We've bought BritRail 4 day Flexipasses for day trips out of London. I've been discussing destinations with my parents, and it looks like one day will be to Dover and Canterbury. Dover is a little over two hours from London Victoria station on the train, and Canterbury is 16-27 minutes (depending on the train) closer to London. In Dover, we're planning on visiting Dover Castle. We can stand on the top of the white cliffs, but it's a bit hard to really see them from that angle.
Canterbury has many attractions, the most well-known being its cathedral. Also on my list is St Augustine's Abbey, the Canterbury Roman Museum, St Martin's Church (the oldest church in England still in use as a parish church), and the Canterbury Heritage Museum. I'm not sure we'll have enough time for it all, but there are many more places to see if we get through that list!
We've also become members of the Historic Royal Palaces, the organisation that looks after the Tower of London, Kensington Palace, the Banqueting House, Kew Palace and Hampton Court Palace, so we're hoping to get to all of them. By becoming members, we qualify for the HRP new members tour of the Tower of London, held after hours (and being high season, it will be great to see it without the crowds). I rang London one night last week to make sure we have places booked on the tour.
Our other purchase has been the English Heritage Overseas Visitor Passes, giving us free entry to any of hundreds of properties on the English Heritage list for 16 days. Dover Castle is one of those, and once we've decided on where our other day trips will be, I'll check what else is in the area. Eltham Palace, southeast of Greenwich, is looking good, and there are quite a few properties within London itself.
But for now, I need to concentrate on finishing off a list of jobs required by the end of the financial year. Trip planning will have to wait for a week!
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