Dover Castle Visit.

[Shipswap]

Our ship will be doing an overnight stop in Dover this July. We wish to see Dover Castle but it is not one of

the offered excursions, therefore we will be on our own. Any suggestions as to the best way to go about this?

Thanks 

[PhilbeachTraveller]

Easy! Just get a taxi to take you there. It's not far but way up a hill. If you like walking, then you can walk back as it's all downhill, otherwise arrange a taxi collection but give yourself plenty of time to visit. There are two tour events to do which each take about an hour but, as it's July, it'll probably be busy so you may have to queue for them. Places to have lunch and there is a little 'train' that can take you round to different places if you need it. 

[dogs4fun]

5 hours ago, Shipswap said:

Our ship will be doing an overnight stop in Dover this July. We wish to see Dover Castle but it is not one of

the offered excursions, therefore we will be on our own. Any suggestions as to the best way to go about this?

Thanks 

We took the shuttle bus - the shuttles ran every 20 minutes. The bus stopped in the town center & at Dover Castle - cost was 6 GBP when we visited.  It appears that the shuttles are still available when ships are in port:

http://www.ymstravel.co.uk/blue-bus-company

Edited January 16, 2020 by dogs4fun

[Shipswap]

Thanks Folks.  We appreciate your help!

 

[phabric]

Take a taxi both ways, arrange for a taxi back at a certain time or get their phone number and ask someone to call them if you don’t have a phone.  I sometimes have asked someone to call a local number since I don’t have a phone for overseas.   I went with my sister, she reads all the signs and spend the whole day there.  There were no taxi around when we left and had to walk down many, many stairs to town.

 

The Dover Castle are ruins, not rooms with furniture like other castles.  You need to line up to see the tunnels as you go in groups.  I was there for the 1pm gun, and take their trolley train.

 

 

Edited January 18, 2020 by phabric

[John Bull]

44 minutes ago, phabric said:

The Dover Castle are ruins

 

 Hmmm, can't agree with that.

The vast majority of the buildings, including the main keep, are in remarkably good and complete condition.

Yes, very little furniture but instead there are plenty of artefacts.

 

This (Corfe Castle, damaged in the English Civil War) is what "castle ruins" look like

 

 

Or Portchester Castle, near Portsmouth 

 

And this is Dover Castle

 

JB 

[John Bull]

Going thro the web for a photo of Dover castle I came across this Rick Steves video.

I'm not usually as impressed by Rick Steves as others, but this one's pretty good if a litle incomplete (no inside views of the keep, and no mention of the medieval tunnels on the northern side of the castle).

But eight out of ten from me.

 

 

JB 

Edited January 18, 2020 by John Bull

[dogs4fun]

Yes, certainly not ruins! We found the castle very impressive. Inside the Great Tower there were several rooms that had been recreated to reflect the time of Henry II. We spent about 4 hours at the castle - plenty to see! 

[phabric]

I wanted people to know it is not furnished room after furnished room after furnished room like most castles.  We spend the whole day there.

[John Bull]

49 minutes ago, phabric said:

I wanted people to know it is not furnished room after furnished room after furnished room like most castles.  We spend the whole day there.

 

 

Hi again, Phabric,

 

In fact most castles in Britain are ruins.

Some, like Portchester, have suffered centuries of decay with only the stone remaining, thus no floors, roofs, etc. You can stand on the ground (first) floor of Portchester's keep and look up at the sky.

Others, like Corfe, have suffered the ravages of war with big parts of the structure damaged, skewed or destroyed by trbuchet or cannon or mining.

 

But if you're comparing Dover to the likes of the castles at Windsor, or Arundel, or Hever, or the (comparatively) recent re-modelling of Leeds castle then yes, Dover's sparse furniture will disappoint.

 

Much more chance of seeing beautifully-furnished interiors at palaces & stately homes rather than defensive castles.

Places like Longleat or Highclere. Or Osborne House on the Isle of Wight

 

JB 

Edited January 18, 2020 by John Bull

[Sauer-kraut]

Room after furnished room are usually not castles, they are palaces... 😉

[Shipswap]

Well we cancelled the 2021 cruise into Dover but are booked now for this May.

This time we only have one day in port and have some difficult choices to make in regard to excursions. 
Leeds castle has alway appealed to me but Dover Castle is on my bucket list. Thought?

As there is no ship excursion to Dover, are taxis and buses easy to find? 
With so many cutback after the pandemic, I’m not sure what to expect.
 

 

 

[Shipswap]

Just a follow up with the exclusion to Dover Castle. I have read that the 

‘ war tunnels’ have been closed for restoration. We will be visiting this May.

Does anyone know if they will still be closed?

Thank you.

[John Bull]

3 hours ago, Shipswap said:

Just a follow up with the exclusion to Dover Castle. I have read that the 

‘ war tunnels’ have been closed for restoration. We will be visiting this May.

Does anyone know if they will still be closed?

Thank you.

 

Hopefully you'll ge a better answer from local CC member Philbeach, but my web-ferreting hasn't found any references to the tunnels beng closed for restoration.

 

The entire castle & tunnels were closed during the Covid lockdowns.

The tunnels remained closed for most (all?) of the time when Covid was rampant because of the risk of infection in such a confined and un-ventilated environment.

Some of the tunnels have always been closed except for special groups.

No doubt there have been times when sections have been closed for repair (the main castle keep was closed for a couple of days this year due to storm damage).

 

English Heritage's Dover Castle website is up-to-date and doesn't mention any long-term closure of the tunnels that are normally open to visitors.

 

JB 🙂

[Shipswap]

Thankyou John Bull.
Perhaps the Covid closures of the tunnels at Dover Castle was what was being referenced. I will follow your suggestions for research. 

[phabric]

I took a taxi from my Dover hotel to the Dover Castle August 2018. My sister reads every sign and going into the tunnels so we spend the whole day there. There was no taxis waiting at closing time.  We had to walk down a lot of stairs to get to town. We did not have a phone service to call a taxi.

 

Tell your taxi a time to return or take their phone number and maybe ask a staff member to call if you don’t have a phone service to call.

 

The tunnels had a schedule time for entering so check the time so you can line up.