Leeds Castle, Canterbury Cathedral and Dover

London, United Kingdom

London is fabulous, of course, but you don't want to leave without exploring the English countryside for at least one day. Head southwest of London to the picturesque, historic sites of Leeds Castle, Canterbury Cathedral and Dover. On your way, you'll drive through Greenwich, home of the Royal Observatory and the Prime Meridian, where the world's time is set. When you reach Leeds Castle, you'll enjoy a private viewing of this glorious 12th-century castle before the doors open to the public. You'll then visit famous Canterbury Cathedral and see the White Cliffs of Dover.

Leeds Castle is a major English tourist attraction, but you don't have to worry about pushing through big crowds on this day trip from London to Leeds Castle, Canterbury Cathedral and Dover, all in the Kent countryside. After departing London and driving through Greenwich, your first stop will be Leeds Castle. You'll have an exclusive private viewing of the castle before the public crowds arrive, allowing you to experience the full splendor of the castle in relative peace.

Leeds Castle is famous for its setting on the shimmering lake that surrounds it - effectively creating a large moat. Dating back to the year 1119, the castle enjoys an idyllic setting in 500 acres of parkland and gardens, which make it one of the most picturesque castles in Britain. Admire the superb collection of medieval furniture and tapestries and Impressionist art. See the aviary of rare birds, the vineyard and the castle's famous maze.

You'll then head to Canterbury Cathedral. Built in the 11th century, the cathedral is linked to many great church figures - the most famous being St Thomas Becket, who was murdered there in 1170. The cathedral's Gothic-style architecture is a lasting testament to its seat as the birthplace of English Christianity. It also plays a role in Chaucer's famous The Canterbury Tales.

Finally, you'll continue through the Kent countryside - known as the Garden of England, with its quaint villages and pretty landscapes - to reach the coast at Dover. Here you'll admire the White Cliffs of Dover, standing 400 feet (122 meters) above sea level. Standing tall above the English Channel is Dover Castle, England's largest castle.

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USD $116.92

Traveler Reviews

Review by: Mert	April 2012
Amazing! Loved Leeds castle, just amazing...

Review by: Jeffrey L	March 2012
Our guide was excellent - provided lots of interesting details but didn't overwhelm us with information. What really impressed me was that we had enough time to really see both the Leeds castle and especially Canterbury Cathedral. The tour provided good value for the price in my opinion.

Review by: Laura	March 2012
Mark was a delightful tour guide for this trip. The combination of the three sites was just right. would have liked a little more time at Canterbury.

Review by: Bill H	March 2012
A wonderful trip with a wonderful guide, Richard. Highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting London. One thing to note: At the end of the day, the coach/bus returns to the Victoria Station not to the place where you were picked up - plan accordingly!

Review by: Diana L	March 2012
We had a wonderful day visiting all three spots (Leeds Castle was our favorite stop). Viator staff was very helpful in directing us to the right spot to meet our fellow travelers, and dropping us off at our hotel at the end. Anita Baker, our guide, was very knowledgeable and friendly. Well worth the money; thank you, Viator!!

Review by: Kendra R	March 2012
Great tour. The tour guide was both fun and knowledgeable. The grounds at Leeds Castle were beautiful. There was plenty of time to explore. Canterbury Cathedral was great as well. There was time for lunch and the restaurant the guide recommended was very good. Lastly, the quick stop at Dover was the perfect way to end the day. Highly recommended!

Review by: Wei-I T	February 2012
A bit disappointed cause we actually spent no more than 5 minutes in Dover, but two hours in Canterbury (basically a shopping town.)However, the guide was very informatvie and Leeds castle is definately worth visiting!

Review by: Keelyn B	December 2011
Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and humerous throughout the journey. We had an indredible experience and would recommend this tour to anyone!! Leeds Castle was a particular treat - not one person wanted to leave. I'll be going back again and booking through the same company!

Review by: Ivy L	December 2011
Enjoyed Leeds Castle a lot.

Review by: Mae-mae	November 2011
I could have skipped Leeds Castle and spent more time at Dover, including going to Dover Castle and the Tunnels, and Cantebury. But our guide Sheila, was very knowledgeable and extremely helpful.

Review by: cab0118	October 2011
The guide was great, but there wasn't enough time at any of the places to get a lot out of it. We had 1 1/2 hours at Leeds Castle, 2 hours at Canterbury (which had to include lunch), and 20 minutes at Dover. Th organization was very good, such as lunch orders were taken on the bus and called in so they were virtually ready when we arrived. That saved some time. Our guide was excellent and very knowledgeable.

Review by: tyronetrp	October 2011
Wish we'd had more time in the town of Canterbury

Review by: James B	September 2011
The trip to Dover was a bit lackluster, we parked by the side of the road and the cliffs were a mile away, but that's the only detractor of an otherwise fantastic day. Leeds Castle and Canterbury were magical. Great tour.

Review by: Heidiho	September 2011
The sites on the tour were good although only having about 1/2 hour at Dover was not long enough. The negatives about the tour was the disorganization to get started. We left about 1/2 to 3/4 hour after the time they said we would leave. Delays like that cut into the time we had to see the sites which was already limited.

Review by: Gretchen	September 2011
The Canterbury Catherdral was cool. Very similar to Westminster. Leeds Castle was neat too, although I liked Windosr Castle more. I was a little disappointed that we couldn't tour the Dover castle.

Review by: elwira k	September 2011
We left on time from Victoria Coach Station. Had a great weather._br/_ All trip was great, love the Leeds Castle, it is soooo well looked after! Next to the castle there is a DOG'S COLLAR MUSEUM, very interesting (has never been in one before).CANTERBURY cATHEDRAL was amazing. In side There are people to answer all your questions. Very kind and with great knowledge. when we went to Dover we just went to the beach for 5 min and back to the bus. During the day they offer us a lunch i.e. chips and fish +pudding for £10. I really enjoyed the day.

Review by: Marissa	September 2011
A fantastic day - Leeds Castle and Canterbury Cathedral were wonderful!! The guide was great and overall a really good tour.

Review by: Daniel R	September 2011
Excellent! Sheila was lovely. We would recommend this trip!!!

Review by: Robert D	August 2011
Well organized, well structured, informative and comfortable. All I could ask for. A great outing during my London visit.

Review by: Fred Bultman	August 2011
The tour bus was up-to-date, clean and spacious. Our guide shifted easily between English and Japanese, and provided good historical background before the Dover and Canterbury stops. Unlike as advertised, we didn't actually arrive at Leeds Castle before general admission -- and then there was a communications snafu that resulted in a good portion of our group losing touch and having to go to the back of the queue. No great loss -- the outside of the castle is the part worth seeing and photographing. The stop at Dover's beach was so brief as to be superfluous. Canterbury Cathedral is the highlight -- I'd suggest grabbing a light lunch-to-go at Leeds or Dover, and then take the time to do the excellent audio tour offered by the Canterbury Cathedral.

Review by: Patrice B	August 2011
Beautiful castle and gardens, lovely time at Canterbury, and breathtaking cliffs at Dover. Tour guide very knowledgeable and appropriate.

Review by: Terel C	August 2011
busy day, really enjoyed viewing leeds castle.

Review by: Sabina	July 2011
Lovely day out. Very informative with plenty of rest time

Review by: Laura L	July 2011
excellent tour guide, knowledgable, informative and pleasant. Hampton Court was substitututd for Windsor but still an excellent tour.

Review by: Ricky C	July 2011
This was my favorite of the 4 tours we did through Viator/Evan Evans! Leeds Castle and its grounds were amazing. Canterbury Cathedral beats all other cathedrals hands-down! Dover was a quick stop, but it was a clear enough day to see over to France on the other side of the English Channel. Our guide, Sheila, was the best guide--she could be a history professor with all the knowledge she has about these places and England in general!

Review by: Donald W	July 2011
This tour was ok. Didn't really connect with the guide. The white cliffs were mostly obscured by the shipping docks of Dover. Expected more postcard looking scenery here.

Review by: Sally H	July 2011
A wonderful day out enjoyed by all in our party of 8 friends. Tour Guide was excellent, as was our coach driver. We would return to Leeds Castle just to spend a day in the grounds. There was not time whilst we were there.

Review by: Amy	July 2011
Leeds Castle is one of the most beautiful places we saw on our trip. The bus guide was fun and helpful. The food we were offered at the set price was underwhelming and we might have been better off to venture on our own. We would have liked more time in Leeds and Canterbury since I found Dover a bit disappointing since the area was rather grown up which I felt took away from the cliffs. Over all it is a very worthwhile tour.

Review by: rainnie76	July 2011
I enjoyed this trip very much. The guide and the driver were friendly and informative.

Review by: Kathleen A. C	July 2011
This trip was horrible. The guide-Trevor-decided on his own itinerary which did not include the stop in Dover to see the White Cliffs of Dover-the primary reason to book this trip. In exchange, we were provided with 10 minutes as a UK war memorial. When brought up to the guide that this was NOT the itinerary we paid for and how disappointed we were having wasted a precious day or our vacation, he responded that he is not required to stop in Dover as described on the tour listing. Furthermore, there was NO private viewing of Leeds Castle, the bus arrived "too late" and our guide Trevor disappeared-saying just wait and someone would guide us-but the Castle staff said that was not possible given the timing. All in all, not as advertised, not worth the money and definately not even including the sites listed. One star rating is more than generous. Don't waste your time or money.

Review by: Jim	July 2011
We had a wonderful day. Long drive, but still a great day. Our driver and guide did a very nice job.

Review by: Sarah E	July 2011
Our tour guide was very good, knowledgeable and friendly. The bus was comfortable. All three sites were lovely. However, we did not have enough time at any of them. I would have preferred to only have 2 sites so that we could have more time. At Leeds Castle, we didn't have time to do the Castle AND the maze and aviary. We were only at Dover for 15 minutes! I could have stayed there much longer. At Canterbury, I would have like to have time to see the market. It was a good tour but I won't do another day tour with three locations again. It was great to see each location but I left each feeling like I was missing a lot. Also, I would avoid going on a tour on Friday--the traffic getting back into London on Friday evening was horrendous. The tour guide did a good job of providing additional information about the area we were SLOWLY driving through.

Review by: Maria Melissa S	July 2011
Good guide, tight for time (had to get on the bus or else get left behind), pack your own lunch so you have more time to go around and NOT spend 25 mins. at the pub for lunch.

Review by: Robin A	July 2011
We didn't even go because the Stonehenge tour was so disappointing. We accepted the loss and walked around London instead. We assumed it would be another 2 - too much crammed into one tour with too many people.

Review by: Katrine H	July 2011
Amazing but need more time to allow kids to try out the maze.

Review by: Melanie F	July 2011
We had a wonderful trip to Leeds Castle, Canterbury Cathedral and Dover. We wished we could have had more time at Dover. We pulled up to the beach and our guide said you have 15 minutes which was barely enough to get to the beach and back.

Review by: Catherine L, Australia	July 2010
Excellent day out. We covered quite a lot but still had enough time at each location. Tour guide was excellent!

Review by: Anja J, United Kingdom	July 2010
This tour was just great. We got picked up on time and our guide was very nice and even when she spoke English and Japanese, nobody felt like missing important facts. Leeds Castle is a lovely little castle with an interesting history. Don’t miss to have a walk in the gardens – even when it’s raining they are lovely and colourful. Be prepared, you will take lots of photos! Canterbury Cathedral was really impressive and we really had enough time to explore it by ourselves. The instructions given by the guide for finding back to the bus were clear and we never felt lost. Even if English isn’t your mother tongue, it is easy to follow the explanations. The stop in Dover is a photo stop only, but the guide will show you the best position for taking a photo to remember in this short time. Definitely a tour we would do again!

Review by: Odette D, Australia	July 2010
Hi once again, you could hear more from me as my family and I are going to O'AHU in Sept. Thoroughly enjoyed this coach trip. Lovely walking through Leeds castle, and seeing the Canterbury Cathedral - sort of more impressive than Notre Dame in a way. Probably would have liked the opportunity to grab a coffee at Dover only there for about 15 minutes, other than that it was a most enjoyable tour. Thanks to Chrissy the commentator - she was very helpful to all - regardless of nationality - and very eloquent. Bus driver forgotten his name was great at his job as well. Thanks for this trip Viator - highly recommend it.

Review by: Lloyd B, Australia	July 2010
This was an excellent day. From the hotel pick up,highly entertaining and informative tour guide, clean bus and day's itinerary, nothing could be faulted. Loved Leeds Castle and its grounds. Canterbury Cathedral is a must see and dipping our toes at Dover was refreshing. The lunch suggestion was good value.

Review by: Teri S, United States of America	July 2010
Our guide was excellent. The stops at Leeds and Canterbury gave us plenty of time to look around. In the Canterbury Cathedral, a large choir was practicing for the evening performance. The music was wonderful. I'd recommend skipping the tour lunch and stopping to get a bite on your own. At Dover we saw people swimming in the English Channel to prepare for a full-length swim.

Review by: Lois M, United States of America	July 2010
Great trip, although I was a bit disappointed by Dover - too brief a stop - the logistics of the setting road, buildings in the way, curve of coastline make it hard to appreciate the views. I think someone who is interested in the military aspect of the cliffs would enjoy it the most. Leeds Castle was just gorgeous, with the garden in full bloom, and we enjoyed the aviary. Didn't have time for the maze, but that would have been fun. Could easily have stayed there much longer. The stop in Canterbury was just the right amount of time & the cathedral was amazing. The tour guide was good, but the bus was a bit cramped. Not impressed with the place they took us for lunch - I know it's hard to accomodate a large group, but the food was so-so.

Review by: John M, Australia	July 2010
We Had A Fantastic Time , The Scenery Was Beautifull And Our Guide Was Very Freindly And Informative

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	June 2010
This was a very good trip. Our guide was very knowledgeable -we got stuck in traffic due to extra heavy London traffic because the Queen was opening Parliament that day, and the guide spent that time describing many culturalhistorical events and stories. The sites visited were great, especially Canterbury.

Review by: Donna Lynne L, Canada	June 2010
Quick glimpse of the Greenwich observatory on our way to Leeds Castle - just like the pictures- we were able to drive up quite close to the castle, avoiding the peacocks. The interior of the castle is quite beautiful as are the wonderful gardens and aviary. There is even a maze. The setting is amazing with a lake and sheep in the distance. Then it was off to Canterbury. The Cathedral is massive and the stained glass windows go on and on. After lunch we left for Dover, walked the beach and looked across the channel to France. Our guide Mark pointed out the tunnels in the cliffs that the allies used during the war. Mark was so knowledgeable about all our stops as well as points of interest along the way. Great tour, great guide.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	May 2010
My husband and I really enjoyed this day trip. I had been to each of this sites before, about 8 years ago. But they were each just as great a second time around. We were able to spend an adequate amount of time at each place, though we didn't get to do the maze at Leeds. We could have also spent more time at Dover if it were a nicer day, but with the cold weather, 15 minutes was just enough time to take in the sites, get some good pictures and sit on the beach for a few. Leeds was beautiful, as was Canterbury. It was really interesting to learn about all of the history behind each. I would definitely consider doing this trip again.

Review by: Anna Marie R, United States of America	April 2010
great guide. had just enough time to enjoy the sites.gre

Review by: Brian H, United States of America	April 2010
We really enjoyed this tour. The guide was excellent and while there was not alot to see in Dover beyond the white cliffs and pillboxes, it was still meaningful to see these WWII important places. Leeds Castle was wonderful to see. Pickup was near the hotel but dropoff was about a mile from the hotel.

Review by: Kevin S, United States of America	March 2010
Amazing. I would highly recommend this tour. Canterbury was unbelievable. Wish we would have had more time at the stops.

Review by: Barbara S, United States of America	March 2010
Very interesting trip and guide was very informative and helpful. Again, only problems were contacting the tour operator to confirm pick-ups and the confusion about our Wednesday and Friday trips.