Day Trip from London to Canterbury

High-speed trains from St Pancras reach Canterbury West in about 51 to 54 minutes, yet the day trips we describe pair the cathedral city with other stops in Kent. Canterbury features on 11 of the day trips we offer from London. Taken together, the Canterbury excursions displayed above carry more than 5,529 reviews and a 4.5 out of 5 average.

Nearly every Canterbury route we cover fills about 10 hours, with the small-group version a little shorter at 9.5 hours. Counting every Canterbury departure on the page, a day lasts somewhere from 9 to 10 hours.

Canterbury Cathedral within a Kent and Dover loop

On the combined coach days, Canterbury Cathedral shares the route with Leeds Castle and the White Cliffs of Dover; some of these routes add Greenwich as well. Whether you go inside the cathedral comes down to the option you pick on several of them. "See the tomb of Thomas Becket", one of these days noted among its highlights, and it holds 4.4 out of 5.

Spanish guiding appears on two of the Kent coach routes we describe. One of those adds Greenwich's Old Royal Naval College and a Thames boat ride. On one of them you hear the live guide through a radioguide system, and travellers score it 4.3 out of 5.

A smaller group for Canterbury and the cliffs

Kent's "Garden of England" countryside is the backdrop to the smaller-party option, which rides in a minibus with air conditioning and a local driver-guide and leaves room to wander Canterbury at your own pace. It keeps to two places in Kent, visiting the historic cathedral and including "a long walk along the White Cliffs of Dover", as its listing puts it; its rating reads 4.7 out of 5.

Guided coach with the cathedral ticket in the day

This guided format lists entry to Canterbury Cathedral and to Leeds Castle in the same booking, travels on a luxury coach and passes through Greenwich with a professional guide. Its free cancellation runs up to 48 hours before, while most other trips we describe allow 24.

For Canterbury, two differences stand out among the formats we describe: how many other Kent stops compete for your hours, and whether the cathedral ticket comes with the booking or is a choice you make. Of the tours shown here, "From London: White Cliffs of Dover and Canterbury Day Trip" tops the review count with more than 3,259, scoring 4.6 out of 5.

Table data is indicative and comes from the GuruWalk catalogue. Each activity's current details, including availability, are the ones shown on its listing when you book.

Becket's martyrdom and the old stained glass

Canterbury Cathedral is where Thomas Becket was martyred in 1170. It also holds some of the oldest stained glass in England, which is a reason to check whether your option includes the interior.

Westgate Gardens by the River Stour

In Canterbury, the Westgate Gardens run along the River Stour. The small-group day we cover leaves time in each place it visits; its other stop is the White Cliffs of Dover.