SWC Walk 13 - Folkestone to Dover Length: 14.5km (9 miles) or 15.5km (9.6 miles)
Toughness: 4 out of 10
9.34 train from
St Pancras International to Folkestone, arriving
10.30
(Or the 8.40 from Charing Cross, 8.49 London Bridge, to Folkestone, arriving 10.21)
Buy
a day return to Dover "plus high speed" if using the specified train For
walk directions click
here.
OK, I realise this is a hostage to the weather. If it is wet and windy, best give this walk a miss. But if the weather is clear, or at least stable, a walk along the chalk cliffs can be a bracing treat. This walk has made a good winter outing before.
Today will also introduce you to some minor tweaks to the walk route, which all date back to the summer when it looked like the original steep path up the cliffs on the Folkestone Circular walk had become overgrown. That path has since been cleared, but in the meantime I devised two new starts to the walk, one or other of which you can try today:
-
The new main walk takes you straight up onto the cliff top from Folkestone (reversing the ending of the Folkestone Circular walk) and keeps you there all the way to Dover
-
Option a) takes you along the wild seafront of the Warren, as per the original Folkestone Circular, but gives you
a longer option that takes you by
another cliff-climbing path up to the lunch options for this walk. This is the
15.5km/9.6 mile option.
Either way your
lunch stop is most likely to be the the
Lighthouse Inn: I would be surprised if the Clifftop Cafe is open, and I have no recent information on the Royal Oak a bit further on.
The afternoon of the walk gets increasingly interesting as it approaches Dover, with a lovely path along the cliff edge, interesting World War II gun emplacements and views, and a beautiful narrowing ridge as you approach your destination. There is also a main road not far inland, but its noise is less troubling if the wind is coming off the sea. The last section into Dover climbs over the Western Heights with its slightly spooky Napoleonic era fortifications.
Dover itself is not a place you will want to linger, but its one bright spot is a typically large and cosy
Weatherspoons pub. There is also a
Costa Coffee open till 6.30pm.
Trains back from Dover are at
49 past to
St Pancras (1 hr 05) or
58 past to
Charing Cross (1hr 54).
On the clifftop in the afternoon the scenery was wonderful, with hazy views of France and glorious light patterns on the sea. The WW2 remains were interesting. The wind was damned cold, however.
We crested the fascinating Western Heights, with their massive Napoleonic era forts, just in time for a fine panoramic view of Dover and got to its high street in time to have tea at the Dickens Corner cafe. Three then went for the 16.49 train, while four of us went to the very busy Weatherspoons (at least one part of Dover is prospering, then) for rather too much wine and the 18.49. Banter on the train with a spirited local youth and "sick as a parrot" West Ham fans (they lost 5:1) between Stratford and St P. Happy days!