For last Christmas, I bought G an English Heritage Membership as he wanted to venture to Dover Castle to check out the war tunnels. I had to remind him recently that his membership was coming to an end so we rattled our dags and made our way down to Kent to go castle hunting.
We aren’t known as early risers…well during the week we are but on the weekends we sleep in so our intention was to get up early on Saturday and head to Dover…we left home just before midday and then hit traffic…doh!
We eventually arrived at Dover Castle just after 2pm and I thought that would give us plenty of time to explore the castle and tunnels so we could visit the home of Charles Darwin and Hever Castle…oh how wrong I was.
You need a full day to explore Dover Castle…from the moment they open the gates till they close them…it’s huge and you can only enter the tunnels on a tour.
As soon as we arrived we joined the queue for the Hospital Tunnels and took the tour which lasts approximately 30 minutes; it’s rather interesting to see the conditions that the medics were working under during WW2. You can’t take photos inside the tunnels unfortunately.
^^You can see part of the tunnels here against the White Cliffs of Dover!
We then checked out the Medieval tunnels…where I safely spotted this chap…I was in the tunnels and he was on the outside…I was a sheep whisperer and managed to get him to turn around for a photo…G found this highly amusing…possibly as I’m a Kiwi and you know what they say about Kiwi’s and sheep…I have a rather crass reply to this that make the English quiver and me giggle…ahhh I love being a crass Kiwi.
I had a play on the cannons…what girl doesn’t like something huge and powerful between her legs…there’s that crass Kiwi coming out…she’s being hiding! And on the English Heritage website it states to wear sensible footwear so of course I took that to mean glitter toe ballet flats…I’m 5!
Obviously then I had to try and get off the cannon…which is not as easy as you think…G decided to photograph the car crash…
^^I messaged the top photo to my family in NZ; mum came back asking if I had fallen over and torn my jeans – I had to tell her I bought them like that…then Lisa told me that I looked like I was trying to pass wind…I wasn’t just in case you were wondering.
^^^Note to self: my calf looks skinny in the middle photo…must remember to photograph my calf from this angle in future!
We had a wander around the grounds and watched the sun set over the castle.
G and I then realised that it was almost closing time and decided to head back first thing in the morning when they open the gates (I’m pretty sure you know how this worked out!)…thankfully we had our membership as a day pass costs £18.00pp!
So what did we do…we went shopping at the Ashford Designer Outlet…it’s not as luxury driven as Bicester however G managed to get a few new items from A&F (I won’t tell you what I think these letters stand for) and guess what…this is the only time you won’t need a torch to enter an A&F store…the stench of cheap perfume isn’t as strong either.
I bought a few things from Ralph Lauren and we had dinner at Pizza Express; the best gluten free cheat meal out there…when it doubt, Pizza Express it! I went for my favourite chicken and goats cheese salad and then tried the gluten free brownie for dessert which I wasn’t a fan of…it was too dry.
G has told me to stop spending and that I had to find a cheap hotel for the night…something about me going home for a month and then heading to Seville…Peru…and I might be looking at booking a trip to France in January but we won’t tell G about that cheeky little trip and oh I’m going to Paris in December…so I booked us into the Holiday Inn in Ashford which is part of my favourite hotel chain, IHG…unfortunately on this occasion the Holiday Inn failed me…the room look grubby and the air conditioning was blowing out musky air…it was more of a Holiday Inn Express than a Holiday Inn. It was only for a night so we didn’t care too much!
Of course we slept in and got to Dover Castle a lot later than planned…we had missed breakfast as well…oops…so while we queued to enter the war time tunnels (which is a total must do) I popped up to the cafe to grab us a cup of tea each and some gluten free biscuits.
The Wartime Tunnels Tour takes approximately 45 minutes and it’s fabulous…all interactive and really explains what happened and how the site was used…
….and especially how this gentleman organised the retreat from Dunkirk.
G enjoying the gadgets inside Dover Castle especially since he could spy on the folks down at the Dover Ferry Terminal!
Once finishing the tour we needed some grub so we decided to hit the main restaurant within Dover Castle…they do a gluten free sunday roast (even the gravy is gluten free!)…I asked while grabbing our cups of tea…always thinking of my next meal. I won’t say it was the best meal I’ve ever had but it was cheap and cheerful and was just what the doctor ordered…everything in this pic is gluten free…G may have eaten half of it as my eyes are bigger than my belly.
So our next stop was to venture inside the castle itself….
…over the bridge…
…the views from the top of the castle over Dover are pretty darn wonderful (along with the stairs which didn’t freak me out once…I have a stair phobia!)…
…now are you ready for a snoop inside Dover Castle; yay for being able to photograph inside English Heritage properties…
…the downstairs kitchens…
…a crown fit for a princess…
….the banqueting hall and racy bedrooms…
…me on my throne and needing a step to get onto it!
While we were on the war tunnels tour we were informed that we would be able to watch the Vulcan fly over Dover on one of it’s last journeys. G was excited…me…well not so much…I hear about planes every day at work.
We popped inside church for a little nosey…
…then hit the English Heritage shop for some yummy jams…they do a rather mean passionfruit curd which sits pretty well inside a victoria sponge!
So have you visited Dover Castle before…did you enjoy the tunnels and the castle? What’s your favourite English Heritage property in the UK?
The IHG are currently running an Accelerator Points Promotion and by staying at a Holiday Inn I can earn more loyalty points.
xx
If you liked this post on Exploring Dover Castle in Kent then why not come and join me on Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest – I won’t bite!
