Dover, famously known as the gateway to England, is separated from continental Europe by only few miles of sea – The English channel. For thousands of years, it has worked as a vital defence against the invasion of outside forces. The Dover castle is one of the biggest castle in England for a reason. The castle stands on top of the cliffs proudly guarding the coast of England. Apart from the castle, the cliffs itself are a treat to the eyes. The massive white structures standing like a wall acted as a part of the defence, making it difficult for enemies to access the land. Today it’s a very popular tourist attraction and a great easy hiking spot perfect for families with kids.

Dover Castle as seen from the cliffsAs it’s only an hour’s drive from London, we decided to spend our day off hiking the cliffs of Dover. It was mid July – proper summer in England. Temperature was scorching high in London, perhaps it was a perfect escape from the unbearable heat of the city.

We left home at around 3pm, so we can escape the mid day heat. By the time we were at Dover, the Sun has tilted halfway to the horizon, the temperature has started to drop along with it. Instead of parking on the seaside, we thought we would park somewhere uphill, which would save some walk. I ended up going in to the Broadless car park, which is just behind the castle itself. It’s only then when I realised that there is no footpath to the cliffs from that car park. It’s all jungle. Since we had no intention of visiting the castle, we returned back to the roadside car park at the bottom of the hill.

There are two sections of the white cliffs, with the dover port in between them. The one in the East of the port has the most beautiful view, and the most popular too. Paying the parking ticket for one hour (as it was free after 6pm anyway), we started to walk along the seaside, and then crossed the street to join the hike.

The initial part of the walk took us through a narrow one way street consisting of colourful houses, and a portion of the cliff standing high right behind those houses. I could see some windows and balconies hanging out from the cliffs steep wall. I can imagine this was probably a part of the castle that was built within the cliff. Once past the row of houses, the actual hike begins.

Part of the cliff seen behind a row of colourful housesThe ascend starts quite easy, with the trail made of concrete footpath. There are quite a lot of steps at this stage of the hike, so a wheelchair or buggy is not suitable at all. The trail gets more of rugged after first 20mins or so. It keeps going along the very edge of the cliff, allowing hikers to snap some cool photos of the cliffs before reaching the very top. Anyone with a phobia of height should refrain from looking down from the edge.

Halfway through, we came across a car park. This is the nearest car park to the White Cliffs, and saves at least half an hour hike from the roadside car park. We had no regret talking the longer route though. My son enjoyed the hike the most. Surprisingly, he walked first quarter of the hike by himself – that includes the steepest part of the hike! Once the trail was getting dangerous, I put him in the hiking carrier and carried him rest of the way up.

A ship sailing to Europe. I saw them carrying vehicles, so perhaps they act a ferry rather than a passenger carrying ship.

As we got higher and higher, the vast ocean was unfolding in front of our eyes. The shoreline of France was subtly visible in the distance. At this point we were a bit tired from the hike. I could feel the hunger kicking in. It was a good time to take a break and have some food while enjoying the view ahead.

After spending an hour there, I realised it was almost getting dark. The way back to the car was still and hour’s walk. Although it was a pretty easy hike, I did not want to risk going down in the dark with a baby on my back.

There was quite a bit of road still left to explore. It looked quite fun to be there. But we had enough. From this point, we started our hike down to the car park. The way down seemed surprisingly shorter than I expected, perhaps because it was a bit familiar.

Gates of the port in the distance through which ships goes in and outThe sun was yet to go down, so we decided to have a coffee and chill on the seaside. In the meantime, I had just enough opportunity to watch the last third of the winning match of Argentina against Switzerland. The day just could not get any better.

I found Dover to be a perfect destination for a chill day out. We spent some wonderful time hiking the cliffs of Dover. I would definitely come back again soon.