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Otford

The heritage village of Otford dates back to Roman times with many listed buildings, including the only listed duck pond in Britain.

Explore the area's history on the self-guided Heritage Trail that tells the story of 28 village homes with watercolour illustrations detailing how each house might have looked in its prime. The trail also leads to Otford Palace, where a lone Tudor tower and gatehouse now remain on a site that was once bigger than Hampton Court.

Darent Valley
Otford Palace
Otford Solar System model. Photo: www.solarsystem.otford.info
Otford Solar System Model. Photo: www.solarsystem.otford.info

Otford is also home to part of, what is considered to be, the world's largest scale model, Otford Solar System, accurately depicting the position of the planets at midnight on 1 January 2000.

Featuring a pillar per planet, you can take a leisurely walk from the Sun pillar to each planet in the solar system. It takes around 1 hour 45 minutes to walk to every planet in order of proximity to the Sun pillar.

The village is a great base for exploring further on foot within the Darent Valley, with hilltop views, tranquil riverside paths and bluebell woods in spring.

From Otford railway station you can continue your journey along the picturesque Darent Valley railway onwards to Sevenoaks.

Extend your visit and explore Otford as part of our awe-inspiring architecture itinerary.

Getting to Otford by train
Catch a direct train from London Victoria with Southeastern (35mins), London Blackfriars with Thameslink (1hr), Sevenoaks (10mins) and Ashford (1hr).
Check times & book tickets

Accessibility at Otford Railway Station

Step-free access is available to platform 1 for trains towards London from the car park entrance. Step-free access to platform 2 for services towards Sevenoaks is available via side entrance ramp. Step free interchange between platforms is more than 400 metres.
A staff-operated ramp is required for step-free access between train and platform at this station. For more information and to book passenger assistance for your journey visit Thameslink assisted travel website.

For more station facilities please see Otford Station website.

Accessibility assitance at the station. Photo: GTR
Photo: GTR
map

Ways to save

You can often save money on your train tickets by booking them in advance. Look out for Super Off Peak and Off Peak tickets, offering great value for money when traveling outside peak times. Tickets can be purchased online from Thameslink or at the station. Consider buying a railcard (Senior, 16-25, Family & Friends, Disabled Persons, Two Together), to save 34% for most journeys.

Save money with 2 for 1 Days Out Guide. Download and print your vouchers from the Days Out Guide website, travel by train and show your voucher and train tickets when you arrive to get 2 for 1 entry into some of Britain's most favoured attractions.

To make your days out as enjoyable as possible, we encourage you to plan your trip in advance and check for disruptions before you start your journey. Visit our travel safe page to see what you can do to make planning easy.

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