Dover Castle

I would say that we went to Dover to see the castle, but that would be a lie.  We went to Dover to see the famous chalk cliffs, and to see if we could get a peek at the French coast across the Channel. However, with Dover being a solid 4 hour round trip journey, it didn't seem to make much sense to just pop down for an hour and then back.  So to the castle we went.

I will say that coming in to Dover is... unimpressive. There are some cute little houses and churches and then, right by the bus depot, there is sort of just... nothing.  We had to wander a bit to find a Costa to satiate the caffeine deprived needs (well, at least Kelsey and mine), and even walking down the main thoroughfare lead to a sense of "meh." But up high on a hill, towering over everything else, nestled on top of those majestic white cliffs, was the Castle.  And it was as impressive as anything I've ever seen.

The walk up there nearly killed us (from a purely out-of-shape point of view). It's a pretty steep climb and it is daunting at times to try to force your way up.  In all honesty, it can't have been more than a half mile.  Either way, up we went, the bright English sunshine beaming down upon us (how often do I get to type that phrase??).

Dover Castle is immense.  There is a very small part of it that is in ruin (some dating back to the 11th or 12th century, I'm not sure which), and every inch of it just about is open to the public to explore.  You don't get that kind of freedom in most places, nor are most places kept up to this kind of standard.  Please note, I have not visited every castle in England, but the ones that I have seen have not been like this. INSANE.

Besides housing a pretty sweet castle and a massive manor that, unfortunately, wasn't open for whatever reason, there are also secret tunnels. Do I need to repeat that? SECRET. TUNNELS. I can't even. Part of them are from medieval times, which you can wander around and get hopelessly lost in, but the other ones (Napoleonic and WWII) are free and clear to go into and have been reinterpreted with some of the best tours I have ever been a part of.  There is an underground hospital which has flickering lights and overheard conversations, along with smells that are imported in to make the experience that much more 'real.' Then there are the war tunnels where they show the rooms and history behind the evacuation of Dunkirk, which is a pretty emotional and insane story in and of itself.

All in all, we spent 6 hours at the castle (this is partly due to the fact that one of my friends has to see EVERYTHING that is available. Everything.) and a grand total of maybe 35 minutes at the Cliffs (which I would like to go back to and hike properly wearing the appropriate footwear).  Dover Castle, guys.  Go there.  Live it up.