The Stunning Castle of Dover
For a while now I’ve been telling everyone that I wanted to visit Dover for the white cliffs, and most people looked at me like I was mad. Though they agreed the cliffs are pretty, they found it a bit odd/random that I’d want to visit Dover. So when Sam said we could go for the cliffs and a castle, I, of course, took him up on it without hesitation.
Getting to Dover from London was easier than expected, with a fast train from London St. Pancras it took just about an hour. And to our surprise, it was less expensive to get round trip tickets than it is to get to Reading. I suggest looking into getting a railcard if you’re eligible because the savings can be major. We have a Two Together Railcard, which saved us 1/3 of the ticket price.
When we ‘landed’ in Dover we were starving, so the search for a nice café with breakfast and a good latte was the top priority. We luckily found a lovely café along the high street that had everything we were looking for. The adorable café was called The Allotment. The food was great, the staff was friendly and helpful and the décor was cosy and welcoming. If I’m ever in Dover again, I’ll be sure to come back for afternoon tea and a scone.
After filling up on espresso and breakfast, we started our journey towards the castle. There was a stone wall bordered walkway up a steep hill we found that brought us all the way up that was quaint and also exhausting, but well worth the trek. We’d arrived at the Dover Castle entrance with a stunning view of the tower entrance. There were even some goats staring us down that greeted us.
Dover Castle is the first castle I’ve visited in the UK, and it was a stunner. I imagined the times when the castle was in its prime operating state, with people bustling the hallways and kitchen prepping the evening dinner. Some of the most interesting areas were how they defended the castle. The moat and slits in the walls where archers would post up were really interesting. The castle was beautiful, but I’m sure those times were a bit scary and tense.
We walked the entire grounds, including the underground hospital that was in operation during the world wars. I suggest going on those tours, it’s a bit of history that wasn’t that long ago in retrospect.
We considered signing up for the English Heritage membership, since it had some really cool historic sites included, but in the end we decided to pass. If you are interested in the locations that are included, here’s the link and more information about the membership: english-heritage.org.uk
As for the white cliffs of Dover… they will have to wait. The weather wasn’t great, and we figured we’d rather spend the time inside getting warm over a pint at a quirky harbour bar called Cullin Yards in the harbour. After 2 pints, we were spent and called it a day. We had walked over 8 miles, and climbed over 75 flights of stairs according to Apple health… But those are the best types of day trips out of London – the ones that don’t make you feel guilty about drinking that extra pint of lager or glass of wine {or vodka}.
