Canterbury Christmas Tales

Overview

Canterbury is one of England’s most beautiful cities. It is home to the medieval Canterbury Tales, the masterpiece by Geoffrey Chaucer. Also it is home to one of the largest and most famous Cathedrals in the world: the Canterbury Cathedral. And finally, it is one of the nicest Expat Club Christmas destinations. The city has that typical “Dickens-style” Christmas atmosphere, with lovely street decorations, live music and Christmas carol singers, and many market stalls with typical English products and food items. And our trip over there is extra nice since we take a boat to England and can see the iconic White Cliffs of Dover coming closer every minute.

Pictures

Put the romance back into travelling. Join us by bus and ferry to England.

See the world famous White Cliffs of Dover come closer.

St Martin's church, the oldest church in the English speaking world. We will visit it on our guided tour. | by Oosoom (own work), via Wikimedia Commons

The ruins of the St Augustine's abbey | © Tim Stubbings 1221

The lovely Weber houses in the center of Canterbury.

Canterbury Cathedral is one of the largest and most famous churches in the world | © Canterbury Cathedral

The Canterbury Cathedral is fully surrounded by walls and houses, and is not visible without paying the steep entrance fees. Did you know that maintaining this building costs about €10.000.000 per year? | © Tim Stubbings

Discover all corners and corridors of the Cathedral.

The inside of the Cathedral is incredibly beautiful.

The choir. With a bit of luck you can attend a session while visiting the Cathedral

The streets of Canterbury are small and decorated nicely for the season | © Canterbury Tourism

Christmas music and carols sound through the main shopping streets of Canterbury | © Canterbury Tourism

Find your favourite English delicacies at the Canterbury Christmas markets | © Canterbury Tourism

Christmas in Canterbury, one of English best places to celebrate.

Learn more about the Canterbury Cathedral

Learn more about Geofrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

Program

Our schedule is carefully planned and we should have enough time in Canterbury to see the city and enjoy the Christmas markets. Please note that the schedule may still change for various circumstances, such as weather or traffic conditions. Your host, the bus driver, P&O Ferries, our local guide and receiving destinations will always do their best to give the best experience. Thank you for your understanding.

06h25 – Pick-up Leuven (highway entrance)
06h45 – Meeting Place Schuman (other pick-up points later)
07h45 – Pick-up Ghent
10h45 – Ferry to Dover
11h15 – Arrival Dover (- 1 hour)
12h30 – Arrival Canterbury & start guided tour
14h30 – End guided tour
16h00 – Entry in Canterbury Tales
18h15 – Departure to Dover
20h15 – Ferry to Calais
22h45 – Arrival Calais
00h30 – Arrival Ghent
01h30 – Arrival Brussels

Canterbury

Canterbury’s history goes back to the Roman times and the city has played an important role throughout English history. Nowadays it is home to about 50.000 inhabitants (150.000 in the wider area), many of whom are students. It lies about 85km East of London, and therefore it is perfect for a day trip from Brussels. Canterbury is known for three UNESCO World Heritage sites: the Cathedral, the St Augustine Abbey and St Martin’s church. We will see each of them during our guided tour (entrance fees apply for the Cathedral, a donation is asked for the church). Canterbury also forms the stage for Geoffrey Chaucer’s classic 14th-century The Canterbury Tales. There is even a lovely interactive museum that will introduce you to several tales. We highly recommend visiting this as well.

Transportation

We travel by modern coach with on-board toilet, air-conditioning, reclining comfort seats with extra leg space and foot rests.  Our departure is from Place Schuman, followed by a quick stop at Metro Yser and Basilique. Possibly we can also pick you up in Leuven and at a highway exit (E40) in Ghent. Due to long day we travel with two professional drivers in accordance with EU regulation.

We check-in with P&O Ferries in Calais for our 1,5 hours ferry crossing to Dover. The ferry transfer is of course included in the price of your ticket. FYI: the lowest return fee for foot passengers is over €50, so our package price is really a great deal. On-board you can find several places to sit and watch the famous white cliffs of Dover coming closer and closer. There are several bars and restaurants, as well as a business lounge. We will not play any movies on board our bus until we arrive in the UK, so you can recline your seat, lay back, and take a nice Saturday morning nap.

Cathedral

The Canterbury Cathedral is one of England’s oldest churches. Its roots trace back to 597, although complete reconstructions began in 1070 and lasted for 7 years. In 1170 the archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in the cathedral, which lead to an influx of pilgrims. The cathedral therefore had to be enlarged, whereas also over the centuries that followed several parts were added.

It is highly recommended to visit the cathedral. You could easily spend an hour in here to witness the different parts, such as the Quire, Trinity Chapel and Crypt. Our guides will end their tours here, but note that without paying the entrance fee you CANNOT see the Cathedral, not even from the outside as it is fully surrounded by buildings and walls. The entrance fee is so high to pay for the high maintenance costs that run into the many millions per year. During checkout you can indicate whether you would like to join.

The Tales

When you say Canterbury, you say Canterbury Tales. This 14th century literary work by Geoffrey Chaucer is a collection of more than 20 stories that for the first time in history used common English instead of French or Latin. Unfortunately we don’t offer tickets for the Tales museum anymore as of 1 December. You have to buy them on the spot.

The Tales can now be enjoyed in real-life in the highly-rated dedicated museum (order during checkout): “Experience the sights, sounds and smells of a bygone era in this fabulous recreation of medieval life; a unique introduction to Canterbury and its famous literary connection. Your adventure begins in the Tabard Inn, where you will meet the first of our costumed guides, preparing you for your pilgrimage from London to Canterbury. To continue your experience, you are invited to share five of Chaucer’s most famous tales, with the aid of an audio guide (commentary available in six languages together with a special version in English for children). Along the way, Chaucer’s colourful and entertaining stories of love, romance, jealousy and trickery are dramatically brought to life for you to enjoy.”