Canterbury worth a 2 night stay?

Nothing at all wrong with two nights in Canterbury, the town itself is a pleasure. Most of the crowds are around the cathedral and they thin out pretty quick as the day goes on.

Maybe slide down to the castle at Dover for a while one day.

Skipping Bath is pretty smart. Do the same on the next seventeen trips.

Thanks Pensacola. Since we will be coming from Venice, the LAST thing we want is throngs of people! Do you know if a local train or bus goes to Dover from Canterbury? Have found room availability at "Ebury Hotel" but not yet booked. On Tripadvisor I'm reading mixed reviews, although most bad ones are a few years old.Do you know about any accomodations there? Thanks.

Only times I've stayed there it was with friends, no help there.

Also, I drive everywhere, so I'm a dud on public transportation. I know in my heart there's a train, but I ain't going there and getting slapped silly by the folks who really know how to do it. They'll be along shortly.

Trains from Canterbury to Dover are about every half hour with journey times taking about 20 mins to half an hour depending on which train you catch.

Check times on National Rail Enquiries.

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/en/s/planjourney/

Canterbury and Dover are both nice day trips- staying in Canterbury might make seeing both easier. If you are still uncertain, you might consider York for 2 nights. It is a great place to visit.

Karen, we too will probably be arriving later than I'd like. We fly into Gatwick about 1;30 pm, and then must go through customs etc, then catch the train to Canterbury through Victoria station. We will probably go to Dover on our "whole day", take in the castle and tunnels, and then do the Cathedral in the morning of our departure day..returning to London.

We thought about simply staying in London and doing a day trip to Canterbury and Dover, but experience has taught us that it is too easy to feel like we have to rush and get everything in our itinerary, and we wind up frustrated, and frazzled.Thanks to all who have given input. Cheers!

If you buy return train tickets from London to Canterbury you will be entitled to these 2 for 1 entrance ticket offers in Canterbury for the duration of your stay. Just remember to hold on to both parts of your ticket ie don't hand in your used outward ticket when you arrive. See the terms and conditions.

Similarly, your train ticket to Dover will work for Dover Castle.

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/attraction-types/landmarks.aspx?county=kent&page=

Thank you Linda...good info. Anything to save a GBP!We so enjoy visiting Great Britain, even though the prices on things seem to go up every year.

And "2 nights" can be a deceiving term. We were in Canterbury for 2 nights and it was well worth it because we arrived very late the first day - just in time for dinner, then bed. We enjoyed the town of Canterbury for the whole of the next day - lots of little things to do and a very nice atmosphere. We stayed around the next morning only long enough for breakfast and to talk to another family who gave us good driving tips for our next destination. So, even though I pride myself on not doing "1 nighters", looking back, there are many times when the 2night is really only 1 day!

Watch out for the cathedral on departure day. Sticks in my mind that you might not be able to walk up and get in -- first available entrance time might be a couple of hours away. Have no idea how you might be able to schedule ahead of time.

Hmmmm....good point, Ed. I'll email the hotel I booked in Canterbury and see if they can get us tickets for our departure day for as soon as the cathedral opens. Plenty of time to tend to that detail. Good thing is...we don't have anything in London we have to be there early for, so we can take a late afternoon train if need be.

The Cathedral may be closed, or have limited access, when services or special events are taking place. Otherwise if the Cathedral is open you can just go in, no need for advance booking. You can check on the Cathedral website for upcoming closures.

http://canterbury-cathedral.org/events/closures.html

The site also has guidance on visiting the Cathedral.

Go with Linda. The scoundrel is always right. Could have been something odd when I was there; seems as if we had to kill time and wait to even get in the gate to look around without actually going inside.