If you're visiting Medway for business or pleasure you are sure to be spoilt for choice when it comes to places to dine.

In Rochester High Street there's a superb choice of restaurants and bistros, serving dishes from around the world, with outside al fresco dining encouraged during the summer.  There are quaint cafes with mouth-watering cakes and pastries to choose from and pubs offering traditional lunches. It is worth looking out for the daily specials that can be found on blackboards outside various premises.

On the second Saturday of each month, the Rochester Artisan Market takes place.  Visitors can browse around a variety of stalls from independent suppliers ranging from handmade crafts, collectables and quirky gifts to mouth watering cakes and pastries. 

If it's dining near the waterfront that takes your fancy, a visit to Chatham Maritime is a must. Here you can have a pub lunch next to an attractive marina - try out Mexican, Chinese, succulent steaks at the many restaurants around the Dockside shopping complex.  

More restaurants can be found at Medway Valley Park, Rochester, just off the M2 motorway (junction 2) or at Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre in Gillingham.

If gourmet pubs are more your thing then a gentle drive through the more rural parts of the area will take you to picturesque villages and towns where you can discover family-run pubs serving homemade dishes for lunch and dinner.

Beer lovers should look out for local brews in pubs and restaurants produced by the dockyard's Nelson Brewery, where up to 100 barrels a week are produced with nautical themed names to correspond with the surroundings in which they are brewed.

For gin and tonic lovers, a visit to the Copper Rivet Distillery located at Chatham Maritime is a must.  Here you can take a guided tour and view the whole distillery process, create your own drinks and enjoy a G&T on the waters edge overlooking an attractive marina and Upnor Castle.