Dover (England)

As other reviewers remark, Dover is usually seen as just a ferry terminal. To me this is pretty weird, actually, as it is virtually impossible NOT TO notice the castle and the cliffs which are the main attractions.

I came to live in the town 12 months ago so I am still a fresh resident and still treat the place a bit like a tourist. This is the reason for my constant updating of this review as well, as I keep discovering new things! ...
...southern M25 in good traffic); Dover is surprisingly hard to get by public transport. Train from Waterloo East or Charing Cross takes about 2 hrs and costs 20 GBP for a day-return; a National Express coach takes over 3 hrs to Victoria at the cost of 11 GBP day return (this makes day return not terribly viable option).

If you are staying in Kent, there is plenty of local public transportation (bus and train) from the likes of Ashford, ... more

As other reviewers remark, Dover is usually seen as just a ferry terminal. To me this is pretty weird, actually, as it is virtually impossible NOT TO notice the castle and the cliffs which are the main attractions.

I came to live in the town 12 months ago so I am still a fresh resident and still treat the place a bit like a tourist. This is the reason for my constant updating of this review as well, as I keep discovering new things!

*This time I have added overview of the main shopping drag and a note on an Italian resturant.*

GETTING THERE

Very easy by car (less than an hour from southern M25 in good traffic); Dover is surprisingly hard to get by public transport. Train from Waterloo East or Charing Cross takes about 2 hrs and costs 20 GBP for a day-return; a National Express coach takes over 3 hrs to Victoria at the cost of 11 GBP day return (this makes day return not terribly viable option).

If you are staying in Kent, there is plenty of local public transportation (bus and train) from the likes of Ashford, Canterbury and all coastal towns.

ACCOMODATION

We started by staying in a B&B - and there is no shortage of them in Dover, most of them catering to one-night-stay traffic. This means that if you stay longer you could get a discount - as we did for a stay of 4 days.

Most of the guest houses are located along Folkestone Road and Maison Dieu Road. Folkestone Road is further from town, but it is less busy traffic wise so if you have a car go there.

There is actually a website or two listing the B&Bs and the information provided on the one we used was quite accurate (including prices).

We stayed in Talavera on Folkestone Road and I have to say we got a very warm welcome and lots of helpful advice from the owners; the family room was warm and comfortable; the Full English Breakfast included very tasty home made jams and at 40 GBP/day (after the discount) for family of 3 it was definitely good value; so I can recommend this one.

THE TOWN and SIGHTS

Dover goes back to the Romans (in fact you can see remains of Roman lighthouses in the castle and at Western Hights as well as some ruins of Roman foundations and a Roman painted house in town).

It has been the principal crossing point to continental Europe and it remains so, having a claim to being the busiest ferry port in the world.

What is interesting about Dover for me is that it is NOT like the other costal towns - it has nothing seasidy-resorty about it. It is shabbier, yes, it doesn't have the Regency or Victorian seaside promenade, no pier as such, no rock sold on the seaside; and it doesn't seem half as dead even in the middle of winter as a lot of the resort towns do. It does, however, get substantially livelier in the summer, with the double-decker city-tour and many foreigners strolling along the hight street and visiting attractions.

Dover is built along a deep valley of the river Dour and doesn't have much of a seafront: there is a bit with some beach and a promenade, but no usual seaside tat; just a pebbly beach and a square mile of sheltered waters for rowing or dinghy sailing in the part of the port between Eastern and Western docks. A walk along the Prince of Wales pier is worth taking for the views of the port, sea and cliffs; and there is a fairly mediocre cafe at the end by the lighthouse (a cup of tea is a cup of tea, however).

There are boat tours of the port in the summer (5 GBP/person) but I haven't been yet so cannot say much.

--- Castle---

The principal attraction of Dover proper is its castle, dominating the town from its position on the top of the eastern cliffs. There had been a manned garrison here since the Norman times until the 50’s and the whole site is a maze of buildings, walls, battlements, tunnels and towers well worth a half-day visit and the £8.50 entrance fee. The grounds used to be free for the residents to walk on but now the Castle is under English Heritage management (they don’t seem to be doing much to advertise it considering how fascinating it is) and everybody has to pay the fee, the same for all attractions.

The main parts of the castle are the Roman lighthouse and the Saxon church of St Mary-in-the Castro (reputedly the best Saxon church in Kent); the medieval keep with its engaging exhibitions on traveling court of Henry the VIII; the wartime tunnels which are open to visitors and contain multimedia displays which allow a glimpse of the life in Dover fortress during Operation Dynamo (evacuation of Dunquerke) and the WW II; and the medieval tunnels.

The walk on the battlements is perhaps the most attractive part of the whole castle experience as it allows for breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside, port and town as well as Napoleonic-time fortifications on the Western Heights. For more detail I refer you to the review by jonwhite as it is extremely comprehensive and I couldn't add anything useful to it.

---Other Sights in town---

Other sights include the *museum* - the most interesting part is the Dover Bronze Boat gallery; showing remains of what was the oldest found seagoing boat in the world (3 500 years old) with a lot of background information in a high-tech gallery on the top floor of the Museum.

The exhibition with models of the Dover port showing its development from modern times till now is also very interesting if you are into this kind of thing.

Currently (untill spring 2005) there is an exhibition entitled 'Romans and Britons' in the museum, full of wax-figure displays showing how the ancient inhabitants might have looked and lived; and with informative written panels on the history of Romans in Southern England.

The Museum is attached to what is called Dover Discovery Centre and what houses amongst others a new library, UKonline centre with free Internet access (do not bother with the Internet cafe unless UKonline is closed and the library computers are occupied).

*Crabble Corn Mill* is apparently the oldest working mill in England, one of the many that were bulit along the banks of River Dour. There is a cafe, free educational exhibition in the basement and a guided tour of the mill itself (charge applies, we have not been). The mill is located in what is really a village of River (now more of a Dover suburb) and not far from here further up the river are lovely parks of Kearnsey Abbey, Russel Gardens and Bushy Ruff.

---Cliffs---

The best sight of Dover is not really in Dover tough and it's the famous, famous White Cliffs. There are actually two of the cliff areas - one of them to the west towards Folkestone is called a *Shakespeare Cliff* which looks absolutely spectacular as you drive into or out of town on the A20. To get there drive/take a bus to Aycliffe and cross the A20 on foot or drive to Capel-le-Ferne and walk from there.

The eastern cliff area starts at *Langdon Cliffs* just above the Eastern Docks and is in my opinion definitely more interesting. Either drive to White Cliffs Visitors Centre (cafe and information at a kind of gateway to the cliffs run by National Trust) or take the bus/walk to Eastern Docks and then follow the footpath up to the cliff top. Once there you can just stroll around and watch the Dover ferry traffic (both on wheels and boats); walk to South Foreland Lighthouse (about 40 mins brisk stroll, breathtaking scenery on the way) or further to St Margaret's Bay (another 45 mins); or find yourself a quiet spot somewhere up there and just watch the Chanell shipping go by - oh, you can also see France from the cliff top on most days.

Less famous and perhaps unknown to anybody but the locals and specialists in military history is area of *Western Hights*. It is also located on the cliff, and as the name suggests, located to the west towards the Shakespeare Cliff but virtually in town. It is a vast expanse of headland hiding massive military fortifications from Napoleonic era - very impressive in a grim way but now almost totally overrun by wildlife, with sycamores, ivy, vervain, and other wild flowers, as well as what seems like millions of bramble bushes now (September) covered in beautiful, shiny blackberries and dewberries or whatever other kind of bramble there is. It is a mystery to me why nobody comes and picks the fruit but I am coming back tomorrow with a bucket to make a vat of jam! Leaving fruit-picking aside, the area is now a nature reserve and a historic attraction and there is several marked trials and a number of interesting information boards (on both history and wild-life) dotted around. You can walk along the bottom of the giant, brick-lined ditch and see where the gun batteries were located. The Citadel is now a Immigration Removal facility but the fate of the rest of the fortification is a welcome reminder of how fragile and insignificant human efforts are when faced by the natural power of the bramble…

FOOD AND SHOPPING

The 'Dover proper' - in other words the long street stretching from the Market Square up the Dour river valley and called variously Cannon Street, Bigging Street, High Street and Londong Road - is, to be honest, a bit of a dump. A few meadieval and turn-of-the century buildings are mixed with modern 60's and 70's abominations in the usual UK mixture of chain-stores, charity shops and pound-savers. It's largely pedestrianised, but overall distinctly unimpressive.

The best in my opinion cafe in Dover is called Matzo - in the Discovery Centre building (non-smoking but there is outside seating in the summer). The offer very good value home made cakes (New-York styled cheesecake and the carrot cake are particularly good) and very tasty meals (I frequent it for lunches and can recommend all baked potatoes, salads, soups, excellent chips; practically everything is good except for Cornish pasties).

The best in my opinion fish-and-chip shop is the one run by an Italian in Castle street.

The Chaplins restaurant near the Market Square does good value lunches (around 5 GBP for a proper meal).

Italian 'La Scala' up the Hight Street is small and resonably priced, with decent Italian food and proper Italian owner and stuff (there is a Pole there as well).

There is your usual selection of Indian and Chinese take aways, a couple of Indian and Italian sit down restaurants. Overall, eating in Dover is easy, can be reasonably cheap but doesn't offer particular excitements or gourment delights.

I am afraid I cannot write anything about pubs as - being a mother lumbered most of the time with a 3 year old I cannot enter these establishments - and I don't drink much anyway. Most of them seem to be carpeted and smelly.

There is couple of night-clubs (mercifully out of the way) but as I am totally out of clubbing age and mood I cannot say anything about them.

Shopping in Dover isn't very exciting (c'mon: there is mile after square mile of shopping on the other side of the Channel if you are after shopping); there is a basic selection of your usual supermarkets (a slightly hidden Somerfield in the centre of town off Castle street is a good option for supplies if self-catering) and a few high-street shops (Boots, M&S, Mothercare, Evans etc); large Tesco in Whitfield (10 minutes drive) open 24 hrs.

Dover seafront area boasts one of the factory shopping outlets under the name of De Bradlei Wharf and you can find there a pretty standard selection for such establishments. This is probably the best option if you feel that you have to spend some time amongst merchandise for sale. There is womenswear (so-so; lingerie has good deals), menswear (not any better), shoes (I use this section a lot, maybe because I like Ecco shoes and they do seem to have quite a lot deals on them); homewares with reductions and "seconds" from reputable china and glass manufacturers (Churchill, Waterford, Royal Dulton etc.); gift/seasonal shop; almost no children articles which I find very annoying as there is distinct lack of children's clothes stores in Dover generally.

SUMMARY

Overall, Dover has definitely grown on me and I would recommend it for a 1-2 day trip to visitors who are:

(1) interested in historical sights - those should head straight to the castle + museum + Western Hights

AND/OR

(2) like spectacular coastal/clifftop walks (cliffs on both sides of the town, possibly Western Heights).

A day trip to the continent can be also incorporated (from 15 GBP per car+people; from 1 GBP per foot passanger).
 

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