I am planning a day trip to Dover Castle and the White Cliffs. I will take National Rail from Charing Cross to Dover Priory. I have decided to walk to the castle instead of the bus as the bus station looks to be 1/3 of the way there. A leisurely visit at the castle then I want to go on the 4 mile National Trust wildlife walk of the White Cliffs. What I need assistance with is getting to the "Gateway to the White Cliffs' Visitor Center." Is it close to the castle or do I need to take public transportation to get there? Can anyone provide directions? Thank you.

In a word, hills.

If you go to

http://www.kentdowns.org.uk/map_details.asp?siteID=22

there's a link to multimap at the bottom of the page, which in turn offers directions. These look as though they are intended for drivers rather than walkers, but from memory the trip is likely to be circuitous, going down to the seafront in order to go up again to the cliffs.

As I recall, getting to the cliff path from central Dover involved taking a back road squeezed in between the docks entrance and the cliff the Castle is on; the driving route seems to do something similar.

There didn't seem to be any direct route from the Castle to the cliffs (given the purpose of a castle, I wouldn't expect one).

Likewise, I think you may find it's quite a hike uphill to the Castle from the station:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=35119330

The "White Cliffs Experience" is run by the National Trust, and according to their website at http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main...cliffsofdover/ the nearest bus stop is a mile from the visitor centre.

While Dover Castle has lots to see, the White Cliffs are really a bit of an anticlimax, and not worth much of a detour, in my opinion. You have a good view of the ferry port and shipping in the Channel, and the opportunity to study the ecology of chalk grassland. There is a visitor centre, where you can buy refreshments, and a car park. You don't really see the white cliffs since you are standing on them, and they have more emotional significance ("precious stone set in the silver sea", etc), than scenic grandeur.

It's a good place to go by car on a sunny day to watch the world, or as part of a long-distance walk, but not really worth travelling half way round the world to see.

You can get an oblique view of some bits of the Dover white cliffs from the top:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick...7594243905121/

The attraction of walking along here is really the sea air and views (and constantly having your mobile phone welcoming you to France).

But come to think of it, the really scenic white cliffs are the Seven Sisters on the Sussex coast.

But you certainly won't see any bluebirds, unless you count swallows.

The walk up Beachy Head is very popular which you can access from Seven Sisters Country Park--going either way from Birling Gap are both excellent walks. http://www.sevensisters.org.uk/rte.asp?id=4 is the link to transport.
The Cuckmere River Valley walk is gorgeous.

Enjoy!

Meg

Babs - When you get to Dover Priory station grab a taxi to to castle.
It won't break the bank and will save you the long time its going to take to walk there. Wouldn't you rather be looking at the castle than spending time punishing those tootsies?!
We did not find time to see Dover Castle but we did find time to drive to Burling Gap What a fantastic sight!!! We were able to walk down the stairs and onto the beach to look up at those crumbling chalky cliffs. I picked up a few lumps of chalk on the beach to bring home for my ever increasing rock collection.
I hope you get there. I will try to post a link to my photos of the cliffs.

http://tinyurl.com/5oxham

Here are the pics BabsB - Just to whet your appetite!

&quot;<i> I have decided to walk to the castle instead of the bus as the bus station looks to be 1/3 of the way there</i>&quot;

Bad, BAD decision

You don't want to be walking up to the castle from the station. Even underpowered cars have a bit of a problem w/ that grade.

Take a cab - will save you a lot of time and leg cramps (unless, of course, you are mountain climber and marathon runner)

Thanks for the responses. I appreciate the links to the various web-sites and maps. So if the cliffs are anticlimatic, maybe I can research a boat tour. I will also reseach Seven Sisters.

I enjoyed the pictures PatrickLondon and tod.
OK, OK, janisj - I'll take a taxi to the castle. Might as well save my legs. By the way, you are close, I run 1/2 marathons!

We spent a day in Dover last July. The walk along the cliffs, almost to the lighthouse, was definitely not anticlimatic! It was a highlight of our 2 week trip. We did have gorgeous weather and good views all day of the French coast; I wouldn't have enjoyed it on a cold day.

We took the train also and decided to walk to the cliffs first instead of the castle to make sure we had good weather. NEXT TIME I THINK WE'D SPRING FOR A TAXI FROM TRAIN STATION TO ENTRANCE TO THE WHITE CLIFFS WHATEVER IT COST! It is a long long walk, down into town, down to the waterfront, along the harbor/pier side, then back up a steep steep climb; it took about 30-40 minutes of fairly brisk walking to get from town center to the National Trust entrance. And so we started out tired already!

But we had a marvelous, gorgeeous time, walking for about 3 hours to (almost) and from the South Foreland Lighthouse.

THEN we walked down and then back UP a steep hill to the Castle. Not sure how to avoid that. We had to shortchange the castle but it was terrific, too.

So since you seem to be in good health, do not let any one talk you out of the unique walk on the White Cliffs. Allow plenty of time; explore ways to use a taxi maybe to avoid one of the steep slogs; watch weather (I hope you have some flexibility so that your day there can be one with good visibility--what lovely pictures we got!). But both things---castle and walk--are very doable by people not afraid of some physical exertion! (Being from flat south Texas, we suffered for days afterwards from sore muscles, but all worth it)

texasbookworm was the path you walked marked at all or did you have a map? Did you have a view of the cliffs from the waterfront. I am glad you enjoyed it. I am sure this is exactly up my alley and I'll have a great time. My scheudle is flexible so hopefully I can visit on a nice day. Is there a taxi que at the train station? Thanks

Babs - When we walked out of Dover Priory station there was supposed to be a taxi or two hanging about just to the left of the exit but we didn't see any. A couple were leaning on the railing who were also waiting for a taxi and very kindly handed me a business card for another taxi company which they had phoned. We did the same and it took about 15 minutes before we were off.
Don't worry too much - the taxis head straight back there when empty - just busy at the time of our arrival.

You won't need a map for the path, once you're on it. Finding it is another matter. You could perhaps get a taxi from the castle to the visitor centre (is this wildlife walk a guided walk from there?), or down to the seafront right under the castle, where you have to go behind the houses into a narrow street squeezed right in beside the cliff-face, to a gate leading to the path. After that, the path is obvious.

We had some map from the internet and then also one we picked up from the Visitor Centre that sorta pointed the way, in a general sense only, to the waterfront, along the waterfront, to a sidestreet, and then to a path up the cliffs to the National Trust entrance. Between the maps and some street signage and some arm waving from a person at the Visitor Centre and just visually SEEING them, we found our way without too much trouble. The &quot;trouble&quot; was just the steepness and length (we are in our early 50's and like I said, &quot;flatlanders&quot;! so it was a bit strenuous but not arduous. Just be aware.) We didn't explore the taxi idea there at all so I can't help. What patricklondon says is what I remember--from the waterfront we walked back away from the water, on a narrow little street, and found the path up.

I could email you some pics--yes we saw the cliffs somewhat from the water front, and then as we walked along the top and then along sorta the middle and then at the base of the cliffs, we definitely saw them. Not like from a helicopter or even from a ferry from Calais, but we were ON them seeing them. I have never posted my pictures(4000 from our England trip! isn't that ridiculous!) so can't post a nice site or link to view them. Let me know if you'd like to see them via email. (I hope that's ok. I sometimes see people posting personal emails here.)

Yes, there is a steepish climb up from the seafront and quite a bit of switchbacking up and down and meandering detours as the path follows the line of the cliffs.