I've been wanting to go to the southern part of England and see Canterbury and Dover for awhile now. In all the trips I've made to England, I've never quite been able to make it to this part of the country. This time I was determined to make it happen. We also happened to be in this part of the world over Easter weekend, so timing of things was a bit tricky.
Fortunately I had found a nice looking B&B in Canterbury, lost in the English countryside. After getting stuck in horrendous English traffic, finding this hidden place in the dark was a bit tricky, and somewhat frustrating. But we found it, and our host was kind, accommodating, and wonderful. We were the only guests the two nights we were there, so that also made things nice. Breakfast was a beautiful array of fruit, yogurt, and a full English breakfast. I even had some wonderful English tea as well.
But our first stop was the famous Canterbury Cathedral. We wanted to try to get there early so we could beat the crowd and get in a lot of sightseeing that day. Because this was Easter weekend, much of the main portion was closed for the Easter program practice.
I was disappointed we couldn't see the main area, but then I didn't even think of Easter when I was planning my trip.
I'll pay better attention to that next time. However, the parts of the cathedral we did get to see were still lovely and beautiful. It's amazing how many beautiful buildings can last for so long in the history of the world.
After stopping at the cathedral, we then took a drive down to Dover Castle. It was a beautiful drive, and we lucked out with not too many tourists. However, it was incredibly windy. Makes sense since it's on a cliff overlooking the English channel. It was a clear enough day that we could even see France. Amazing. I didn't realize that Dover castle is spread throughout the cliff, with many buildings to see on different levels.
We first went to see the tunnels used during the war. Of course they don't allow pictures in this part of the castle, but it was fascinating to see and hear the stories of how they were used, and what happened during WWII. From there we wandered up the steep cliff face to see the other parts of the castle, complete with an ancient Roman lighthouse. It was definitely worth seeing, and we spent most of the day there exploring. So easy to do. And the views were pretty amazing too. 
After seeing the castle, I had to make one last stop to see the famous Cliffs of Dover. The walk along the cliffs is long, and steep in some areas.
My dad doesn't like heights, so we didn't walk too far before deciding to turn back. Plus the wind had picked up even more, and the rain was starting to come down hard. Cold, wind and rain on a cliff didn't seem like the best of combinations, so we didn't stay long. We ended our day in a cozy, warm pub before heading back to our B&B for the night. Definitely a fun day, with surprising sunny clear weather. We timed our visit well.
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