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Enjoy a Day Trip From London to Canterbury ( videos )

Canterbury is perhaps most famous for its Cathedral which is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England. The Archbishops of Canterbury have been the head of the Church in England (Roman Catholic from 602 to the 16th century and Anglican ever since the Reformation) from the time Canterbury was founded by Saint Augustine. The Cathedral is also the burial place of King Henry IV and Edward the Black Prince, and was the scene of the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170.

You can visit the Cathedral and marvel at its wondrous architecture. It's easily found in the middle of the city atop a small hill.

Something else the city is famous for is the Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century. The story tells of the tales told by a group of pilgrims on a pilgrimage from Southwark to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.

Today you can visit the Canterbury Tales museum located in the centre of town on St Margaret's Street, just off the main High Street. In the museum you can take a step back some 500 years to the 14th century and meet all the characters as they each tell their tale.

The rest of Canterbury has an interesting mix of architectural styles. Some were lost forever as a result of the bombings during WW2. Other landmark buildings include St Martin's Church, the oldest parish church still in use, and there's even evidence of the original Roman walls; St Augustine's Abbey, formerly a Benedictine Abbey; and Canterbury Castle, ruins of a Norman castle built in the 11th Century.

There are a number of other museums and attractions to visit within the city such as:
The West Gate Tower used to guard the road coming in from London. You can climb to the top of the tower and see the Cathedral towering over the rest of the town. The inside of the tower houses a museum.

The Roman Museum which is located underground at the level of the old Roman town. Inside you will see some of the preserved remains and reconstructions of what life was like when the Romans ruled most of the known world.

The Canterbury Royal Museum and Art Gallery is found on High Street and gives you an excellent example of Victorian Architecture. The gallery includes works from T.S. Cooper, one of England's more famous artists.

There's also the Buffs Regimental Museum, which is a branch of the National Army Museum, and tells the story of one of England's oldest infantry regiments The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment).

The Sidney Cooper Gallery displays local art and is connected to the University Building.

The Canterbury Computer Gallery of Art is located on the High Street and displays a small selection of digital art.

Located just a little outside Canterbury is the Sarre Windmill which is still grinding corn. There's also the town of Dover, and its famous white chalk cliffs, just 25 kms away along the A2.

How to get to Canterbury?

Canterbury is located in Kent, to the east of London City, some 150 kms drive from Heathrow Airport so the journey shouldn't take much more than an hour and a half.

When driving out of the airport head for the M25. Once you're on the M25 you will want to travel south in an anti-clockwise direction. Stay on the M25 for about 70kms until you can turn off onto the M26 which joins up with the M20. After 13 kms on the M20 you will be going around Maidstone and you will have to option of turning off at Junction 7 onto the A279 which will get you onto the M2. This road eventually becomes the A2 and will take you the rest of the way to Canterbury.

If you are driving out of London City then you will simply need to get onto the A2, which starts close to Greenwich, and this will take you all the way to Canterbury.

Enjoy your trip to London and remember if you need to book car hire, check out our Car hire Heathrow Airport page.

Mairead Foley writes for http://www.Novacarhire.com/ where you can book car hire at airports, ferry ports, rail stations, cities and towns all over the world.

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Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

A Brief History of Portsmouth

It had been more years than I care to remember since my parents took me to visit Lord Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory, at Portsmouth. It was on board the HMS Victory that Lord Nelson lead the navy into action at the Battle of Trafalgar and defeated the French in 1805. After that battle, it was more than 100 years before the Royal Navy's superiority at sea was tested again.
Since my last visit, the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard concept has been created and there are a wealth of new museums and attractions so we headed down to the south coast of England to pay a visit. Parking wasn't a problem for us as there is a multi-storey car park a few hundred yards to the entrance to the dockyards. However, in the summer, it does get busy but there is also a bus and train station near the gates too. In order to gain entrance to the museums, exhibitions as well as on board the HMS Victory and HMS Warrior, you do need to purchase a ticket. However, it is possible to walk up to and around the outside of the HMS Victory as well as accessing the shops and catering facilities without a ticket. Family tickets are excellent value at 50.50GBP which includes 2 adults and up to 3 children.
The visitors centre at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard offer a suggest itinerary which gives a start time of 10.30am and finishes at around 4.45pm which gives you an idea of how much there is to see here. The itinerary is designed to take you through the history of the Royal Navy starting back in the 16th Century with the Mary Rose Museum. It is filled with thousands of artefacts recovered from Henry VIII's flagship which sank in battle not far from here. There is a small cinema showing a film of how the Mary Rose was discovered and finally raised. The story is very similar to a Swedish ship called the Vasa which has been fully restored and is on display in Stockholm. Once the Mary Rose has been restored, it too will be on display but that won't be until 2012.
Next, we moved to the 18th century and went on board the HMS Victory. Unfortunately, the weather was terrible so the quarterdeck (top deck) wasn't open but there is still plenty to see inside the HMS Victory. The tour lasts for just under and hour and you get to thoroughly explore the ship. Moving around is quite cramped so one can only imagine how difficult it was for sailors in the middle of a storm at sea or in the heat of battle. The guide really helps bring the HMS Victory to life and printed handouts are available in a number of foreign languages. Just a point to be aware of is that the tours only operate during off-peak periods. During the holiday periods, it operates a free flow system.
After the HMS Victory tour, we headed to the Royal Naval Museum which has a fascinating collection of displays aimed at both adults and children including some interactive screens to help children absorb the information. Although the HMS Victory is the most famous part of the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, there are plenty of other equalling interesting displays. Another survivor of the Battle of Trafalgar is one of the original sails from HMS Victory and it is on display in one of the buildings.
After lunch, we boarded the HMS Warrior which dates back to 1860 and was the world's first iron hulled, steam powered, armoured warship. The Warrior is also available for private hire and part of the ship was out of bounds due to a wedding reception taking place on board. Next to the Warrior is where the harbour tours which are included but unfortunately, the weather meant the harbours tours weren't running.
One area of the Portsmouth Historic Dockyards we didn't get to visit was the "Action Stations". This part of the dockyard brings the modern aspects of the Royal Navy to life with various physical challenges, simulators and technological experiments. It also features the tallest indoor climbing tower in the UK.
In the years since my last visit, the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard has developed into an fantastic day out for both adults and children alike. If you are looking for a South East England day out where you can explore an important part of British history, then you'll find it hard to beat a day at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
Rob AthertonExplorer Travelhttp://staycationsukholidays.co.uk/visit-england/south-east-england/
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