Hotel in Sidcup, London

Sidcup, often known as the gateway to Kent, is a quiet town in the south east corner of Greater London and the main district centre in the borough of Bexley.

It’s a mainly suburban place with numerous open spaces and a villagey atmosphere, though the town centre is lively enough with a number of high street stores, cafes, takeaways, Italian, Greek and Indian restaurants and pubs like Ye Olde Black Horse (43 Halfway Street, 020 8300 5373) and the lively Portrait (7 Main Road, 020 8302 8757).

Sidcup’s a stopping place for the stars of tomorrow as the town has two excellent performing arts schools: dance-focused Bird College (Birkbeck Centre, 020 8300 6004) and Rose Bruford College (Burnt Oak Lane, 020 8308 2600, www.bruford.ac.uk), a top drama school which counts Gary Oldman, Tom Baker and Tim Bell amongst its alumni.

Foots Cray Meadows south of Sidcup are a favourite of nature lovers and there’s a number of pretty churches in the area, not least All Saints (Rectory Lane, Foots Cray, 020 8303 7096).

Sidcup rail station – where Mick Jagger and Keith Richards reputedly agreed to form the Rolling Stones – is in Zone 5 and has trains to Charing Cross and Cannon Street taking around 35 minutes.

Sidcup: Tube (underground)

Sidcup: Rail (overground)