Whitstable, GB

A tiny candyfloss-pink shopfront on the High Street that has been shucking oysters since 1856, making it the oldest restaurant in town. The front counter sells to take away; the four-table back parlour does a short, brilliant seafood menu that punches well above any starred competitor. Best for a long lunch if you can get a booking, or a dozen oysters at the counter if you cannot.

Stephen Harris's Michelin-starred gastropub stranded behind the sea wall at Seasalter, two miles west of Whitstable, where the menu is built around local marsh lamb, ingredients foraged from the saltings outside, and oysters from the beds in front. The room is unfussy pub; the tasting menu is one of the most quietly celebrated meals in the country. Best for an unhurried lunch with a long drive home.

The seafront restaurant in the Royal Native Oyster Stores, a converted oyster warehouse where the family still farms the beds you can see from the terrace. Gingham tablecloths, brick walls and a no-nonsense seafood menu built around their own natives and rocks. Best for a long afternoon table with the tide going out in front of you.

Nikki Billington and Paul Watson's clifftop sharing-plates room above Tankerton Slopes, with sea views from almost every table and an open kitchen turning out Mediterranean small plates built on local seafood and meats. The calamari and the charcuterie boards have a cult following. Best for a relaxed long lunch or an early dinner before walking the slopes.

An all-day bistro on the High Street with a black-and-gold deco frontage doing brunch through dinner, with kedgeree, eggs benedict and a strong locally landed catch of the day. Chef Billy Stock's cooking is unfussy and seasonal. Best for a long weekend breakfast or a midweek dinner that does not need booking weeks ahead.

A family-run French bistro on Harbour Street, in the same hands since 1993, serving classic French cooking with local seafood and Kent ingredients. Tightly packed tables, soft lighting, candles in bottles, the works. Best for a date night when you want proper bistro classics rather than reinvention.

Upstairs above the harbour fish market with full-height windows looking straight down onto the working quay, named after the 1830 Canterbury-to-Whitstable railway. The menu is straightforward seafood, with the platters and the lobster as the regular orders. Best for a sunny lunch when you want a view as much as the food.

A no-frills oyster shack on the sea wall behind the Whitstable Oyster Company, run by the same family, where you order oysters, lobster, fish and chips and a paper bag of hot doughnuts and eat them sitting on the wall. The shucking happens at the counter in front of you. Best for a quick beach-side seafood fix without a sit-down booking.

An independent corner shop and cafe on Nelson Road in the back streets behind West Beach, doing speciality coffee from Garage Coffee Roasters alongside cooked breakfasts, lunches and a tight all-day menu. Locals treat it as a second kitchen. Best for a slower weekday breakfast away from the High Street queues.

A counter operation tucked inside The Offy bottle shop on the High Street, where David Brown builds made-to-order focaccia sandwiches with proper mozzarella, beef tomatoes and cut herbs that locals will quietly tell you are the best in town. A few stools and pavement tables, no hot kitchen. Best for a sandwich lunch to take down to the beach.

A family-run cafe-cum-newsagent on Harbour Street that has been pulling a loyal local crowd since 1994, doing cooked breakfasts, soups, jacket potatoes, homemade cakes and proper coffee. No table service, a laid-back room and a prized first-floor window seat. Best for a slow Sunday breakfast with the papers.

An independent ice cream shop on Harbour Street churning unusual flavours like stem ginger, marmalade and salted caramel alongside the classics, with a tiny back courtyard for sitting. The queue down the pavement on a sunny day is part of the experience. Best for the walk back from the harbour with a double scoop in hand.

A 7.5-mile traffic-free path between Whitstable Harbour and Canterbury, laid along the old 1830 Canterbury and Whitstable Railway, the first regular steam passenger line in the world. It climbs gently through Clowes Wood and the RSPB's Blean Woods, with one or two pubs along the way. Best as a one-way ride or walk with a train back from Canterbury West.

A flat eight-mile coastal stretch of the long-distance Saxon Shore Way, leaving Whitstable along the sea wall through Seasalter, crossing the marshes and tidal creeks of the Swale, and finishing at Faversham's medieval centre. Open skies, big bird life, almost no shade. Best on a clear day with the train home from Faversham.

A short two-mile out-and-back along the cliff-top lawns of Tankerton Slopes east of the harbour, past the line of beach huts and out as far as Long Rock at the Swalecliffe end. Flat, easy and dog-friendly, with The Street appearing at low tide on the way out. Best at falling tide for the spit, or at sunset for the colour off the huts.

A roughly seven-mile loop that strings together the West Beach, Whitstable Harbour, Tankerton Slopes and a short inland leg back through quiet residential streets. Flat the whole way, mostly seafront, with stops for coffee, fish and chips or a pint along the route. Best as a half-day amble with several built-in pit stops.

A multi-purpose community arts centre a few minutes from the harbour with rotating exhibitions of local artists, a maker-focused shop, a small cinema programme, comedy, live music, classes and workshops. The accessible building has a lift to all floors. Best for an unplanned hour browsing on a rainy afternoon or a film night.

A tiny 159-seat theatre on the High Street, owned and run by the Lindley Players amateur dramatic group since the 1940s, putting on plays, musicals and the annual pantomime. The intimate room means there are no bad seats. Best for a cheap, local-flavour night out that you would not get in a bigger town.

Britain's oldest brewer, in continuous operation in Faversham since 1698, runs an 80-minute guided tour of the working brewhouse with a tasting at the end. The Old Brewery Store with its vintage delivery vans and recreated cooper's workshop is part of the visit. Best as a morning or early afternoon trip from Whitstable, easily done by train.

A tiny micropub at the sea end of the High Street with a rotating chalkboard of at least four real ales, sixteen ciders and a thoughtful wine list, run by people who know every cask. Quirky decor, no music, no TV, no kids, conversation only. Best as a quiet evening stop after dinner for a proper pint.

A working harbour at the foot of the High Street where fishing boats still land their catch beside a cluster of weather-boarded huts now selling crab rolls, oysters, art and crafts. It is the town's centre of gravity at weekends and the obvious place to start. Best for a wander with a paper cone of something seafood-y in hand.

A late 18th-century octagonal tower-house set in three acres of free public gardens above the seafront, with rose beds, a tea room in the Orangery and a wooden pirate playground that kids love. The castle interior is mainly used for weddings, but the grounds are the real draw. Best for a low-key hour away from the harbour crowds.

A mile and a half of grass slopes above the beach east of the harbour, lined with the candy-coloured beach huts that show up on every Whitstable postcard. At low tide a half-mile shingle spit called The Street emerges and you can walk straight out to sea on it. Best at falling tide, ideally with an ice cream from the kiosk at the bottom of Marine Parade.

A small volunteer-run museum on Oxford Street covering the town's oyster trade, diving heritage, and famous resident Peter Cushing, complete with his Star Wars slippers and a full-size Dalek. The gallery upstairs rotates work by local artists. Good for a rainy half hour and worth the modest admission for the Cushing room alone.

The stretch of pebble beach west of the harbour where lines of small wooden huts in muted blues and reds run right down to the Old Neptune pub. Less photographed than the Tankerton ones but quieter, with the working oyster beds visible just offshore. Best at sunset when the western sky lights up behind the pub.

The oldest street market in Kent, mentioned in the Domesday Book and still trading three days a week under the stilted medieval Guildhall in Faversham's centre. Saturdays are biggest, with local food producers added to the regular fruit, veg and household stalls. Worth the short drive or train hop from Whitstable for the market plus the handsome old town around it.