White cliffs of Dover is located in Dover of Kent, England. Dover has cliffs at the both sides of the town. But the eastern side one is most beautiful and maximum tourists visit there. This beautiful cliff is situated beside the English channel. The highest peak of the cliff is approximately 350 feet. From the cliff area UK has the narrowest distance with the rest of the European continental land. This chalk cliff attracts plenty of local and international visitors in Dover each year. Also tourists who stay in Dover to catch the ferry for France also pay a visit here. Recently (in 2016) a huge portion of the Dover cliff was purchased by the National trust. They have a visitor center at the entrance of the Dover cliffs area (with parking option).
We’ve reached in Dover from Eastbourne.
After having two wonderful days in Eastbourne we’ve reached at Dover for another almost two days tour. Our first mission was to explore the White cliffs of Dover which is very close from the city. We’ve reached there on time (after nearly 3 hours of journey from Eastbourne). Had an early checkin in our B&B. Everything was set for us, but the rain god had something else in their mind. Since the morning it had been raining cats and dogs. Around everywhere it was wet. During the afternoon the rain has eased for a while. So we’ve decided to explore the white chalk cliff.
Started walking through the city.
There may be (0.01% chance) a public bus service from the city to the White cliffs, but I didn’t find any. So had to walk for around 40-50 minutes to reach near at the visitor center of White cliffs of Dover. The walking wasn’t that much nice as we have chosen the path beside the Dover jetty (also it was a highway kind of road). In fact after walking for a while we were thinking whether we’ve been walking towards the right direction or not. Although during the walking we’ve seen the white rocks over the house beside the road. Those rocks belongs to the Dover castle. We were able to see the castle’s tunnel’s window in wall.
Roads were slippery in Dover.
The path was very much slippery and sticky when we’ve started walking from the visitor center of the Dover cliff. It was because of the white clay got soaked by the rain water. And quite a number of tourists had walked over those as well. Our shoes got heavy very quickly. We had to find some clean grass field around the path and needed to wipe out those muds.
Walking around the Dover cliffs.
The scenic beauty of the cliff walking path was really nice. There are several paths to chose for the hikers. We’ve chosen the one that is beside the cliff. It helped us to see the ocean water, white cliffs, and the landscape around. The path is an easy one. Doesn’t require that much of preparation. And also it doesn’t have too much ups and downs. There is a stairway at the edge of the Dover cliff at one point. You could use that to reach at the bottom of the cliff where ocean meets the cliff wall. It was kind of a zigzag path. We didn’t have that much time, also the path was slippery. That’s why we’ve refrained ourselves from going down. Instead we’ve watched other people going down or coming back.
During the cliff walking you would be able to see the Dover jetty most of the time. The famous Dover castle is viewable most of the time during your trekking. There are frequent ferries running between France and England. You’d see plenty of them during your Dover cliff walking. Adventurous people do the cliff hanging too. You’d see plenty of marks in stone at the cliff wall from those people.
Light blue water due to rain.
We’ve always cursed the rain for making the thing difficult for us. But for one thing it could get some appreciation. The rain water dripping from the cliffs wall turned the nearby ocean water a lovely sky blue color. It was amazing to see them. It appeared like the water from some tropical country. That kind of colorful water you could see in the clay lakes as well.
Several selection of paths for walk.
Most of the tourists do the cliff walking till the South Foreland Lighthouse. Even a lot of tourists do the cliff walking till the village St Margaret’s Bay and return from there using public vehicle (if any). For our case we didn’t have that much time as the day was about to set an end for another day. That’s why we only could have reached towards the lighthouse. So we returned back from a point from where the lighthouse was clearly visible. Probably another 10 minutes of walking could lead us to there.
How to Go to Cliff of Dover:
Public transportation in England is really high in standard. Using a train it is possible to reach Dover from anywhere in UK. But in Dover the public transportation is not that much convenient for the tourists as it is a very small town. The public bus doesn’t go all the way to the visitor center. You could hire a taxi to go there. As well can do a walk on the road beside Dover jetty. It takes around 30-35 minutes to reach at the visitor center from the city center.
Where to Stay in Dover:
Being a port city Dover is having in a rush most of the time. Lost of people use the ferry from Dover to reach France (and vice-versa). That’s why they have a very good accommodation facility for the visitors. Most of those tourists use to stay in Dover for the night as the ferry leaves very early in morning. We’ve stayed in a Bluebells Guest House which was really clean and with high quality of amenities. We were there a bit early but the property owner allowed us to do an early checkin. It was pissing raining that time and it helped us a lot to be in a dry place before exploring further.
Where to Eat:
Once again, there are plenty of restaurants for the visitors. If you walk around the street of the city center you’d see plenty of them either side of the road. As we love to eat Indian dishes that’s why we’ve picked White Cliffs Tandoori restaurant. Later on we found that it was a Bangladeshi restaurant and was nice to talk to them. Being their country fellow they’ve treated us nicely as well.
What else is nearby:
The historical Dover Castle is very near from the cliff. It is possible to go for a cliff walking before or after visiting the castle. For our case we’ve visited the castle at the next day. And the weather forecast for next day wasn’t very nice for us.
Things to ponder:
You could use the English railway service for a cheap price if you could plan your trip early and accurately. So far I remember the ticket price is very cheap if you buy it 24 hours early. Which is really great and we were able to save around 35 pound for one journey.
White cliffs of Dover,
District: Dover,
County: Kent,
Country: England,
GPS Coordinate (51.132007, 1.339511).
This article has written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog https://www.alonelytraveler.com/
Saturday, 22 September 2018
