Ever since moving to London in January, David and I have endeavored to see as much of the UK as possible while living here. This has meant past trips to Wales, Scotland, the Cotswolds, Surrey, and more. But we don't always have time to take multi-day trips.
Our desire to see all corners of Britain combined with sometimes tight weekend schedules means that day trips are often a great choice for us. When we throw our adventure-loving pooch into the mix, things get a little complicated—but also a lot more fun.
Last Sunday saw David, Spark, and I embarking on a day trip to Canterbury and Dover. This turned out to be a great choice for a dog-friendly day trip and we'd highly recommend you check it out. Have a four-legged friend? Bring them along! It was super easy to cater our day to meet the needs of our third musketeer, Spark.
Canterbury
About a two-hour car ride from London, Canterbury is an ancient city known for its cathedral and, of course, its titular role in Geoffrey Chaucer's fifteenth-century classic The Canterbury Tales.
We spent several hours exploring Canterbury's historic streets as well as St. Augustine's Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral.
St. Augustine's Abbey
We stumbled upon St. Augustine's Abbey by accident when we were trying to park our car but it turned out to be a really neat discovery.
The Abbey dates back to the year 598 and is seen as the site of England's conversion to Christianity. Serving as a monastery from its construction until the English Reformation caused its dismantlement in the sixteenth century, the abbey was huge.
Today it sits largely dismantled upon sprawling dog-friendly grounds. You can wander from one remaining pillar to another and make out the Abbey's original floor plan with the help of placards or an audio guide.
St. Augustine's Abbey is also an English Heritage Site so admission is free for members. We'll write a future post about English Heritage membership, but we actually decided to join at St. Augustine's.
Canterbury Cathedral
After wandering through the grounds of St. Augustine's Abbey, we ventured on to Canterbury's famous cathedral in the center of town.
As with St. Augustine's Abbey, the cathedral serves an important role in English Christian tradition. As a World Heritage Site, Canterbury Cathedral has served as a place of worship for over 1,400 years. It's also home to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Archbishop is the leader of the Church of England and, symbolically, leader of Anglicans worldwide. This means that Canterbury Cathedral is the mother church of the Anglican faith. In this way, the cathedral is to Anglicans what the Vatican is to Catholics. Due to this role, pilgrims have made their way to Canterbury for centuries and I'm sure they were not disappointed by its awe-inspiring cathedral.
Although we did not enter the cathedral itself, we found that walking its dog-friendly grounds gave us a sufficient view of its stunning Gothic architecture and stained glass windows.
The adjacent gardens are also dog-friendly (on paths only) are full of beautiful roses growing along ancient stone walls.
The Two Sawyers
After strolling around the abbey and cathedral, we were ready for lunch. Since our visit to Canterbury fell on a Sunday, we decided to head to a local pub for a traditional Sunday roast. We stumbled upon The Two Sawyers, a very traditional British pub with a small beer garden, and decided to sit down.
Although the ambience wasn't quite as nice as some of our other pub experiences (cigarette smoke filled the small outside area), the food was delicious. David had the beef and I had chicken—Spark also got a taste since there was a lot of extra food.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of our day trip to Kent in which we visited the White Cliffs of Dover and Dover Castle!
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