Royal Tunbridge Wells is a Georgian spa town in the Weald of Kent, surrounded by some of the most scenic countryside in south-east England. The town earned its "Royal" prefix from Edward VII and has been associated with genteel respectability ever since, famously lending its name to the letter-writing "Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells."
The Pantiles is the town's architectural centrepiece, a colonnaded walkway dating from the seventeenth century that was the fashionable promenade for visitors taking the waters at the chalybeate spring. The spring still flows and you can taste the iron-rich water for free. The Pantiles is now lined with independent shops, restaurants and a weekly farmers' market.
The town sits at the edge of the High Weald, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The rocks on Tunbridge Wells Common, dramatic sandstone outcrops in the middle of the town, are popular with climbers and walkers. High Rocks, just outside town, is the bigger and more serious climbing venue, and the Spa Valley Railway runs heritage steam trains out into the Wealden countryside. Penshurst Place, six miles north-west, makes the best day trip for its medieval hall and walled garden.
Tunbridge Wells is about 50 minutes by train from London Charing Cross.