Discovering the South Eastern Coast of England: Dover

Ahhh the Southeastern Coast. A place I have spent much time exploring and my favorite part of England. In this series of posts I’ll do my best to give good recommendations and thoroughly describe this wonderful bit of coast in full detail. Let’s start with…

Dover!-

Rolling white cliffs, beautiful stone beaches, and a marvelous castle packed with history; what’s not to love! The city of Dover is located right on the beach on the Southeastern Coast, 78 miles from London, about a two hour drive. Dover is the furthest point out into the channel and where most ferries depart from. On a good clear day, you can see France! I will talk more about the Ferry services later on. There are some wonderful camping sites along the beach, and many trails along the cliffs. Consider Dover for your holiday this year!

The Sights:

• Dover Castle- Of course this makes the top of the list! Dover Castle is full of history from middle ages to World War II. The castle takes a whole day to discover. From the entrance you can see the barracks and little side houses before making your way to the castle itself. There is also a tram that can take you from one side to the other because the grounds are so big. If you climb to the top of the tower you get amazing views of the cliffs, countryside, and port. Dover Castle is run by English Heritage, so if you are a member go check it out! If not well not a problem! You can buy tickets at the door for GBP 20 for Adults or GBP 12 for children. The Castle is open 7 days a week 10am to 6pm. You can also opt for the tunnels tour which takes you through the tunnels created for WW II, there is also a tunnel that was used as a hospital! Overall Dover Castle is a fun way to spend the day and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting the area. You can find more information here.
• White Cliffs- Dover is famous for its beautiful white cliffs. There are many paths and places to see these lovely cliffs. And don’t forget the pretty beaches too! You can find more about walking on the cliffs here.
• Dover Harbour Beach: This beach may seem out of place as it is surrouded by the port and there are many ships coming in and out. However the water is clean and nice and the beach is nice and sandy. There are many shops on the sea front and places to eat. You can sit, relax and watch the ferries arrive and depart.
• Tours – There are many good tours that can take you around the city, the port, the countryside and the cliffs. One cool tour is the Dover Sea Safari. You can take a thrilling boat tour from Dover and see the wonderful coast the sea!

Accomodation-

• Travelodge Dover- A good budget option for a quick getaway.
• The white Cliffs Hotel
• The Dog at Wingham – A cute B&B

I also recommend checking out Airbnb for some good deals on rooms, apartments, or even houses to stay in.

Transportation-

• Train- From London you can take the train to Dover. The best one for this is taking the high speed train with Southeastern from London St. Pancras Int’l to Dover Priory for about GBP 30-40 one way. More information on that here.
• Coach Bus- You can take a direct coach from London Victoria Coach Station to Dover town center or Dover port for about GBP 15-25. This bus is called National Express.
• Local Bus- There is a local bus service called Stagecoach which can take you to dover from many locations including Lydd, Greatstone, Hastings, New Romney, Dymchurch, Hythe, Folkestone, Deal, Canterbury, Ashford and more.

Happy Travels!