Dover

Where you base yourself in Dover depends largely on whether you are here for the castle, the cliffs, or simply passing through on the way to or from the ferry. Staying in the town centre or along the seafront puts you within walking distance of Dover Priory station, the harbour and the main shops and restaurants, which suits anyone without a car or catching an early crossing. Properties closer to Castle Hill and Maison Dieu Road offer a quieter setting with the castle itself just up the road, a good compromise for visitors splitting their time between sightseeing and simply resting after a day of walking the ramparts and tunnels.

For a slower pace, St Margaret's at Cliffe and St Margaret's Bay sit a short drive east of town, right among the White Cliffs scenery that draws most visitors to this stretch of coast in the first place, with a village pub and shingle beach on the doorstep. Inland, villages in the Elham Valley and around Alkham give access to open Kent countryside, working farms and orchards, and tend to house some of the area's better restaurants, at the cost of needing a car to reach Dover itself. Budget matters too: Dover has a healthy spread of straightforward B&Bs and guest houses in and around the town, several upmarket country properties with restaurants attached a short drive out, and a couple of mid-range hotels directly on the seafront that make sense for ferry travellers wanting a night either side of a crossing. None of the options here are more than fifteen or twenty minutes from the castle or the cliffs, so the choice really comes down to whether you want harbour views, castle proximity, or rural quiet.

Dover's attractions range from Roman remains to Cold War bunkers, with the White Cliffs providing a dramatic backdrop to almost everything.

• Dover Castle is one of the largest fortresses in England, begun by Henry II in the 1180s and expanded continuously into the twentieth century, with a Great Tower, medieval tunnels and Second World War operations rooms all open to visitors.
• The Secret Wartime Tunnels beneath the castle were used to plan the Dunkirk evacuation and later as a Cold War command centre, and guided tours bring the cramped, atmospheric passages to life.
• The White Cliffs of Dover, managed by the National Trust, offer several miles of clifftop paths with views across the Channel to France on a clear day, along with the restored South Foreland Lighthouse.
• Dover Museum houses the Dover Bronze Age Boat, a 3,500-year-old sewn-plank vessel discovered during roadworks in the town centre, thought to be the oldest known seagoing boat in the world.
• The Roman Painted House shelters the best-preserved Roman wall paintings north of the Alps, part of a large third-century mansion built to accommodate travellers using the Channel port.
• Western Heights is a vast network of Napoleonic-era fortifications, dry moats and tunnels on the hill above the town, quieter than the castle but just as striking for anyone interested in military history.
• Dover Transport Museum traces the town's long relationship with cross-Channel travel through vintage vehicles, models and railway memorabilia in a volunteer-run collection.
• Samphire Hoe, a nature reserve created from the chalk excavated during construction of the Channel Tunnel, sits beneath the cliffs west of town and is a favourite spot for walking, fishing and birdwatching.

As a working Channel port, Dover has a strong tradition of simple, well-made seafood, with fresh catch landed locally and served in harbourside cafes and fish and chip shops along the seafront. The town's markets and independent butchers make the most of Kent's reputation as the garden of England, drawing on local orchards for cider and apple-based dishes, and on nearby farms for lamb and game in season. In the surrounding villages, several gastropubs have built strong reputations well beyond Dover itself, pairing seasonal Kentish produce with modern British cooking and thoughtful wine lists. Cafes around the Market Square and pedestrianised Biggin Street offer a good range of casual lunch options, while the harbourside gives visitors the chance to eat with views out towards the ferries and, on a clear day, the coast of France beyond.

Dover itself has no campsites within the town, but the surrounding countryside and coast make up for it within a short drive. The land here is a mix of open chalk downland, arable fields and small wooded valleys, giving campsites in the area a noticeably different character depending on whether they sit inland or close to the cliffs. Sites just outside Dover, around Martin Mill, Whitfield and Capel-le-Ferne, tend to be well sheltered by hedgerows and trees, useful given how exposed the clifftop itself can be to Channel winds. Ground conditions are generally good for tents through spring and summer, though the chalk downland can turn slippery and the exposed coastal sites distinctly breezy once autumn winds set in.

Wild camping is not legally permitted anywhere in England, including on National Trust land such as the White Cliffs, without the landowner's explicit permission, so campers should stick to licensed sites rather than pitching informally on the clifftop paths. The best months to camp near Dover run from late April through to September, when daytime temperatures are mild, rainfall is at its lowest for the year, and the long summer evenings make the most of the coastal light. July and August bring the heaviest demand, driven partly by ferry traffic and Channel crossings, so early booking is worthwhile in peak season, while May, June and September tend to offer a quieter, calmer experience with the cliffs and countryside largely to yourself.