Today we got up bright and early and took a bus from London to Dover. I had it all planned out. We were going to stroll along a path on the top of the cliffs. There was a lighthouse at the end of the trail, and supposedly, the lighthouse had a cute (and good) tea room in it. We even bought snacks to take with us so we could have a little picnic lunch.

Dover Castle:

The bus got to Dover, and we got off and stared at each other. Did we get off at the wrong stop? There was nothing here. The bus driver assured us (and the 2 other tourists) that yes, this is Dover. He pointed up the hill and said the castle was that way. I reassured myself this would still be a good day. We didn’t come here for the city anyway. We came to walk along the beautiful white cliffs. I set my backpack to pull out the maps and walking guide that I had created and realized that I left them in a locker in the bus station back in London. Ugh! I couldn’t remember exactly how to get to the trail, so we quickly changed our plans and headed to the castle. I had read reviews that it wasn’t that great, so I didn’t have high expectations, but I tried to keep an open mind.

When we got to the castle, we were immediately ushered into a line for some underground tunnel tour. I hadn’t done any research on the castle, so I had no idea what we were getting into. It turns out the castle (or rather tunnels under the castle) were used extensively during WWII. Since Dover is right on the English Channel and one of the closest points to France, it was an excellent place to rescue soldiers and bring them back to safety. Pretty cool!

After the tunnel tour, we wandered through the actual castle. I enjoyed it a lot more than I do most castles. It wasn’t elegant, romantic, or fairytale like. Instead it felt strong and stark. What made it really cool was there weren’t many foreign tourists and we could wander wherever we wanted. Some of the rooms were recreated with furniture and tapestries, and there was even a King sitting in the throne and a fire in the fireplace. There were a couple other characters scattered around the castle that would answer questions.

After seeing the inside of the castle, we wandered around the outside and found a café serving tea and scones. On real china. In the castle courtyard-like area. How awesome is that?

White Cliffs of Dover:

By this point, we only had a few hours left before our bus, and I was determined to see the white cliffs. We walked back to the town and towards the English Channel. From the castle, we could see that there was some sort of beach and pier, so that was our destination.  As we walked further down the beach, the views kept getting better and better, and the views were spectacular by the time we reached the end of the pier. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay and admire it for very long though because we had to get back to the bus stop.

After a quick bus change in London, we are now on an overnight bus to Edinburgh, so I better try to get some sleep!