Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
from Canterbury East (Southeastern, about £7). Because of its importance as a ferry
port, there are regular National Express buses from London's Victoria Coach Station
until late (from about £7). If you're driving from London, once you're on the M25
heading east, you simply follow the M20.
VISITOR INFORMATION
Dover's
Tourist Information Centre
on Old Town
Gaol Street (
&
01304/205108;
www.whitecliffscountry.org.uk) is open June to
August, daily 9am to 5:30pm; the rest of the year, Monday to Friday 9am to 5:30pm,
Saturday and Sunday 10am to 4pm.
Discover Folkestone
(
&
01303/258594;
www.discoverfolkestone.co.uk), in Folkstone's Bouverie Place shopping center, is
open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.
Exploring the Area
The best view of the
white cliffs
is on board a ferry from France. Otherwise,
walk to the end of the Prince of Wales pier, the largest of the town's western docks.
From here, the cliffs loom above you. While you go to Dover for specific sights,
Fol-
kestone
is a much more attractive prospect as a town. It features winding streets
(including arty shops in the Creative Quarter), a grassy, cliff-top promenade, and a
pretty little quayside (with views of the white cliffs). The beach, a short walk down
the hill, stretches away into the distance. Just south of Folkestone is Hythe, from
where the
Romney, Hythe, & Dymchurch railway
(
&
01797/362353;
www.
rhdr.org.uk) runs along the coast to wild and windy Dungeness. The fishermen's cot-
tages made from old railway carriages provide stark contrast to the modern power
station. Here you'll find an
RSPB reserve
(
&
01797/320588;
www.rspb.org.uk),
a flat expanse of pebble beach and marsh that is home to seabirds and a stop-off for
migrant birds. It is open daily 9am to 9pm (or to sunset if that's earlier), and has a
visitor center (10am-5pm; until 4pm Nov-Mar); admission is £3 adults, £1 children
15 and under. Allow time for the locally caught fish and chips at the station's
Light
Railway Cafe
on the way back.
Deal Castle
CASTLE Deal Castle is one of the finest surviving Tudor artillery
castles and can be explored from top to bottom, including its dank passages. The
seafront fort, built around 1540, is the most spectacular example of the low, squat
forts constructed by Henry VIII; its 119 gun positions also made it the most powerful.
The circular keep was protected by an outer moat, the entrance approached by a
drawbridge with an iron gate. The admission price includes an audio tour.
On the seafront.
&
01304/372762.
www.english-heritage.co.uk. Admission £4.50 adults, £3.80
seniors, £2.30 children 5-16. Daily 10am-6pm.
Dover Castle
CASTLE Rising nearly 120m (400 ft.) above the port is one
of the oldest and best-known castles in England. Its keep was built at the command of
Henry II, in the 12th century, but the castle was returned to active duty as late as World
War II. Over the past several years the castle has been undergoing a multimillion-pound
makeover. Plenty has gone into the Great Tower, the interior of which is a multimedia
experience of the royal court of Henry II. It is considered the most ambitious attempt
to recreate a medieval palace in more than a century, with hangings, furnishings, and
other objects created by craftsmen. You can walk the battlements, laze on the lawns,
and see the Pharos, one of Europe's best-preserved Roman lighthouses. The castle also
houses the
Secret Wartime Tunnels,
60m (200 ft.) below ground, which actually
date back to medieval times. They were first adapted during the Napoleonic Wars to
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