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Dover to London ..places to stop on the way


silkman

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We will be traveling from Dover to Heathrow (where we will stay overnight). I'd like to stop on the way at a couple of "tourist sites".

We have already been to Dover castle and Canterbury. I was thinking of stopping at Leeds Castle. Is that worthwhile? Are there any other suggestions as where to stop?

 

Thanks.

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Leeds Castle was one of our favourite stops while in England. Worth the stop IMHO>

 

Agree. Spent a very nice morning there a few years ago. Very nice place. In addition to the castle, there is an aviary and a hedge maze with an underground grotto (if you can solve the maze).

 

There's a few pictures of the castle here (London 2009) towards the end of this album.

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This past summer, we stayed in Canterbury pre-cruise for four nights...One day we took a "day trip" over to Sandwich--not far from Dover--and thought it fairly charming...

 

http://www.visitsandwich.co.uk/

 

http://discoversandwich.co.uk/

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandwich,_Kent

 

Of course, very near Heathrow is Windsor:

 

http://www.windsor.gov.uk/

 

If you've never been, worth a visit...

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Some years ago we toured GB with a car and these were the places we visited in the area (in addition to Leeds Castle):

Chartwell House, Hever Castle, Penshurst Place, Ightham Mote,Knole,Sissinghurst Castle Garden & Bodiam Castle.

You may wish to look at Fodor's or Frommer's (from a library) or search the internet and see which of these you may wish to add to your list as you cannot do them all.

Enjoy!

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Chartwell and Hever Castle are fantastic. We were fortunate enough to have one of younger Astors take one of the suits of armour apart to show us how it worked while we were touring Hever Castle. He noticed our interest and was listening in to our conversation while we were touring the castle. He then proceeded to walk us through the remainder of the castle giving us a private tour. That was one of my fondest memories of touring a castle. Now, I am going to give away that it was several years since I toured Chartwell as Churchill's ginger cat was still alive and decided that he liked me and jumped into my arms. As a result we were invited for tea with the caretakers and had a private tour of Chartwell. We were lucky I guess. I know my English hosts were thrilled to be included in the tour.

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Bodiam castle is gorgeous, a moated ruin that is is incredibly photogenic. If you are going to wander as far west as Stonehenge (in the previous recommendation), then by all means do not miss Salisbury and its splendid spired cathedral. The view of the cathedral from the Avon banks or the green is spectacular and inspired so many artists, including Constable and Turner. Of course, this might be a little too far west.

 

Hampton Court is another excellent stop, if you want to see it and Windsor for your history lesson.

 

The southern route to Dover through Southampton is quite scenic and includes Hastings and a few other historical treasures, plus some nice sea vistas in places. We did this drive last year going from disembarkation of a Baltic cruise in Dover to an embarkation the next day on the QM2 bound for New York.

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Chartwell and Hever Castle are fantastic. We were fortunate enough to have one of younger Astors take one of the suits of armour apart to show us how it worked while we were touring Hever Castle. He noticed our interest and was listening in to our conversation while we were touring the castle. He then proceeded to walk us through the remainder of the castle giving us a private tour. That was one of my fondest memories of touring a castle. Now, I am going to give away that it was several years since I toured Chartwell as Churchill's ginger cat was still alive and decided that he liked me and jumped into my arms. As a result we were invited for tea with the caretakers and had a private tour of Chartwell. We were lucky I guess. I know my English hosts were thrilled to be included in the tour.

 

I decided I should be traveling with you from now on :D

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We will be traveling from Dover to Heathrow (where we will stay overnight). I'd like to stop on the way at a couple of "tourist sites".

We have already been to Dover castle and Canterbury. I was thinking of stopping at Leeds Castle. Is that worthwhile? Are there any other suggestions as where to stop?

 

Thanks.

Try Tunbridge Wells and Rye.

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