Mother and daughter time, we hit up Canterbury!
There is so much you can accomplish in one day, stop procrastinating and plan ahead. Below we share our favourite highlights from our single day trip to Canterbury in Kent, England, to think about.
Canterbury Cathedral
Price: £15
Duration: 1.5-2 hours
What to expect: Magnificent on the inside as well as the outside. This is the first thing you must do when you arrive at Canterbury.
My highlights: I thoroughly enjoyed walking and exploring Canterbury Cathedral. I found the tombs engaging – I had no idea that Henry IV, King of England and his wife were buried inside, history 101. The stained glass is also stunning; if you plan to go, see if you can differentiate the old era versus the new style of stain glass art. Just a heads up, when we went, they were doing major works, and half of the cathedral was covered in scaffolding – so head to the back end of the cathedral for some more admirable picture opportunities.
City Feast
Price: £5-10 pp for food
Duration: 1-1.5 hours depending on how fast you eat.
What to expect: Food glorious food – literally! Loving the energy on this street. Strangely enough, drinks are sold separately to food stalls.
My highlights: We are big foodies! This is probably why this feature for best places to go in Canterbury is so high up! The vibes, the hustle and bustle, the smell of freshly cooked food! Yes, food markets are the place to be! I liked that there was such a variety to choose from, and working in marketing, I like how they branded the street. Being wing fans, my mum opted for the ghost chilli southern fried wings. For a 62-year-old – she has no fear!
Canoe Wild
Price: £23 for two people
Duration: 1 hour
What to expect: Canoeing in the smallest town in Britain, Fordwich. Great value for money and short distant drive from the city, even better on a sunny day!
My highlights: I don’t think my mum knows her left and right – she kept paddling in the wrong direction. I’m pretty good at kayaking, but trying to teach my mum to canoe was like being in the army, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT! It was pretty eventful and a good laugh, apart from getting stuck in river grass and overly turning to hit the river beds; she will get the hang of it one day!
The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge
Price: FREE
Duration: 1 hour
What to expect: Art and knowledge, I guess it’s in the name of this grade two listed museum. You can find galleries, library and visitor information here.
My highlights: This was nice to explore and check out. The museum is slap bang in the middle of the high street, so no reason not to check it out and visit. I found some interesting artefacts on things from Brunei, Borneo (where my mum is from), and I like some of the modern artwork they had on display, especially the ones with the textiles.
Westgate Gardens
Price: FREE
Duration: 30 minutes to 1 hour (depends if you want to keep following the river).
What to expect: Appreciate nature and a moment to relax, get some steps in and enjoy the River Stour and Westgate Tower. Highly recommend it when the weather is sunny and warm.
My highlights: Here are some great spots to take photos with its beautiful colourful scenery, especially if you are into flowers. Also, I’m fascinated by how clear the river is…I really wanted to dip my toes in it! They also have big groups of paddleboarders that looked really fun; maybe next time, that would be something on our to-do list.
The Crooked House
Price: FREE (recommend donations if you can)
Duration: up to 30 mins (depends if you want to take a quick picture for the gram or check out some books),
What to expect: It’s a historical landmark in Canterbury, a 17th-century half-timbered wonky building selling lots of books.
My highlights: I do actually enjoy reading. But I wasn’t really in the motion to be getting any new books. Took some quick pictures with mum and me and then got distracted by the opposite patisserie and bought every cannoli flavour – YUMMY!
Canterbury Castle
Price: FREE
Duration: 5 minutes
What to expect: Don’t go – It’s all fenced off !
My highlights: I’m not going to lie, my mum and I was very disappointed to have spent walking a fair amount of distance to see very little. It was closed due to its unsteady structure, which was a danger to the public. It is a bit of a fair distance from the high street too. I recommend just driving by and maybe taking some quick snaps unless it decides to re-open again.
GOT WANDERLUST 