Things To Do in Canterbury

Canterbury Attractions

Canterbury Cathedral

The foundation of this splendid cathedral dates from A.D. 597, but the earliest part of the present building is the great Romanesque crypt built around A.D. 1100. The monastic quire erected on top of this at the same time was destroyed by fire in 1174, only 4 years after the murder…

Museum

Eastbridge Hospital

Medieval pilgrims visiting the shrine of Thomas Becket were offered straw mats in the undercroft of these hospitable surroundings. Amenities were minimal, but the pilgrims were treated to services in the Pilgrim's Chapel and a meal in a refectory decorated with murals, a few…

City center

Museum

Roman Museum

Romans lived in Canterbury for nearly 400 years. They established the town of Durovernum Cantiacorum as the legions of the Emperor Claudius (10 B.C.–A.D. 54) started to fan out across southeast England in A.D. 43. Their daily lives are chronicled in a working archaeological site of…

City center

Religious Site

St. Augustine's Abbey

One of the most historic religious centers in the country, only its ruins remain, mostly at ground level. Augustine was buried here. (Augustine is not to be confused with the also-famous St. Augustine of Hippo, who is sometimes known as "Augustine the African.") In an attempt to…

Religious Site

St. Martin's Church

This tiny church is built partly of Roman bricks and tiles and is named for the Bishop of Tours; it was presented by Queen Bertha, the French (Christian) wife of (pagan) 6th–century Saxon King Ethelbert of Kent, as part of her marriage contract. It's considered the oldest parish…

City center

Attraction

The Canterbury Tales

This is a rather cheesy, yet very popular, commercial attraction. You might give it a try if you're hard up for something to do. Visitors are handed headsets with earphones, which give oral recitations of five of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and the murder of St. Thomas à Becket.…

Canterbury Shopping

Handmade pottery (vases, mugs, and teapots in earth colors of blues, greens, and browns) is sold at Canterbury Pottery, 38A Burgate, just before Mercury Lane (tel. 01227/452608; www.canterburypottery.co.uk). It is sturdy ware that wears well, including house-number plates that take 2 weeks to complete but can be mailed to your home.

Put on your tweed jacket and grab your pipe for a trip to a secondhand Chaucer Bookshop, 6-7 Beer Cart Lane (tel. 01227/453912; www.chaucer-bookshop.co.uk), with first editions (both old and modern), out-of-print books, special leather-bound editions, and a large selection of local history books.

Canterbury Nightlife

Gulbenkian Theatre, University of Kent, Giles Lane (tel. 01227/769075; www.kent.ac.uk/gulbenkian), is open from 11am to 5pm during school terms and 5:30 to 9pm on Saturday and Sunday, and offers a potpourri of jazz and classical productions, dance, drama, comedy, and a mix of new and student productions. The highlight of the theater season occurs at Cricket Week during the first week of August. Tickets cost £1 to £20. The location is too far from the center of Canterbury to walk to -- you need to drive or take a taxi.

Marlowe Theatre, the Friars (tel. 01227/787787; www.marlowetheatre.com), is Canterbury's only commercial playhouse. It's open year-round and offers drama, jazz and classical concerts, and contemporary and classical ballet. Tickets cost from £10 to £40. The box office at Marlowe Theatre is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 9pm (Tues from 10:30am), and until 7pm on nonperformance nights. Most shows begin at 7:30pm.

A favorite local pub, Alberry's Wine Bar, 38 St. Margaret's St. (tel. 01227/452378; www.alberrys.co.uk), offers a clubby atmosphere every night with a DJ spinning hip-hop, drum and bass, or chart music. The cover is £5 after 9pm Tuesday to Thursday, and after 10pm on Friday and Saturday.

A laid-back student hangout, the Cherry Tree, 10 White Horse Lane (tel. 01227/451266), offers a wide selection of beers, including Bass Ale on draft, Cherry Tree ale, three traditional lagers, and four bitters. The atmosphere is clubby, filled with casual conversation.

Pub