Length: 1 Day (Day trip from London) | Budget: $
After a few splendid weeks in London, Kevin and I decided to venture out to the English countryside for a breath of fresh air. We weren’t sure where to go, so we decided to do a quick scan of destinations within an hour’s train ride of London and randomly landed on Canterbury. Neither of us knew very much about Canterbury (we had heard of the book by Chaucer but that was about it), but a quick Google Search taught us that Canterbury was home to a large cathedral, was located in the district of Kent, and was an UNESCO World Heritage site.
TIP: If you’re going to visit Canterbury, make sure to start the day early! Most of the tourist attractions close early in the evening (around 4pm).
Morning
We took the express rail from St. Pancras Station on Saturday morning – within an hour, we were off the train and walking out of the Canterbury West Station. Our first stop was exploring a medieval gatehouse called Westgate Canterbury and the surrounding Westgate Gardens. The gate of the city wall is about 60-feet high, and it’s the largest, oldest surviving city gate in all of England.
TIP: Buy your rail tickets in advance if you can. We bought our tickets a week early and only spent 34.50 pounds for two return tickets. Buying tickets on the day of would’ve cost us almost double!
We then made our way along the River Stour (while admiring the river punts and the flocks of ducks playing in the water) to the Norman Castle ruins. This ruined castle is one of the oldest in England, and was built by William the Conqueror around 1070. You’re supposed to be able to walk into the castle and climb part of a tower, but unfortunately, it was closed when we visited.
Afternoon
From the Norman Castle, we walked along the city walls towards the Dane John Gardens (also known as the Dane John Mound) to get a birds-eye view of Canterbury.
Lunch was at a quaint (but famous) teahouse called Tiny Tim’s Tearoom where we enjoyed a quintessential British lunch of smoked kippers, baked beans with a meatloaf puff pastry, and scones with jam and clotted cream. I have to admit that we had a slightly embarrassing scene at Tiny Tim’s – we mistook the clotted cream for butter and made a point to ask our waitress for the clotted cream that we had spent a whole pound fifty extra for. Her response was paired with an appalled facial expression: “Do you mean, you want MORE clotted cream?”
We walked off lunch by making our way towards St. Augustine’s Abbey where we explored the large grounds of abbey ruins. St. Augustine’s Abbey was founded by St. Augustine in AD 597, marking the rebirth of Christianity in southern England. The abbey, together with the cathedral and St. Martin’s Church (oldest church in England), make up the Canterbury World Heritage Site.
Evening
Last but not least, we made our way to Canterbury’s most well-known attraction, the Canterbury Cathedral. The verdict? It was by far our favorite part of the trip! The cathedral is absolutely beautiful. We happened to visit when the sun was just starting to set…between the last remnants of sun shining through the array of stained glass windows and the cathedral choir practicing for service, it was quite a magical and chilling experience. If there’s one thing you do in Canterbury, definitely make it this!
Before making your way back to London, make sure to take a leisurely stroll along Canterbury’s High Street to explore the shops. If you can, grab drinks or dinner at a local pub (favorites are The Cricketers or the Eight Bells). Or, if you happen to be craving chinese food, you’re in luck…..Canterbury has a a wide array of Chinese restaurants at your disposal (no seriously, we thought it was absolutely bizarre how many there were!).
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