Kenilworth Castle, Kenilworth

Another English Heritage, and one which is close to Birmingham. Perfect! Took a train to Coventry and then hop on a bus to Kenilworth. 

Got off the bus and my stomach rumbled, so went to get some breakfast. 

Breakfast at The Almanack. Pretty good, excellent service

After breakfast, GPS says its a 15 minutes walk to the Castle, so walk it is. 

 Pweety house

It really isn't that far. 15 minutes is about right, the castle is pretty easy to find. 

With a student discount, it's £7.40 for entrance fee.

 Click picture to read

Upon entering, it looks like there is a fair next to the castle. (more for kids)

 Click to read

Kenilworth castle is in ruins. The structure is still there, but most of the walls are torn down or the walls are black from fire. So sad, based on the structures, it must have looked magnificent once. 

 Leicester's Building, erected to accommodate Queen Elizabeth 1 and her close servants

Description of Leicester's Building

 Geoffrey de Clinton's Great Tower- used for residence, administration and entertainment

 Read

 Looks like... 1818?

 Stairway up

 Fascinating wall

 The Great Hall- only used for special occasions

 Elizabethan Garden- recreated by English Heritage

 Horses grazing

 Used to be stables, its a teahouse now

Leicester's Gatehouse - Built as a gatehouse about 1571-2, and after 1650 was converted into a substantial house. Interior shows a mini museum of what the place looks like when Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester was around and the history of Robert Dudley and Queen Elizabeth the 1st. 

 Click to read

 The Fountain

Well, had a great time. Somehow, there isn't that much to shout about for Kenilworth Castle, but I'm always glad to have the opportunity to travel here and see it for my own eyes. Besides, I love the idea of a romantic venture between Queen Elizabeth the 1st with Robert Dudley. 

Clock Tower - to know where to stop the bus to get off for Kenilworth Castle

Direction from Birmingham:

Train: Birmingham to Coventry

Bus: X17 to Kenilworth £3.55 for a return 

(bus stand is just outside the train station. Follow the red fences)

White Cliffs of Dover and Dover Castle, Dover

Damn, Dover is seriously FAR! Took a National Express bus from Birmingham to Dover and it took 5 hours and 5 minutes.. Ass is numb by the time I got there -.-

 Stopped at the Dover Ferry because the first item of the day was the White Cliff Boat Trip. 

The minute I reached the Ferry I took a snapshot of the cliff to send to my mother and she responded with, the cliff isn't 'white' enough -.-

 View of the cliff while walking around the bay

 To get to the Boat Tour, I walked all the way from the ferry to the other side of the bay. It starts at 12pm, since I have 20 minutes before it starts, I wanted to get to the nearest ATM machine, I asked the owner and he volunteered to drive me to the nearest ATM machine O.O So Nice!! 

The boat ride cost me £8. Bring cash, they don't accept cards. Okay, I took the boat tour so I could get nice snapshots of the White Cliffs and the Castle from sea. It was just me and a family of 2 kids, with a dog (didn't know you could bring your dogs along..) so there was loads of room in the boat. Though there are commentaries of the history of Dover, but with the sounds of the boat engine sounds and the choppy waves, it drowns out the tour guide's voice.

View of Dover Castle

View of the White Cliffs from the boat

View of the White Cliffs from the beach

If you are taking the boat ride to hear the tour guide, don't, it's not worth it. But it is the only way to get a nice snapshot of the White Cliffs since this is the only boat tours available in Dover. And, by the way, they don't even leave the port -.- they don't go near the Cliffs at all (I think it's because it's dangerous, large pieces of rocks breaks off the Cliff)

After the boat tour, I went back to the Ferry so I could use the toilet. There is a public toilet next to the boat tour, but it's locked! :( Later, it started raining again! Argh, stupid rain.. So, had to wait around 20 minutes before the sun came out again. Next, I took a taxi up to Dover Castle. I read reviews that it's very steep up, so it's better to take a taxi. Cost me £4.20 from the Ferry to the Castle. Taxi driver is so funny. He said, you came all the way from Birmingham to see the Cliffs??? LOL

Dover Castle - one of the largest castle in the country

A little camwhore moment hehe

Constable's Gate

 It is so windy up here! Everytime my hat flies away, my heart skips a beat..

 Click on picture to read

 The Great Tower

 Click on picture to read

 The Roman Lighthouse and Church of St Mary

 View from inside the lighthouse

 Interior of Church of St Mary

 Cushion chairs!

 There are many tunnels in the Castle, the Castle plays a part in WW2. 

 Constructed in 1941-1942 for injured troops

 Tells how soldiers were rescued from Dunkirk. Very Interesting

 Saw this while I'm leaving the Castle. Love the alignment of the stones

Castle view from town

 After walking down the steep from the castle, I had 2 more hours before my bus arrives, so decided to walk up the path to the White Cliffs. 

Reach the signboard, panting like crazy, and the pathway up is crazy steep. When I reach the top it was an half an hour before my bus arrive, so had to quickly run back down to catch my bus. 

Do you know, on a nice day, standing on the cliff, one could actually see France?

Beach in the evening

Love the place, definitely a must go to see the Cliffs. I came here because my mum has always wanted to come here but never had the chance to. I'm glad I had a chance to show her what it looked like with my pictures :) 

Okay, back to Birmingham, 5 hours and 50 minutes T_T