Kent Tours

If you are visiting Canterbury and want to know more about our history, then Kent Tours may be perfect for you. Situated out of Burgate, in the heart of the City, and a mere stone's throw from the Cathedral, the company is recently set up and is an organisation that gives you the history of this great city in your own timeline. The tour is able to cater for 7 different languages and will guide you around 20 of Canterbury's greatest landmarks on 2 preset routes.

Rebecca, who has set this up, has created a fun, innovative and refreshing audio tour that really brings the city alive for young and old alike. I loved the fact that I could take my time and was not beholden on a tourguide and their timeline. If I wanted to take extra time at a certain location, there was no-one stopping me.

I recently took this tour with my daughter. My daughter decided to take the audio tour in English, and I took the German version. We set off with our map (given by the Tour company) and the audio MP3 player and I found that touring the City this way allowed me to see parts I had never noticed before. It also gives you an opportunity to see the History of Canterbury without having to go to every single attraction.

I also love the fact that you can take your time, press pause and have some lunch or do some shopping, or even skip over an attraction to the next one. Its very flexible you can choose to do all 20 attractions, which takes at least 2 hours, or you can do two shorter routes, one lasting an hour and a quarter the other 45 minutes.

The seven different languages currently catered for are: English, German, French, Japanaese, Russian, Italian and Spanish. The commentary is designed to appeal to all age groups. There are certain gruesome details that will appeal to the younger generation, rather than being purely about the City's architecture and buildings. Without doubt though, my daughter and I both really enjoyed ourselves, so I would recommend the Tour for a family.

When you go in to the Kent Tours shop you will be greeted by Logan, a lovely Golden Lab who is a firm fixture within the company. Frankly I defy you not to smile when you see those lovely dark eyes of his.

When you take the tour you become eligible for a variety of discounts around the town. These are marked on the Kent Tours route map and include 15% off at Patisserie Valerie on the High Street, or a free bottle of Sicilian wine at Carluccio's on St George's Street. I loved this flexibility as it allowed my daughter and I to do some shopping and make a real day of it, not just rushing round the City.

Prices

The prices listed below are for hiring the MP3 player and headphones for the whole day and are valid as of April 2011:

Adults £10

Children Ages 5 to 15 £6

Family 2 Adults 2 Children £26

Concessions OAPs and Students £7

Please note these prices do not include entrance into any of the attractions

For more information, or to make a booking check out the Kent Tours Website