Hello - here's a bit of background before my questions:

My husband and four of our close friends will be taking a trip to London mid-August for about a week. Two years ago my husband and I went alone to London around the same time for a couple days longer. We took one day trip with a tour company to Stonehenge-Bath-Windsor, and another day trip with his cousin who worked in the city and had her own car. Our car trip was to Dover (castle and white cliffs). Our four friends have never been to the UK, and we have all decided that one day trip is all that we have time for and that it will have an end destination of Dover. My husband and I LOVED Dover and there is so much to do between the castle, tunnel, and cliffs we would love to go back again - and our companions are quite interested as well.

With that said, although my husband and I had a pleasant experience with our previous Stonehenge tour, I remain a bit leery of touring companies given the many poor reviews all of them get from time to time. Though perhaps sometimes by no fault of their own, every company seems to have at least a few horrible posts about people getting left at a location, nasty guides, etc. So am I thinking of foregoing the Leeds-Canterbury-Dover tour and doing it on our own. We are all the very adventurous type in general and not put off by the idea of a little freedom.

So my questions are:

1) Compared to paying for 6 tour spots, is it worth the money to rent a larger vehicle that accomodates 6 people, and drive from the London area to Dover? We would rent an automatic, not standard.

2) If so, would Heathrow be the best place to rent the car from, instead of trying to drive from the inner workings of the city? Somewhere else? (When my husband's cousin drove through it that was scary enough)

3) If we left early in the morning, would it be feasibly to make brief stops at Leeds Castle and Canterbury? Should we pay entrance to the castle or Canterbury cathedral, or would it be sufficient to just view them?

4) Are there any other places of interest along the way to Dover?

Thanks!

1) I'd either rent a minivan/people mover for the day or take the train to Dover.

2) No - Heathrow would be a terrible place to collect a car. Gatwick would be much easier -- quick train to LGW and pick up the van there.

Or - check for rental locations in places like Maidstone, Folkestone, or Dover itself. But really - if you are taking the train that far -- you might as well just take the train to Dover.

3) Dover Castle alone will take at least 3 hours. But 4+ is more likely. Leeds is really nothing special-- it DOES have lovely grounds, but the castle itself is mainly a wedding/conference centre. So if you go there - just pay for the gardens/grounds ticket option.

You could do Canterbury and Dover as a long/busy day trip using trains and not dealing w/ driving.

4) There are MANY places of interest in the SE -- hundreds really --but just Dover Castle and Canterbury will be a totally full day

We did Dover as a day by car - and that alone was plenty for hte day. Did Canterbury separately and did enjoy that as well.

I wouldn't tae a bus tour for a couple of reasons - too much time sitting on the bus versus time at task - and guides are often lest common denominator. (As for people being left behind by tour buses I don't believe it - unless the behavior of the tourist is egregious. They do NOT want to leav people behind - but did a trip once when we waited 35 minutes for one couple - with guide and driver scouring the town for them. Finally - now 45 minutes late - the bus left- without the miscreants. But I'm sure they complained about it.)

Considering that the train to Dover from St. Pancras goes on the Eurostar lines (and Eurostar speeds) most of the way, it's now just an 85 minute trip each way. That's better than the long ride in the car. If Dover alone could take up your whole day, consider the fast train.

I agree with taking the train to Dover. You can relax for 85 minutes. I spent a day in Dover itself as atrain trip from London and that was before the tunnels were open.

London St. Pancras Intl to Dover with change at Ashford Intl is the fastest way to get to Dover via train around 80 - 85 mins. It is just more than 2 hours from other London locations like King's Cross or Victoria.

Drive from most of the Heathrow rentals takes about 2 - 2.5 hours depending on your speed and traffic conditions and end destination - as janisj has pointed out Gatwick will take lesser time though I have never used Gatwick rentals myself.

So it is upto you to decide depending on your needs and comfort.

No no no.

<b>There are DIRECT trains to Dover from St. Pancras</b>. No changes.

And the fastest are actually 70 minutes during peak times, and 68 minutes off-peak (correcting myself here).