Walk 30 : Dover to Deal

Main walk: 16km (9.9 miles). Five hours walking time. For the whole excursion including meals and trains, allow 11 hours

Short walk: Options from 7km (4.4 miles) to 14km (8.8 miles), two hours 15 minutes to four hours thirty minutes walking time

OS Landranger Map 179 Explorer Map 138 (though the last mile or so is on 150)

3 out of 10

This simple walk (it should be impossible to get lost if you keep the sea on your right hand side) is nevertheless one of the finest coastal walks in England, taking you right along the top of the famous White Cliffs of Dover. On a clear day, you get stunning views of the English Channel, and the ferries buzzing in and out of Dover Harbour, and the French coast from Boulogne to Dunkerque. On hazier days, the dramatic (though dangerously crumbling) cliffs afford exciting views of the inaccessible beaches below.

Surprisingly for a walk that seems to spend much of its time on the airy heights, not much exertion is involved. There are only two significant climbs, one out of Dover and the other out of St Margaret's Bay. Otherwise the terrain is level or gently undulating. The last quarter of the walk, indeed, is totally flat, along a tranquil coastpath behind the pebble beach of Deal. Though less dramatic than the White Cliffs this section of the walk is full of historical and natural interest, passing Walmer and Deal castles and examples of rare coastal flora.

St Margaret's Bay, 7km (4.4 miles) or two hours 15 minutes into the walk, is an obvious place to cut short the walk. There is an efficient bus service from here back to Dover, which incidentally passes right by Dover Castle en route. For details on where to catch the bus, see Ending the walk in St Margaret's Bay at the end of the main text.

You can also reverse the walk from St Margaret's Bay, making a round trip walk of 14km (8.8 miles) or four hours thirty minutes walking time. The White Cliffs Visitor Centre makes an ideal tea stop if you do this. For the most part, the cliff path back will be self-evident, but for brief directions to get you started from St Margaret's Bay, see Reversing the walk from St Margaret's at the end of the main text

A final option if ending the walk at St Margaret's is to walk inland from the bay to the historic village of St Margaret's at Cliffe. For a suggested route see Alternative ending in St Margaret's at Cliffe at the end of the main text. This route adds 3.5km (2.2 miles) to the walk from Dover to St Margaret's Bay, making a total walk of 10.5km (6.6 miles) or five hours walking time.

You can also trim 3km (1.8 miles) off the main walk by getting a bus from Walmer Castle to Deal. Buses run hourly until about 5.45pm Monday to Saturday. Tel 0870 243 3711 for exact times.

Lengthening the walk: If you are feeling really enthusiastic, you can follow the coast onwards from Deal for a further 4.8km (3 miles) before turning inland at the Sandwich Bay Estate along a quiet country road to Sandwich: a total extension of 8km (5 miles). This would also make a very nice Sunday walk if you decided to stay the night in Deal. The coast beyond Deal is completely undeveloped (at least until you get to the Sandwich Bay estate), and you walk alongside an empty beach backed by a golf course and flat marshland. On a sunny evening, this a pretty and tranquil walk which seems a million miles away from the crowded South East of England. Sandwich is a fascinating place too, a medieval port left high and dry by the retreating sea in the 16th century, whose ancient streets are well worth exploring. Not far away are the remains of the Roman port, Richborough. Trains from Sandwich go back to London on the same line that serves Dover and Deal

As a port, Dover is not quite as a busy as it used to be in pre-Channel Tunnel days, but it is still fascinating to pause on the cliffs for a while early in this walk and contemplate the complicated workings of its huge Eastern Docks, the main ferry terminal. The town's other star attraction is its large medieval castle, which is well worth a visit, but really needs a day out of its own: this is just one of several disused military forts which are dotted around the town. Just in front of the castle and to the left of the church, is the remains of a Roman Lighthouse, which is clearly visible from the sea front. The cliffs below the castle contain a World War II bunker, later converted to a civilian command centre for us in the case of nuclear war, before prime minister Margaret Thatcher closed all such centres as a waste of money: traces of this can also be seen in the early stages of this walk. Dover was also the English town that suffered most during World War II, being under artillery bombardment from German forces in France for the whole war.

The White Cliffs of Dover were formed 80 to 65 million years ago at the bottom of what was then a tropical ocean. The chalk is made up of the small shells of millions of sea creatures. It is estimated that it took 10,000 years to create 15 milimetres of chalk (that is a million years to make 15 metres). In places the chalk is 250 metres deep. The cliffs are actually the terminus of the North Downs, which run all the way from Farnham, just south west of London to this point. Originally the ridge stretched across to France, but was broken by the ice 26,000 years ago during one of the ice ages, separating the UK from Europe. Incidentally, there are no blue birds over the White Cliffs of Dover: the famous World War II song was written by Nat Burton, an American who had never been to England.

South Foreland Lighthouse (tel 01304 852463) was built in 1843 to protect shipping from the Goodwin Sands, which at low tide can be seen just off shore in the later part of this walk. Guglielmo Marconi, the radio pioneer, made the first ship to shore transmissions to this point in 1898, and it was also home to the world's first international radio transmission, to Wimereux in France. The lighthouse is open to the public from 11.00am to 5.30pm, Thursday to Monday, 1 March to 31 October.

St Margarets had a population of 419 in 1801, when a wall was put up to prevent the bay being used by Napoleon's invasion forces. Its proximity to the Continent (it is the closest place in England to France, at 29km or 18 miles distance) and hidden cove made it a popular landing place for smugglers for much of its history. The St Margaret's Museum (tel 01304 852 764), passed on this walk, is open 2pm to 5pm Wednesday to Sunday from late May to early October. The Pines Garden, opposite the Museum, is also worth a visit if you are on one of the shorter walk options.

Deal beach is popularly supposed to have been the landing site for the forces of Roman general Julius Caesar when he came to Britain in 55 BC to see if it was worth invading. He apparently decided that it wasn't, and it was not until 43 AD that the Romans returned, under the emperor Claudius to permanently occupy the island. The Romans later turned Richborough, just up the coast behind Sandwich (both of which places are now inland) into their main port of entry into Britain

Walmer Castle and Deal Castle were built by Henry VIII in 1539-40 as artillery platforms to guard against a threatened French invasion. They were never permanently occupied and saw only minor military action. Walmer Castle (tel 01483 252000) later became the official residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (the ancient association of port towns in the South East of England, which were given special privileges by the crown). The Duke of Wellington, victor of the Battle of Waterloo fame, died here in 1852, as much later did WH Smith, founder of the newsagents: both men were Lord Wardens. The castle has fine 18th century gardens is open Wednesday to Sunday 10.00am to 6.00pm from April to September, or until dusk the rest of the year. Deal Castle, also passed on this walk, is open similar hours but is also open Monday to Tuesdays in summer.

Deal has a rather sleepy air these days, but was a major port in the days of sailing ships. Convoys of ships used to collect in the area just off its beach, which offered a protected anchorage due to the presence of the sand banks of the Goodwin Sands offshore, and cargo would be loaded or offloaded from them using rowing boats. Because of the sandbanks, the area was known among sailors as The Downs (Downs coming from the same Saxon word as the word dune). At times up to 1000 ships could apparently be seen in the bay. The centre of Deal still retains some fine buildings from this era, best seen by taking the short detour at the end of this walk, as well as many cosy nautical pubs. The town has many useful information boards explaining its history

Take the train to Dover leaving London Charing Cross nearest to 9.00 am. Trains call at Waterloo East and London Bridge a few minutes later. The journey time is about one hour 45 minutes. Buy a day return to Deal. Trains back from Deal pass through Dover, and take around two hours

Trains from Deal and Martin Mill both go back to Dover Priory Station, taking 15 minutes from Deal and 10 mins from Martin Mill. As Dover Priory is only a short walk from Dover's shopping centre, almost any central Dover parking spot will do for this walk. The bus back from St Margaret's stops in the town centre, near the main shopping street.

Describing itself as "Britain's nearest pub to France", The Coastguard (tel 01304 553 176) in St Margaret's Bay takes food orders from till roughly 2.45pm daily, though it remains open all afternoon for drinks, including tea and coffee. It has a pleasant open air terrace directly overlooking beach.

45 metres from the pub, to the rear of St Margaret's Bay's public car park (not the pub car park) is a tea kiosk, which serves sandwiches, pasties, egg and chips and other delicacies. This has no fixed hours, but the owners say it is open most weekends, and daily from April till the end of summer. It closes "about 5pm". All these hours depend on the weather to some extent.

Other options include the St Margaret's Museum (tel 01304 852 764) passed slightly earlier in the walk, which has a tea room that is open 2.00pm to 5.00pm Wednesday to Sunday, from late May to early September, and serves sandwiches and cakes.

It is also a short walk from St Margaret's Bay to the Blue Birds Tea Room (see Tea below).

Very early in the walk, the White Cliffs Visitor Centre also has a coffee shop overlooking the sea, which does "light lunches". (See Tea below)

Practically anywhere on the walk - either the clifftops or Deal beach - is ideal for a picnic

On the main walk, a possible early tea stop is the Zetland Arms (tel 01304 366 888) in Kingsdown, at the start of the Deal Beach section of this walk, which serves tea and coffee and has some outside tables overlooking the sea. It is open during the afternoon on bank holiday weekends and for the six weeks of the school holidays in the summer: otherwise, it is shut from 2.30pm to 7pm

The recommend tea stop, however, is the small but very comfortable bar lounge of Dunkerley's Hotel (tel 01304 375 016) at the end of the walk in Deal, right by the roundabout near the pier (see walk directions for exact location). Open to non-residents, and offering comfortable leather armchairs and classical music, this serves cream teas and teacakes until at least 10pm.

If Dunkerley's is full, there are several typical seaside cafes on the seafront directly facing the pier. Walking north from Dunkerley's these are, in order, Debs, the Deal Beach Parlour, and The Caterer. The first two are open till 5pm daily, but The Caterer is open until 6pm daily, offering tea, coffee, biscuits, and meals with chips.

Alternatively, the town is full of cosy old pubs. You might try the Old Kings Head or the Port Arms, both just a few doors from Dunkerley's Hotel.

On the short walk, if you are doing the loop to St Margaret's at Cliffe, the Blue Birds Tea Room, which is romantically situated in an old coastguard station on the clifftops just beyond St Margaret's Bay, is highly recommended. It is open daily except Mondays from 10.30am to 4.00pm. Otherwise, the village of St Margaret's at Cliffe has a number of pubs (see Walk Directions for details)

If you are returning from St Margaret's Bay to Dover, the St Margarets Museum tea room (see Lunch above). However the recommended tea stop for this option is White Cliffs Vistor Centre on the cliff above Dover Eastern Docks. Its coffee shop has a view of the sea and is open 10am to 5pm March to October and 11 am to 4pm November to February.

Start: Dover Priory Station is near : CT17 9TY [gmap]

Finish: Deal Station is near : CT14 9ST [gmap]

Return to your car by train:

• (park at the start) at 4pm
• (park at the end) at 10am

• Out:
• Back:

The text above was taken from the 2004 edition of the book, and may be a little out of date. Please check the updates for this walk.