Canterbury Travel Recommendations for 2024 (Updated in May)
Canterbury Cathedral Travel Recommendations for 2024 (Updated in May)
I thought London was beautiful until I came here
The stone-built exterior walls of houses
Colorful 🌈 porches and alleys
The ancient aura permeates this small town
The River Canterbury flows through the center of the town
A breeze blows across the river surface 💦 creating ripples
This is Canterbury, the oldest small town in England
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Canterbury, a small town located in the southeast of England. On its ancient streets, you'll find an array of handicrafts, second-hand bookshops 📚, and pubs 🍹. Walking through the medieval alleys feels like traveling back in time.
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Canterbury is one of the oldest small towns in England and also the earliest foothold of the Roman Catholic Church in the country.
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📍Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral, founded in 597, is one of the oldest churches in England ⛪️ The exquisite details inside the cathedral, such as the stained glass windows, carvings, murals, altars, and prayer rooms, fully showcase the art and religious styles of different eras.
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The Canterbury Cathedral, as a symbol of British cultural heritage, carries a long history and cultural accumulation. 💬 Its ingenious architectural structure was described by the famous British poet Auden as 'the great wheel of the soul'.
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📍Canterbury River Boat Tours
The River Canterbury flows through the middle of the town, babbling. Rent a small wooden boat with a group of friends ⛵️ The boat will pass by various iconic sights of Canterbury, offering another perspective to appreciate the city.
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⚠️Note: The operating hours of the boat rental companies vary, so it's necessary to confirm the times on their official website in advance.
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📍Westgate Gardens
Once a private garden residence, it later became a public leisure garden. The garden is full of blooming flowers, accompanied by the sound of flowing water, with swans 🦢 and wild ducks playing on the small river beside the garden. It's as beautiful as a painting, like a real Monet's garden 💐
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📍Crooked House
One of the most popular photo spots in Canterbury. This half-timbered building was constructed in the 17th century and became tilted during a chimney modification. 📖 Charles Dickens' famous work 'David Copperfield' was inspired by this little house.
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Image source: Instagram
The backyard truly lives up to its reputation!
It's really beautiful, and the clear sky makes for great photos!
I recommend starting from Westgate Gardens to admire the flowers, and after that, follow the main city road, City Walk. Don't forget to look at the little alleys on both sides of the road; you'll see the magnificent Canterbury Cathedral. You can enter the cathedral during Evensong to appreciate this grand building, and there are also many blooming flowers outside the church!
Freshly taken photos, everyone can have their own painting-like picture🖼️
Keep calm, ☺️ you’re going to Canterbury🇬🇧!
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Address - 📍Canterbury Cathedral, Cathedral House, 11 The Precincts, Canterbury CT1 2EH, United Kingdom
Highlights -
If you stay in the Cathedral Lodge you get free entry. We stayed there, but paid an additional £5pp for the tour - and it was absolutely worth it!💎
The cathedral is so big and grand, there just aren't the right words to do it justice.😍
Beautiful place - be sure to go!
Rating - 4/5⭐️
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Address - 📍Westgate Gardens
Highlights - The garden was absolutely stunning! 🤩 When the spring arrives, the magnolias will bloom even better and enhance the atmosphere of the garden. There are beautiful ruins decorating the garden that enhanced the aesthetics for the place 🥰 And swans 🦢 ! How beautiful they were! It was so relaxing to sit on the bench and just observe the surroundings. Definitely the best place to unwind and relax!🧘♀️
Rating - 5/5 ⭐️
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Address - 📍The Marlowe
Highlights - Brilliant experience from start to finish. Toilets really clean and well maintained, theatre itself is clean and spacious. The shows are obviously incredible 🫡. Great range of snacks and drinks at reasonable prices 😎
Rating - 4/5⭐️
Reflections on visiting Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral, one of the oldest and most famous Christian buildings in the UK, is known as the 'House of God', a World Cultural Heritage site, and it is said that the best Italian architect, Michelangelo, once presided over its design and construction.
The cathedral requires a ticket, adults 17 pounds, children free. I initially thought that all cathedrals were more or less the same, and suggested just taking a look from the outside, but after being dragged in, I felt the ticket was worth it. As soon as we entered, we were shocked by the grandeur of the columns. There was no need for special lighting or angle selection, every shot was beautiful.
The cathedral's stained glass is particularly beautiful. Upon closer inspection, each piece of glass painting is lifelike. We didn't know during the visit, but later learned from Baidu that the stained glass is a major highlight of the cathedral.
During the visit, we encountered a teacher bringing children for a class. The very polite and kind old gentleman gave a lively lecture. I listened for a while, and although I didn't understand much, his tone, intonation, and expressions all made it feel like he was telling an interesting story. There weren't many students, about ten, all focused and attentive. Some children were even dressed up like bishops, wearing cloaks and paper crowns, which was quite cute. A while ago at the British Museum, there were also many children having classes on site. Such teaching scenes are quite moving. Our history and culture are actually very interesting, but I wonder how many primary and secondary school students like this subject, probably very few. The reason is simple, they just don't like rote memorization without a plot. Indeed, the national conditions are different. If we go out for teaching, we usually go as a whole grade, hundreds of students, it's troublesome to organize, and on-site education, if you don't shout, the students in the back probably can't hear...
We have many suitable places for classes in Nanjing, many interesting historical stories, folk tales. Just Liu Bowen and Zhu Yuanzhang could talk for a long time, and we could also talk about Xuanwu Lake, Zhongshan Mausoleum, Ming City Wall, and the Eight Diagrams Formation... But it's just a sigh. After all, I only have one child, and I haven't been able to raise her well. She doesn't understand anything, she hasn't been to the Confucius Temple many times, she doesn't know what Confucius said, she can't speak Nanjing dialect well, but she has to learn British accent... The sad education, can't think deeply, the more you think, the more blocked...
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Westgate Gardens Travel Recommendations for 2024 (Updated in May)
The backyard truly lives up to its reputation!
It's really beautiful, and the clear sky makes for great photos!
I recommend starting from Westgate Gardens to admire the flowers, and after that, follow the main city road, City Walk. Don't forget to look at the little alleys on both sides of the road; you'll see the magnificent Canterbury Cathedral. You can enter the cathedral during Evensong to appreciate this grand building, and there are also many blooming flowers outside the church!
Freshly taken photos, everyone can have their own painting-like picture🖼️
Canterbury | Encounter the "Monet Garden" of the Oil Painting Town |||
Canterbury is located in the southeast of London in Kent County, and is one of the oldest small towns in England. It is also the earliest landing point of the Roman Catholic Church in England. It is known as the "back garden of London".
Westgate Garden, formerly a private residential garden, dates back almost thousands of years to ancient Roman times. It is a quaint town garden full of Shakespearean architecture. A clear and shallow river flows slowly through the center of the town, reflecting the fairy-tale-like houses on one side, becoming the most beautiful scenery of the town. The trees are lush, the flowers are blooming, and the murmuring river flows under the short bridge, while the Shakespearean-style manor stands silently in such a landscape. It is now a famous public leisure garden in the area. Swans and wild ducks can often be seen on the river next to the garden. The vigorous vitality, the reflection of past times, and the excellent scenery all make for a perfect photo opportunity. It feels like stepping back into Monet's garden many years ago, with a painting-like landscape. England, Europe.
200 year-old plane tree in Canterbury
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These are the famous gardens beside the River Stour, with a 200 year-old plane tree and a Victorian Tower House.
The tree dominates the views in the park, it is really huge, see for yourself.
Had to take some photos but felt like there were nicer views to admire such as the pretty gardens with beautifully arranged flowers or the houses on the side of the river.
It was rather peaceful and quiet and one can relax and enjoy the birds singing .
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Checkinaway (@checkinawayblog) Westgate Gardens and views
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Westgate Gardens start from the Westgate Tower. Here are some photos with a view towards the tower.
It's so beautiful. There are houses alongside the river and they all look so cute. You can see people really take care of their gardens and the overall look of the house.
It was so nice and green when we visited and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit. It's a shame we had to head to the train station so early.
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Checkinaway (@checkinawayblog)
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St Augustine's Abbey Travel Recommendations for 2024 (Updated in May)
Via Francigena from Canterbury to Rome
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The Via Francigena ('the way through France') is a long-distance walk with a difference - a 1900km pilgrimage on foot from Canterbury to Rome. People have been making pilgrimages to Rome since the fourth century.
When you go to Canterbury, you will be walking on part of this road. You will even see the sign just outside St Augustine's Abbey.
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Checkinaway (@checkinawayblog) A few photos from St Augustine's Abbey
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Although we don't think it's worth paying to enter the Abbey (or what is left), it's important to know the significance of Saint Augustine.
In the late 6th century, a man was sent from Rome to England to bring Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons. He would ultimately become the first Archbishop of Canterbury, establish one of medieval England's most important abbeys, and kickstart the country's conversion to Christianity.
Again, if you are into this, then this might be a place to explore even further.
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Checkinaway (@checkinawayblog) St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury
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St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury
St Augustine's Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Canterbury, Kent, England. The abbey was founded in 598 and functioned as a monastery until its dissolution in 1538 during the English Reformation.
Today you can see the remains and a museum with some objects inside. you have to pay an entrance fee which is probably not worth it unless you are really into this.
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Checkinaway (@checkinawayblog)
Canterbury Punting Company Travel Recommendations for 2024 (Updated in May)
Join us punting in Canterbury
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Here you can see our punter who was telling us more about the history of Canterbury and was training his muscles rowing around.
It was 7 of us in the boat and this guy was rather small but hey, well done to him for taknig us on a boat trip on the river. At times it looked difficult for him but we all cheered him.
The view from the boat were also very nice, have a look for yourself.
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Checkinaway (@checkinawayblog) Exploring Canterbury by boat
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Exploring Canterbury by boat is one of the must dos whilst in the town.
Hopefully you will be there on a sunny day or at least not a rainy day and will get the chance to hop on a boat.
The prices are not that cheap to be honest. You get this for around £18 per person. Usually they do student discounts but not significant ones.
Haggle and try to agree on a better price. Enjoy!
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Checkinaway (@checkinawayblog) Boat trip in Canterbury
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You can't go to Canterbury and not go punting!
We found some decent prices, booked our boat trip and wandered around whilst waiting for the spefic time to come.
Here we have just boarded the boat from behind a pub and are getting ready to go. The boat trip was informative and the guy who controlled the boat was funny and had some nice jokes :)
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Checkinaway (@checkinawayblog)
St Martin's Church, Canterbury Travel Recommendations for 2024 (Updated in May)
Canterbury and the oldest church in England
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This church is impressive and a must see when in Canterbury. The oldest church in the English-speaking world, part Roman, part Saxon and part mediaeval, St. Martin's is still a place of regular Christian worship as it has been continuously for over 1,400 years.
It's a beautiful place - very nice and green. We have been there a few times but the last time the church was closed, so we only walked around.
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Checkinaway (@checkinawayblog) Oldest church in Britain
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The Church of St Martin is an ancient Church of England parish church in Canterbury, England, situated slightly beyond the city centre.
Many people go to Canterbury to see this particular place. It is recognised as the oldest church building in Britain still in use as a church, and the oldest existing parish church in the English-speaking world,
Have you been there before? If so, what is your favourite thing?
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Checkinaway (@checkinawayblog)
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