Maidstone is the county town of Kent and is located on the River Medway, southeast of London. Once a major centre for the brewing and papermaking industries, today Maidstone is home to a number of smaller light industries as well as being a major commuter base for London and elsewhere in Kent.

Home to more than 75,000 people, Maidstone ranks amongst the top five shopping locations in the southeast of England, with more than 1 million square feet of retail space. Maidstone's newest shopping centre, Fremlin Walk, exemplifies the changes that have taken place over the years - it was built on the site of an old brewery in the centre of the town.

Popular attractions for visitors to Maidstone include Leeds Castle. This medieval castle sits on two islands in the middle of a lake, which in turn is at the heart of 500 acres of beautiful parkland. This setting has earned the castle the soubriquet of "the loveliest castle in the world" and it has been used as a setting in a number of television series and films.

Maidstone is well connected with direct rail services to London and Ashford (for the Channel Tunnel). It has good road links, too - the A20 runs through the town with the M20 (Dover - M25) motorway running close by as well. Slightly to the north are the M2 and Rochester while to the south-west lies Tonbridge.

Van hire in Maidstone is never a problem - the town's rental companies offer a full range of hire vans:

• Medium / short wheelbase vans - e.g. Ford Transit, Vauxhall Vivaro, Renault Trafic, Volkswagen Transporter
• Small vans - e.g. Vauxhall Combo, Ford Transit Connect, VW Caddy
• Large / long wheelbase vans - e.g. Mercedes Sprinter XLWB, Ford Transit LWB, Renault Master, LDV Maxus
• Luton vans & box vans (3.5 tonne / 3.5t).