Rochester Kent

Rochester is a city which has a huge amount of history to boast of. The fact that it doesn’t seem to boast about it means that apart from festivals it isn’t necessarily a crowded city. It’s less than an hour from London and it’s just over an hour from the Kent coast. As such, it’s a great day trip for anyone in the UK’s biggest city or for someone who wants to get inland when the crowds arrive.

The Castle is a Norman construction dating from 1087, the year of the Domesday Book. Rochester Cathedral became an important seat of Christianity in 644 whilst the current building was built between 1079 and 1238. There are two main festivals during the year, Sweeps Festival during the first weekend of May and Dickens Christmas during the first weekend of December. As the second one suggests, Rochester and Charles Dickens are inextricably linked and a walk down the historic High Street will be fairly similar to the walks Dickens himself took 150 to 200 years ago. So, if you enjoy history, culture and a less frenetic pace of life, come to Rochester!