My Favourite Underground Attractions in Kent: 15 Hidden Gems

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ll know that I’m absolutely obsessed with industrial buildings and heritage in Kent. But lately, I’ve been thinking that some of the most fascinating parts of Kent are actually right under our feet!

I’ve always been fascinated by train history, hidden tunnels, and the kind of industrial heritage that usually stays locked behind a rusty gate. There is something totally magical about stepping away from the daylight and discovering a world of chalk tunnels, secret bunkers, and ancient mysteries.

I’ve been exploring these hidden gems since I moved to Kent nearly 30 years ago – a passion that started with caves exploring when I was growing up.

It’s also been great to see so many of these attractions, like Deep Fan Shelter, Ramsgate Tunnels or Fort Burgoyne being restored and opened up to everyone lately. In this guide, I’ve included my favourite underground attractions in Kent, that are open to public (most of the time…) and I challenge you to visit at least one this year!

1. Ramsgate Tunnels

I was lucky enough to visit when the Ramsgate tunnels opened to public in 2014 and more recently re-visited to take another tour and see the WWII exhibition.

Originally, this is a network of disused Victorian railway tunnels, which were given a new lease of life when they opened in June 1939 – just in time to serve as underground air raid shelters for the local population.

At any point there could be up to 60,000 people living here!

The guides are super knowledgeable and told us stories of the thousand of people who rushed inside for shelter and safety once the air raid sirens sounded. 

It’s a bit chilly and very atmospheric, which means you might want to bring a jumper, even in summer. And if you’re brave enough try the blackout tour!

My local tip: It’s best to book online before you arrive, as the tours are very popular and often get booked up. Even if you don’t get the chance to do the tour, visit the free exhibition at the entrance and stay for a cup of tea and homemade cake served in the retro tea room.

• Location: Marina Esplanade, Ramsgate CT11 8FH (near the beach)
• Opening Times: Usually 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, but tours run at specific times.
• Tickets: Adults are £12.00, Seniors (60+) and Students are £10.00, and Children (aged 3-16) are £8.00. If you have little ones under 3, they go for free!

2. Chislehurst Caves

This is the big one! I remember first visiting about 25 years ago when there was just the original entrance to the caves through the door and no large shop or tearoom as it is now. One thing that hasn’t changed (which I’m always super excited about) is that they let you carry a real oil lamp as you walk through the caves.

But, Chislehurst caves aren’t actually natural caves, but a sprawling 22-mile labyrinth of ancient chalk and flint mines that date back as far as the 13th century. It’s fascinating to learn that some parts of the tunnels might have been even dug up by Romans and that before they were used as a massive WWII air-raid shelter for 15,000 people, the tunnels were used for growing mushrooms. And I totally love, that the caves are still owned by the same mushroom growing company, today!

There are even stories about Druids and haunted pools, which can be a bit spooky but it’s great fun to hear the guides tell the tales. On top of that the caves were a world-famous rock music venue in the sixties!

My local tip: There is a fab little tearoom on site with friendly staff and more importantly homecooked pies, all day breakfasts and cakes! The tours are leaving the main entrance (inside) every hour (on the hour) so if you miss it (which is what we did) you can have a bite to eat!

• Location: Caveside Close, Old Hill, Chislehurst, BR7 5NL
• Opening Times: Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00 – 16:00 (Daily during school holidays)
• Tickets: Adults £8, Children (3-15) £6, Seniors £6

3. Kent Mining Museum at Betteshanger Colliery

Betteshanger was the last of the four great East Kent collieries to close, and it’s a place that’s really close to my heart. While you can’t go deep into the original mining shafts anymore, the Kent Mining Museum (which is part of the newer Betteshanger Park) does a fantastic job of taking you back to that industrial world.

It’s built right on the site of the old colliery, and I love how they’ve used the original spoil heaps to create this massive, rolling landscape for cycling and walking.

It’s a must-visit for anyone who, like me, is fascinated by the coal mining history in Kent and industrial heritage. The museum is packed with personal stories from the miners who worked the deep seams of local collieries. I think it really gives you a sense of the sheer scale of the machinery used and the camaraderie of the men who spent their lives underground here.

My local tip: If you want to explore the local mining history more, you can follow the Miner’s Way path. I walked it in several sections over a few days, but you can pick any part you like or start from just outside the Betteshanger Park. The path connects all the other collieries, villages and towns, including Aylesham a town that was built purposefully for the mining community.

• Location: Betteshanger Park, Sandwich Road, Deal, CT14 0BF
• Opening Times: Daily, 10:00 – 16:00
• Tickets: Entry to the museum is free, though there is a small parking charge for the park itself.

4. The Shell Grotto, Margate

Shhh, don’t tell anyone, but this is probably the most mysterious place in the whole of Kent. Where else would you find a winding underground passage decorated with 4.6 million shells! The best bit? Nobody actually knows who built it or why. Was it a pagan temple? A Victorian folly? A secret society meeting place? I love that we still don’t have the answer.

This 70-foot long underground tunnel was discovered by accident in 1835 when a local man lowered his son into a hole that appeared while they were digging a duck pond.

• Location: Grotto Hill, Margate, CT9 2BU
• Opening Times: Daily 10:00 – 17:00 (Summer), Wednesday to Sunday (Winter)
• Tickets: Adults £4.50, Seniors £4, Children £2

5. Fan Bay Deep Shelter, Dover

If you’re walking along the White Cliffs from Dover towards St.Margaret’s (my favourite walk, by the way!), you might not even realise there is a massive WWII tunnel complex right beneath you. This was built on the personal orders of Winston Churchill.

The shelter was carved into the White Cliffs in just 100 days during 1940, these tunnels provided a bomb-proof home for the brave troops manning the nearby gun batteries. After being filled with rubble and forgotten for decades, the National Trust finally unsealed and restored them, opening the heavy steel doors to the public for the first time in 2015.

Last time I visited, I was struck by how raw it feels compared to other sites. You have to wear a hard hat and use a torch, which makes it feel like a real adventure!

My local tip: If you miss the guided tours inside, you can take the top path to walk by the three large batteries and bases for large guns. The first one has been uncovered and you can see it from the path (the guide told me that there are no plans to uncover the other two, as they look exactly the same and of course it would need to quite a lot of extra funding.

• Location: Langdon Cliffs, Dover, CT16 1HJ
• Opening Times: Specific tour days (usually March to October)
• Tickets: Adults £10, Children £5 (Managed by National Trust)

6. Secret Wartime Tunnels at Dover Castle

This is exactly the same hill as Fan Bay, but a much more “high-tech” experience. These tunnels were first hollowed out in the 1790s to house troops during the Napoleonic Wars. They were later transformed into a top-secret command centre where, in 1940, Vice-Admiral Ramsay directed the incredible rescue of over 338,000 soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk.

There are amazing projections and sounds that make you feel like you’ve stepped back into 1940. If you’ve never been before, the “Operation Dynamo” tour is an absolute must when you are visiting Dover castle.

• Location: Castle Hill Road, Dover, CT16 1HU
• Opening Times: Daily 10:00 – 17:00
• Tickets: Included in castle entry (Adults £30, free for English Heritage members)

7. Underground Hospitals (Dover Castle & Erith)

Built in 1941 as a bomb-proof dressing station, this tunnel complex allowed surgeons to operate on wounded soldiers even during the air attracts on the Britain coastline. It was an interesting experience to walk through the wards because they’ve used sounds and smells to make it feel like you’ve stepped right back into a busy WWII medical unit.

I thought I will also mention here, that the Dover Castle hospital is Grade II listed building and there is only one more such hospital – the X-ray bunker at Erith & District Hospital, which also technically in Kent and very local to me.

The Erith Underground Hospital (The “X-Ray” Bunker) was originally built in 1938 as a bomb-proof casualty station and it’s half-submerged concrete bunker is one of the only surviving civilian underground hospitals in the country.

The Bunker’ was originally designed to support the emergency medical services during and post WWII and joined the wider NHS in 1948.

For over 70 years, it famously served as the hospital’s X-ray department. I always loved the irony of going underground to get a scan, and while the medical department has recently moved to a new suite, the “Bunker” remains a perfectly preserved piece of local wartime architecture.

• Location: Castle Hill Road, Dover, CT16 1HU
• Opening Times: Daily 10:00 – 17:00
• Tickets: Included in Castle entry (Adults £30, free for English Heritage members)

8. The Ossuary at St Leonard’s Church, Hythe

This one is a little bit macabre, but I think it’s fascinating. Beneath the church, you’ll discover the largest and best-preserved collection of ancient human bones and skulls in Britain (and there is only one more in the whole Britain). There are over 2,000 skulls shelf-lined in the crypt! It’s a quite a small space, but unexpectedly powerful to see.

It’s widely believed that these remains were moved from the surrounding graveyard to the crypt starting in the 13th century simply to make more room for new burials as the local population grew.

My local tip: There are plenty more things to see in Hythe, so you can easily make the whole day trip of it.

• Location: Oak Walk, Hythe, CT21 5DN
• Opening Times: Monday to Saturday 10:30 – 16:00 (May to September)
• Tickets: Adults £5

9. Gravesend Cold War Bunker

This is a real time capsule from the 1950s. It’s a hidden 13 room command centre built to keep the local government running if a nuclear bomb hit London. It’s located right under a public park!

It’s a fascinating, compact space that still feels incredibly spooky, especially when you see the authentic communication equipment and the domestic fallout room they’ve preserved inside. You can also see the old telex machines, the plotting maps, and the heavy blast doors.

• Location: Woodlands Park, Gravesend, DA11 7RE
• Opening Times: Select open Sundays throughout the year organised by the Gravesham Council
• Tickets: Usually free or a very small donation

10. Margate Caves

Just up the road from the Shell Grotto in Margate is another underground gem. Originally used as an 18th-century chalk mine, these caves stretch for about 150 metres and were famously rediscovered in 1863 when a local gardener accidentally broke through into the cavern. The caves were also used as 1930s air-raid shelter for the nearby community.

My local tip: There is a small souvenir shop and cafe inside, so it’s a perfect stop if you are visiting Margate and the weather is not that great.

• Location: Northdown Road, Margate, CT9 1FG
• Opening Times: Daily 10:00 – 17:00
• Tickets: Adults £4.50, Children £2.50

11. The Grand Shaft, Dover

The Grand Shaft is such a unique bit of engineering. It was built during the Napoleonic Wars in 1802 and it’s triple-spiral staircase that drops 43 metres through the cliff to link the Western Heights barracks with the town below. It’s a massive feat of engineering, designed with three separate flights of stairs so that 700 soldiers could rush down to the seafront simultaneously without ever bumping into each other.

The Grand Shaft is only open once a month during the main season, but if you do get the chance to go, do it! You’ll find it’s a bit of a workout for the legs, but the view from the bottom looking back up the shaft is pretty awesome.

• Location: Snargate Street, Dover, CT17 9BZ
• Opening Times: Third Sunday of the month (April to September) 10-4pm
• Tickets: Free, but donations are welcomed (Managed by Western Heights Preservation Society)

12. Western Heights & Citadel

Western Heights is one of the most impressive defensive forts in Europe, and it’s practically a city within a hill.

It was built during the Napoleonic Wars and heavily upgraded in the 1860s to defend against a French invasion that never came. What makes the Citadel so special are the deep-cut dry moats and the network of counter-mine tunnels. These were designed so soldiers could literally pop out of the ground to surprise any enemy who managed to get into the ditches.

Even though the main Citadel is now used for other purposes and isn’t always fully accessible, the surrounding parts of the fort and bastions have some incredible brickwork and tunnel entrances that you can see as you walk around.

• Location: Citadel Road, Dover, CT17 9DP
• Opening Times: The outer ramparts and moats are open for walking year-round. The Western Heights Preservation Society has “Open Weekend” during September, where they unlock the deeper tunnels and the Drop Redoubt. There are also guided tours of Drop Redoubt once a month (usually 2nd or 3rd Sunday each month)
• Tickets: Walking the heights is free; guided tour days usually cost around £5–£10.

13. The Higham & Strood Railway Tunnel (The Canal Tunnel)

I have to include this one because it’s a place I travel through all the time, and the history is just incredible! Originally, this wasn’t for trains at all, it was the Thames and Medway Canal, dug back in the 1820s to give sailing barges a shortcut so they didn’t have to navigate the dangerous waters around the Isle of Grain. The tunnel was 2.25 miles long and it is the second longest canal tunnel ever built in Britain!

This is also the largest (or highest, if you will…) tunnel in Britain – all together 35 feet high. You can still see how unusually high the roof of the tunnel is compared to a normal train tunnel. This is because it had to accommodate the large 60-ton Thames sailing barges (with their masts lowered, of course!).

But by the 1845 the canal was less than profitable and a single train track was built on the side of the tunnel, sitting partly over wooden stilts right over the water. Eventually, the boat traffic seized completely and they eventually filled in the canal to make room for the double tracks we use today.

Keep your eyes peeled halfway through the tunnel. The train will suddenly burst into daylight for a few seconds before plunging back into the dark. Because the water canal was only ‘one way’, this was the “passing place” dug in 1830 so that the large barges could get past each other.

Also if you’re at the very front or back of the train, you might notice the tunnel is perfectly straight for over two miles, which considering that the tunnel was dug up with only hand tools was a complete engineering wonder of the 19th century.

• Location: Between Higham and Strood Stations (North Kent Line)
• Opening Times: Accessible only via South Eastern or Thameslink train services (or you can see the tunnel entrance from either train station if you follow the line on the nearest roads to the tunnel)
• Tickets: A standard train ticket between Higham and Strood (approx. £4–£6)

14. Samphire Hoe Nature Reserve (The Shakespeare Shaft)

I absolutely love this place because it’s a living, breathing piece of engineering history. You’ll find it nestled right at the foot of the iconic Shakespeare Cliff. Most people come here for the sea breeze and the rare orchids, but the reality is that the very ground you’re walking on didn’t even exist before the 1980s!

This entire 30-hectare nature reserve was created from 4.9 million cubic metres of “spoil”—the chalk dug out to create the Channel Tunnel. But the “underground” story here goes back much further than the 1980s. I’ve enjoyed finding the traces of the original 1880 attempt at a tunnel; they actually managed to dig about 2,000 yards out to sea using a massive compressed-air boring machine before the government got nervous about a French invasion and pulled the plug!

Later, it became the Shakespeare Colliery—Kent’s very first coal mine. It was a bit of a disaster, honestly, constantly flooding and eventually closing after only bringing up a tiny bit of coal.

You have to drive (or walk) through a narrow, traffic-light-controlled tunnel that cuts right through the cliff to reach the reserve. I think it’s fun to visit just for that!

The large building at one end of the reserve is a massive cooling plant for the modern Channel Tunnel. It’s full of giant fans that keep the tunnels from overheating.

My local tip: If you have the energy after exploring the Hoe, walk back up through the access tunnel and follow the North Downs Way path from Folkestone to Dover along the cliff top. You’ll get the most magnificent view of the reserve from above and if you carry on walking towards Dover, the path will take you through the Western Heights and the Citadel.

• Location: Samphire Road (off the A20), Dover, CT17 9FL
• Opening Times: Daily 07:00 – dusk (usually 19:00)
• Tickets: Admittance is free! You just pay for parking (approx. £2 for the day).

15. Fort Burgoyne (The Forgotten Fortress)

You’ll find Fort Burgoyne sitting on the high ground just north of Dover Castle. It was originally built in the 1860s (back when it was called Castle Hill Fort) because the military realised that if an invading army captured this hill, they could literally fire down into Dover Castle! It’s a classic “Palmerston Folly”—massive, expensive, and thankfully never actually needed for a French invasion.

What I love about Fort Burgoyne is how it’s transitioning from a closed-off military site to a community focused attraction. I’ve enjoyed seeing how the Land Trust is bringing it back to life since they took over the fort in 2014. While the main fort is still mostly closed for safety (unless there’s a special event or one of their popular ghost hunts!), the West Wing Battery is now open for us to explore.

There’s a brilliant sound installation called ‘I Would Rather Walk With You’ by Emily Peasgood, which blends choral music with archival recordings of soldiers—it’s quite moving and really brings the empty stone rooms to life. You can also get a view inside the massive 12-metre-deep ditch that surrounds the fort. It’s a serious bit of earthworks!

My local tip: Since there isn’t much formal parking at the fort itself, I usually park in the little layby on Dover Road or walk up from Connaught Park. It’s a bit of a climb, but the views across the English Channel from the gun platforms make it absolutely worth it.

• Location: Dover Road, Guston (near Dover Castle), CT15 5LP
• Opening Times (West Wing): Wednesday to Friday, 10:00 – 16:00 (Check for weekend events in summer)
• Tickets: Entry to the West Wing and surrounding recreation ground is free!

This blog post was originally published on 13 March 2026 and last updated on 13 March 2026