Canterbury - a mediterranean feel in England

When I think of any mediterranean country, it reminds me about sun, sea and culture.

Since those two days were bright sunny days, Canterbury with its old buildings, cobbled alleys and near by beaches gave me that mediterranean feel.

Day 1:

We took a train from Victoria train station for around 2 hours to reach Canterbury on my birthday eve.

We stayed at Travelodge for that night paying 78GBP for a small family room. It was perfectly located near the city centre and was definitely value for money for 1 night stay.

Our first point was 'The old weavers' restaurant in the city centre. The pub is in a historic building and very nicely decorated. We had our lunch in their beautiful grape vine outdoors looking over the river. However the lunch was bit expensive but tasty. The famous Canterbury boat ride can be booked just next to the restaurant, which we booked for the next day. It was just midday but the tour was already full for the day.

Post lunch after a little rest in the hotel room, we went to the Westgate gardens. Being with a kid, a garden or a park is great relief on a relaxing holiday. Westgate gardens, is a nice walk and got a nice kids' playground. Nothing great as a garden though.

We ended the day with dinner in a 1300 AD pub 'The Parrot'. Unfortunately the pub's indoor was already full and we had to sit outdoors missing the indoor ambience. Just near to the pub is the famous creepy slanting house which I really liked.

Day 2:

Next morning, after waking up at our leisure, we thought to have a nice birthday breakfast. Passing through the city Cathedral, we came across the vibrant part of the city centre with beautiful cobbled streets and old historic buildings. We had a yummy breakfast at one of the cafes in front of which a street food market was about to start. We did not book the tickets for the Cathedral online and that was a mistake as there were big queues outside the cathedral for people with and without the tickets respectively. We missed the cathedral visit :( .

The next thing on our list was the boat ride which is a must in Canterbury. The river Stour flows across the city, though it is a narrow stream but is very clean. The sailor told us wonderful history of Canterbury and that was an enjoyable 45 mins ride.

We ended the Canterbury tour by visiting the Margate caves, which took us around 30 mins to reach by bus. This is a man made cave but an old one. Not much interesting, will not recommend. We ended the tour with a Mexican lunch in front of the Margate beach before catching our train to Victoria.

Overall it was a relaxing weekend outing.