On day 3 we visited Dover and went on a boat tour of the White Cliffs and visited Dover Castle with its World War II tunnels. Dover is located on the southern coast of England. It has gorgeous white cliffs and you can see France across the English Channel on a clear day.
The Dover locals are funny. When we got off the train we asked a train worker when the last train left (so we wouldn't get stranded), but he wouldn't tell us the time. Instead he said something along the lines of, "Oh you won't miss it. There's nothing to see here at night. There's not a whole lot to see during the day." I guess everyone feels that way about their home town, but I thought Dover was fantastic.
FYI Dover, basically England in general, is not generous with its directional signage so buy a map as soon as possible. We walked into town and found the information center. The three staffers working were so sweet and helpful! They called the boat tour company, reserved us spots for the next tour, gave great directions, and made sure we didn't miss the tour. We headed toward the beach and boarded the boat. The tour was small (us and two couples) but we saw some cool sights and learned interesting facts about Dover.
We took a "bus tour" after our boat tour, hosted by the same company. I put it in quotes because it was a man driving his van and it wasn't really a tour at all. To be fair, there was an accident on the road so the driver had to take a roundabout way which could have thrown his typical tour off. On the bright side, we did get to see the countryside and he dropped us off at Dover Castle.
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| White Cliffs of Dover |
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| Dover Castle |
The castle grounds and tunnels were awesome! The inside portion of the castle was a little lame. There were only props with no tour guide or labels explaining what the rooms were used for, why the props were there, etc. It was obvious they spent the majority of their budget on the tunnels tour because that part was amazing.
There are tunnels underneath the castle that were dug during medieval times (with only shovels and pick axes) that were utilized in WWII. The tour took you into the tunnels and spoke about the specific battles the tunnels aided and how the officers and soldiers lived in them. Bonus: the tunnels are dug so deep underground they are bomb proof!
The castle grounds were pretty. While we were exploring, we found some lovely spots that overlook the ocean, and you could see the entire town from the castle.
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| View from the top of the castle |
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| Ancient grafitti |
After we finished exploring Dover Castle, we walked back into town and had dinner at a seafood restaurant that overlooked the ocean. The food was tasty and we could see France from our table! Even though it might baffle the locals, if you are interested in history, the outdoors, and scenic views I HIGHLY RECOMMEND visiting Dover.
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