Canterbury Flights:
Flights to Canterbury
Canterbury is a city in the county of Kent in south east England. Canterbury is an ancient city, full of history and offers many historical attractions, landmarks and more for the visiting tourist.
There is no airport for Canterbury proper, but London is close enough so that flights to Canterbury can easily arrive there instead. There are excellent roads, a public bus and 2 rail lines between London and Canterbury and the trip should take under 2 hours depending on how you go. For the best options, come to Heathrow Airport (code: LHR) in London. Non-stop flights to Canterbury (arriving at Heathrow) are available with British Airways, BMI and Virgin Atlantic from South Africa. Another option is a one stop flight with Lufthansa and it connects in Munich.
Book a Flight To Canterbury:
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The Tourist Attractions of Canterbury:
Many visitors to Canterbury are attracted to this ancient city for the history. There are some stunning historical buildings including the spectacular Canterbury Cathedral, alongside historical tourist attractions such as the Canterbury Tales attraction.
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral is the city’s most visited landmark and with so many visitors coming here each yet it is actually one of the top visitor attractions in the United Kingdom. The cathedral is one of the oldest Christian buildings in the UK and was founded in the year 597. Today Canterbury Cathedral is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with St Martin’s Church and the ruins of St Augustine’s Abbey.
Canterbury Cathedral is very famous as it was here that Thomas Beckett was murdered. Beckett was an Archbishop of Canterbury and after he was murdered his shrine became a place for pilgrimage, as described in Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’.
St Martin’s Church and St Augustine’s Abbey
St Martin’s Church is also covered under the title of UNESCO World Heritage Site even though it’s just outside the actual city centre of Canterbury. It is known as England’s oldest parish church in continuous use, and is quaint and small when compared to the grandeur of Canterbury Cathedral.
St Augustine’s Abbey is the third building in the collection. It was formerly a Benedictine Abbey and construction began in the year 598. Though not only in ruins you can still get an idea of how large the abbey complex was which shows that in its heyday the abbey church even rivalled the nearby Canterbury Cathedral in size.
Canterbury Castle
Another ruined landmark is Canterbury Castle. This was a royal castle and was originally built in Norman times as a wooden motte and bailey castle in the year 1066. Though only a ruin Canterbury Castle is preserved as such and is open to visitors all year round.
Roman Museum
Of the several museums in Canterbury the Roman Museum is well known. It is built around several Roman era remains including a section of pavement that was uncovered during bombing in World War 2, a Roman mosaic, and the remains of a Roman courtyard house. Although well known the museum is actually under threat of closure despite its importance.
Canterbury Tales Visitor Attraction
Another well known attraction in Canterbury is the Canterbury Tales. This includes a wonderful reconstruction of England in the 14th century and is based on the characters in Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’.
When Should You Visit?:
As with the rest of the UK Canterbury has a mild temperate climate and is actually warmer than many cities in the country. Summer is the best time for sightseeing with average highs in the low 20’s C. Winter is quieter in terms of visitor numbers and temperatures are mild, around 8C in January.