Somewhere for lunch and walk in Kent

[SpikyHatePotato]

I'm meeting some friends for the day, in a couple of weeks while they're travelling from near Bristol to Dover (for the ferry). I live in north-east London, so meeting somewhere near the M25/M2 in Kent seems to work - they need to be at Dover between 4 and 5pm.
We'd like to get a nice lunch, a bit posher than an ordinary pub, but not super-gourmet, and go for a bit of a walk, maybe 2-3 miles.
I've found loads of possible walks, but they are all in the countryside, and the friends are unlikely to have hiking boots etc with them, and early March can often mean ankle-deep mud!

Can anyone suggest somewhere to eat and walk, with tarmaced or gravelled paths, please? We probably wouldn't have a lot of time to go round a country house or castle, so wouldn't want to spend a lot of money on entry fees.
Thank you!

Maidstone would probably be a good bet Op, it has lots of restaurants and some nice historic bits if you find time for a wander

Also Faversham is lovely.

I was going to suggest Faversham. Or Whitstable.

Folkestone. Lunch in the Pullman then a walk along the seafront to the Leas or Sandgate. Nice and flat and a really lovely walk. Or go up from the Leas into the country park. Really lovely and not far from Dover.

I second that. Been there a few times, lovely food.
Then a walk along the harbour. Near to Dover too..

Samphire Hoe in Dover All paved. Great views.

St Margaret at Cliffe for lunch then a walk up to the Dover Patrol Memorial on the cliffs and back.

A frequent lunchtime/afternoon outing of ours.

Deal is lovely, betteshangar park has a good walk and lots of nice restaurants in deal. Or you could do a pebble beach walk, the zetland arms is a nice pub on the beach in Kingsdown