Our day starts off well with a beautiful sail in past the White Cliffs of Dover. Our plans for today are to just wander around Dover, maybe even walking over to the White Cliffs. We’re playing it by ear. We know there is a castle that has WWII tunnels used during Dunkirk (yeah, we’re all about that!) and a couple of museums. We’ll see how the day goes.  

Originally, we thought about walking into town (yeah who’s surprised there?), but there is a city shuttle that stops in the city center and the castle for only 7 GBP. Figuring we’ll get our walking in at the Castle, we decide to opt for the shuttle, which actually was a pretty good call. It is a long way into town, over some bridges, etc., and that castle looks to be pretty high up there!! 

It is pretty early as we hop aboard the first shuttle. So early in fact that the only stop it is making is in town, since the castle isn’t open until 10. The bus driver tells us that we can wait in town and then catch the next bus up to the castle, which we figure is the way to go. No sense waiting around the dock for another hour. Hitting the city center around 9am, we wander about taking pictures of the imposing St. Mary’s church and some of the prettier buildings on Cannon street.

Picture taking done, we decide to hit a cafe for a takeaway cappuccino then go back to the bus stop and hang out to wait. We’ve got nothing else to do and we don’t want to miss the bus. Good move as when the bus arrived, it was slam packed full and we had to stand on the stairs to the double decker part as the bus wound its way up the hillside to the castle entrance. Turned out to be a bonus, because it meant we were first off with a great head start up the hill, making us pretty far up in line for castle tickets. We still had about 10 minutes to wait until the gates opened, giving us time to finish our coffee and get some excellent shots of the castle walls, as the line behind us grew and grew and grew.

When we were 2nd in line, we overheard the folks in front of us using a 10% coupon for being on the cruise. We had seen a flyer in the terminal but people were crowding around, and generally being annoying, so we couldn’t get to the brochures and we didn’t want to miss the bus…..meaning we didn’t get a discount flyer. Our turn came and I told the ticket lady that we were on the ship too, but that we didn’t get a coupon. She said we were in luck – the couple gave her 2 coupons and they only needed one, so she gave us the other one. Plus a concession discount for being old. Sweet! Because, I mean, these places are expensive! It was $55 USD with the coupon. When in Rome….or Dover….but still!

The castle grounds are gorgeous, and so steeped in history with the thick rock defensive walls and sturdy buildings. Strategy takes over here though – we’ll explore the rest of the grounds later and instead head directly to the secret tunnels. Tours there are restricted in size and only go every 30 to 45 minutes, so we want to be close to first in. As it turned out, the first tour was already inside and we had to wait in line for about 10 minutes before our tour started – but once again, the line behind us started growing and growing until it was stretched all the way around the roundabout and up an access road. Strategy!

The tour was amazing. Sadly, no pictures inside were allowed but the exhibits (multi-media) and equipment and offices still set up down there were fantastic. It was like you were back there in 1940, walking through the tunnels (4 miles in total, we didn’t cover but a fraction), actually seeing how the military directed all the battle from inside, essentially living down there for months during the battles and retreat. Really wild to think that we were walking through the actual cliffs of Dover. When we exited you could see how they built the tunnels right through the cliffs. Terribly well done and fascinating.  

Back out in the fresh air, we decided against touring the Underground Hospital and chose instead to just wander around the grounds, enjoying the scenic overlooks and the bright sunshine. Fortifications up here on the cliffs have been in existence for over 2,000 and the castle itself was built in 1180, seeing duty up until the end of the Cold War in 1980. There’s lots of history heaped around up here. Our first stop is through one of the cool gates at the top of the hill outside the Church of St. Mary-in-Castro and the Roman Pharos.

Inside the church you’d never know it was over 1,000 years old. Everything is still so sturdy and beautiful – in the old Saxon style – white washed adobe walls with the old stone construction and soaring ceilings. Then next door, the old Roman lighthouse which is who knows how old – and still standing majestically up on the crest of the hill.

Then it is onto medieval Dover! Up to the castle we go, walking around the wide courtyard before entering and wandering through all the rooms, the King’s chambers with the teeny tiny bed and replica of a desk with letters, the ballroom, a chapel on a level in between the chambers and rooftop, the Princess of Wales’ bedroom and the dining hall, with the creepy plastic boars head replica sitting on a platter – not to mention the creepy plastic legs of lamb or some other meat hanging in the kitchen. authenticity is one thing, creepy plastic animal dissections another. Finally reaching the top of the tower, the views were so worth the climb. Especially on this beautiful day. You can just about see forever. The whole castle is just so beautiful and intriguing – not to mention massive. 

And….we are done. It is a little after noon as we make our way back out through the castle grounds, stopping here and there to marvel at the huge fortified walls, the cool Constable’s Gate we use to exit and of course the actual fortification walls lining what used to be a moat along the exterior of the castle grounds. Totally worthwhile visit – expensive or not!

Walking down the entrance road to the ticket booth, the line to get in was crazy long! People just can’t get up and get going we suppose. We’re glad we got in and are done without the masses. Instead of waiting for the bus, we decide to walk down into town. It doesn’t look that long (turns out it is only about 15 minutes) and it is all down hill which works. There are good sidewalks and teh beginning part of the walk is on leafy treelined streets, then into the city proper with the old Georgian (? Maybe? thinking that’s the style) stone buildings lining the streets.

Finding our way to the center of town, on our way to the Dover Museum, we stop to watch a great group of Shanty Singers on the square. We debate stopping for a drink, but the restaurants on the square are packed with people – of course – see abovementioned Shanty Singers – so we figure we’ll just wait and head on into the museum. This place is great, just slices of history from the city and surrounds, but so interesting. There are displays about the Romans, discussing that Dover was the closest English port to the Roman Empire, and explaining all the Roman ruin sites found in the area. Everything from the “stone age to the Saxons” as their brochure points out. Cool figurines found when excavating for roads (which will be the theme here as you’ll see in a minute), an old wooden basket that has somehow been preserved, then moving into more current times, a complete replica of a V1 “flying bomb,” the precursor of the cruise missile. Oh, and have I mentioned the stuffed Polar Bear and Lion in the stairwell? Yeah, eclectic is the word!

But the star of the place is on the top floor – the oldest surviving boat known in history – from the bronze age, 1550 BC. It was found when they were excavating for roadwork here – see the roadwork theme! Crazy! And astonishing and the whole thing – from the boat itself, to the recreation process to the preservation process (all of which were wonderfully explained through posters, text and multi-media) just makes you shake your head in wonder. I mean, that’s a wooden boat from over 3500 years ago – and it was in the ground until 1992. Boggles the mind.

Museum-ing done, we wandered about town a bit, perusing restaurants and a very small little farm stand, then decided to just go back to the ship. We’ve got 4 more British days where we will be eating off the ship, so why? Good decision too because the buffet was fantastic, with an excellent Shwarma! Perfectly spiced and cooked. Couldn’t beat it.

The rest of the afternoon passed by taking more beautiful pictures of the cliffs, perfectly lit in the bright sunshine, the gym, drinks at the pool bar with Lonnie and Red (yes, we have found more friends), dinner in Aqua with our fav waiter Kadek, a show and then to bed. Tomorrow a relaxing day at sea.