Day Trip to Dover

A belated post on my day trip to Dover with Mom before she returned home.  A two hour train trip from central London, Dover is home to the medieval Dover Castle, a lighthouse dating to the First Century, the famous White Cliffs and a maze of underground tunnels that served as a command center during World War II.

Dover Castle

  

The over 2,000 year old castle is surrounded by a moat with a drawbridge, and has walls nearly ten feet thick

In addition to being heavily fortified, it has some great views, here the over 1,000 year old Saxon Church, St. Mary-in-Castro, and the Roman pharos lighthouse

The lighthouse was built in the 1st Century by Romans, and is said to be the oldest structure in Britain

 No trip to Dover would be complete without catching a glimpse of the famous White Cliffs, which face France across the narrowest part of the English Channel.  The clouds rolled in by the time we got there, so the photo really does not do them justice.  They are quite stunning.

One of the  reasons we visited Dover was to see the medieval underground tunnels that, over the years, have been expanded and adapted. serving as barracks and a strategic command post during World War II.

For any WWII buffs, Operation Dynamo - which involved the evacuation of over 300,000 British and French troops from France following the Battle of Dunkirk - was conceived and executed from the tunnels below Dover Castle.  They have since turned the tunnels into an impressive museum that we both really enjoyed.

Did I mention there were a lot of steps involved in our visit to Dover?  No?  There were. A. LOT.  But they were worth it!