Canterbury is our first planned stop in England, and we are already super excited about the city. Canterbury has been known as a pilgrimage city for hundreds of years. Today, the city is best known for its Canterbury Cathedral (Christ Church Cathedral). The cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is worth a visit.

Because of the numerous pubs and the many small and large shopping stores, the city is popular with tourists as well as locals.

Park and Ride

Because the city is so popular and has been reaching its limits in terms of traffic for quite some time, there is a park and ride system. Similar to what we know here – only better. You pay 6 pounds for 24h parking. For this, the whole area is monitored, there are public toilets during the day and a shuttle is included, which drives into the city every 10 minutes. Important for us: it is expressly allowed to stand with a camper on the parking lot and to stay overnight. In addition, there is a disposal point and gray and fresh water. Sure, it’s not as beautiful of the charm of camping vacations, but for a city trip, where you are anyway in the city from morning to night, it’s ideal.

Boat Tour

The river Great Stour runs on two different arms through the middle of the (old) city of Canterbury. Various punting companies offer boat tours. These are ideal to get a first impression. We also decide to do such a tour and choose the Canterbury Punting Company. In a cozy pub directly on the river we buy two tickets and a coffee to go each and 10min later we are sitting in a small, flat punt. The tickets cost around 20 pounds per person and in high season it is recommended to book in advance on the website. For the next 45min we are sailed at a leisurely pace across the Great Stour and are told the history of the city, its buildings, and personalities with a dash of typical English humor. For us this is an ideal start in a new city.

Westgate Gardens

After the boat tour we stroll along the High Street, the main pedestrian zone of the old town and end up at the park at the western end of the old city walls. Here stands the last remaining city gate, hence the park is called Westgate Gardens.

Although the park is not very large, it is definitely worth a visit. An arm of the Great Stour meanders through here and everything is lovingly planted.

Cathedral

Of course, Mimi doesn’t miss the opportunity to visit the world-famous Canterbury Cathedral. At Butter Market Place is the Canterbury Cathedral Gate, where you can get a ticket for 14 pounds.

The oldest parts of the building that exists today were built in 1067. Although new sections were added to it over the following centuries, the cathedral appears to be one overall structure and not a patchwork quilt as you might think.

The cathedral is really beautiful and, above all, very large. It is best to let the pictures speak for themselves.