading together the Cinque Ports, the cathedral city of Canterbury and the southern fringes of the capital. It's a working long-distance service rather than a sightseeing tour, but the route reads like a slow geography lesson in eastern Kent: white cliffs, downland, Roman towns and the gentle slide into south London suburbs.

Setting off from Dover's Pencester Road stop, the coach climbs out of the harbour town with glimpses back over the ferry port and the chalk headland of the Western Heights. The road west traces the contours of the North Downs, and within a quarter of an hour the coach is pulling into Folkestone on Bouverie Road West, the town's elegant Leas just a short walk south above the Channel.

From Folkestone the A2 corridor leads inland through orchard country and hop-growing villages towards Canterbury. The coach makes two calls at the city: first at the New Dover Road Park and Ride, with the bell tower of the Cathedral visible above the rooftops, then at the central bus station on St George's Lane, a minute's walk from the medieval gates and the precincts of the World Heritage cathedral close.

North of Canterbury the route picks up the University of Kent at Keynes College, perched on the hill at Tyler Hill with a long view back across the city to the cathedral tower. The coach then drops down towards the coast at Whitstable, calling at Long Reach, before heading west along the Thames Estuary fringe to Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre, the modern retail park serving the Medway towns.

The final leg pushes on into Greater London via Eltham Road and Westhorne Avenue, calling at Lewisham, New Cross Gate and Walworth's Burgess Park before terminating at Elephant and Castle and Victoria Coach Station in Belgravia. It's a slow, scenic way to travel between Kent and the capital, and a useful one-seat ride that joins together places normally separated by changes at train stations.

The 007 makes a brilliant slow-travel day out between Kent and London, and the most rewarding stop along the way is Canterbury, where the coach calls twice and you can spend several hours within a few minutes' walk of the bus station.

Starting from Dover Pencester Road, give yourself time before boarding to wander down to the seafront and look up at Dover Castle, the great Norman keep crowning the cliffs above the harbour. The Western Heights and the start of the North Downs Way are both within walking distance of the stop.

As the coach reaches Folkestone Bouverie Road West, it's worth knowing that the Leas clifftop promenade, the Harbour Arm and the Creative Quarter on the Old High Street are all a short walk away, ideal if you fancy breaking the journey for an hour of sea air and independent galleries.

Stepping off at Canterbury Bus Station puts you straight inside the city walls. Canterbury Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a few minutes on foot through Mercery Lane and Christ Church Gate. Nearby you'll find the ruins of St Augustine's Abbey and the Roman Museum, all part of the same World Heritage inscription.

For lunch, the Goods Shed at Canterbury West is a celebrated farmers' market and restaurant in a converted Victorian railway shed, a short walk from the bus station. Afterwards a punt on the Great Stour through the old city gardens is a lovely way to see Canterbury from water level.

Continuing on towards London, the coach calls at Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre, a useful stop for the Medway towns, with Rochester Castle and Cathedral a short onward bus ride away. Once across the Thames, alight at Lewisham or Elephant and Castle for south London's markets, or stay aboard to Victoria Coach Station for the West End, Buckingham Palace and the Tate galleries.

Whether you treat the 007 as a scenic ribbon between two world-class destinations or break the journey for a day in Canterbury, it's a genuinely useful single-ticket way to see a long sweep of Kent.