Recommendations for Canterbury please on Mon 26 Jan...

[mrsseanbean]

I will be at a loose end there on Monday. Have never been before. Apart from the cathedral, I would love recommendations on other things worth doing, as well as tips for the shops and any nice cafes etc! Many thanks.

You won't be at a loose end in Canterbury !! There is, of course, the Cathedral but, there are also loads of shops and coffee bars - you'll probably end up wishing you had more time to spend there.

Then you'll find out how much it costs to park ..... not so good but the Park & Ride services are pretty OK.

Cathedral's nice, but that's about it. Shops v. normal high street ones. A few museums (if you like Rupert the Bear you can see him!), but really not half as nice a place as you'd think.

Sorry, last post very negative. Hope you have a nice day there.

If you have young kids then the boat trip from the Westgate Towers is surprisingly ok. Opposite the main entrance to the Cathedral is a small square and right in the corner next to the pub is a tiny doorway to a fab little shop selling gorgeous things - from postcards to kimonos - really eclectic stuff and one of my favourite shops. Then if you left that shop and walked past the cathedral entrance and down the road in front of you (Palace st I think) there is a fab jewellers called cousins run by three brothers - beautiful original designs. Behind that is a sweet little coffee shop, and if you carry on round the road to the right there is an organic toddler's and baby's clothes shop - the prices will bring you out in a cold sweat but worth a look round if only to want to cry at the unaffordable beauty of it all. Then further along there is the 'crooked shop' where the front door is at an angle of around 30 degrees (naff shop inside now I think). That is opposite the oldest school in the world, (King's) which is in the grounds of the cathedral and you can just peep some of the buildings through the entrance.

Then, if you retrace your steps back to the cathedral and turn right you will get to all the shops. There is a really fab M&S cafe on the ground floor of their shop in the main strip. Finally, if you left that cafe and turned right and walked through the arcade you come to a fish and chip shop within which untold joys await (if you like chips that is - the other stuff is rubbish).

Thanks all, especially Squiffy, just the sort of thing I was hoping for

Park and ride is fab for Canterbury.

Loads of shops. We didn't do the Cathedral because frankly it was too expensive. We couldn't even get into the grounds because there was another ticket stile to get through just for that.

However, we had a lovely day, just wandering around looking at the market and shops and cafe's.

Enjoy!

If you are religious and explain that you want to worship in the Cathedral, you are allowed free entry.

Only works if you are religious of course

Hmm Squiffy, don't they set aside a small viewless chapel for that though? Otherwise a mysteriously large proportion of visitors would suddenly become converts methinks!?

I am religious, but TBH will just want to have a good old nose around like everyone else. Good suggestion though