Day Long Bus Tour or On Our Own?

Posted by bugsycar (Chicago, IL) on 11/25/18 03:30 PM

We will be spending a week in London during the last week of march. My family and I spent 3 weeks in England, Scotland and Paris just this past June, and this will be a special trip including my parents who have never visited Europe. :)

We plan to do a couple day trips outside of London, but will be spending about 4 days doing things in London. One of the day trips we are looking at is to Canterbury. I have seen they offered bus tours, many including Leeds Castle, Canterbury, and the cliffs at Dover. My concern is that this seems like a full itinerary- would we have enough time to explore these places? It would be neat to see these places too though!

I am comfortable navigating England's trains (we took train trips all over in June - York, Edinburgh, London) - would a train out to Canterbury on our own be a better choice? Is there enough sight seeing in the town to focus our time on just Canterbury?

Thanks for any advice. Canterbury and the surrounding area was a place we did not make it to on our first trip.

Posted by Nigel

Northamptonshire, England

11/25/18 03:57 PM

33994 posts

A bus will never get to Canterbury as fast as a high speed Javelin train from St Pancras International.

The Cathedral is unique, as is its history. The old town is well worth seeing, and both stations are close to the centre.

The view of the Dover cliffs is best from the water - not from the land. Dover itself struggles to rise to the level of a dump. Dover Castle is excellent. Dover has a station which has trains connecting with the Javelins back into St Pancras and also the conventional trains into Charing Cross.

Leeds Castle is a neat place. Easiest by car or perhaps the coach to which you refer, but is it including a visit (hard to see how a coach day trip could include all three places and see any of them in any detail) or a "see" which means a drive-by?

There will be scaffolding up on the front of Leeds Castle until the end of March. The shuttle bus between the station and Leeds Castle doesn't start until April, but a private service is available in the winter - see their website.

I think 3 places on that journey is one and a half too many. YMMV.

Posted by Suki

11/25/18 03:58 PM

11608 posts

A day trip to Canterbury by train would be much easier on all of you and you’d be in control.

Posted by acraven

Washington DC

11/25/18 05:16 PM

28247 posts

I made a do-it-yourself day-trip to Canterbury just a few months ago. Very easy. I don't know what the offerings will be like in March, but in September the tourist office ran at least two walking tours per day. I enjoyed the one I took. The old town is pretty, and you can spend a good bit of time just walking the streets. The cathedral is impressive, of course.

Posted by Continental

New York, NY

11/25/18 06:44 PM

4071 posts

The train to Canterbury West from St Pancras is 1 hour -- so easy, comfortable and convenient. If you want a day trip to Canterbury, take the train. There is a plenty to see in one day and you can buy a ticket with an open same-day return so you control when you want to return to London. I did this the 1st week of April last year and loved it.

Posted by bugsycar OP

Chicago, IL

11/26/18 02:58 AM

97 posts

Wonderful! Thank you for the advice. We'll plan to do the day trip on our own and focus on exploring the town, the cathedral, and popping in the shops. Have any of you been to The Canterbury Tales visitor attraction (with characters in costume for the time period)? Wondering if this might be a fun activity - we will have my three children (ages 6-11) with us.