It is possible to take a train to these castles but the train times aren’t that frequent, so we rented a car for these visits. From London, it’s about a 2-hour drive here and only 15 minutes from Dover. We first drove to Walmer Castle and there is parking available at the site. Tickets cost 12.60 GBP1 or free with an English Heritage membership. An audio guide is included with the ticket which gives you access to the castle and the gardens. There are several information panels with numbers that you input into the audio guide. This castle was part of a chain of artillery castles that King Henry VIII had built to fortify the coastline. He feared attacks from a new alliance between France, Spain, and the Pope after he broke away from the Catholic Church to create the Protestant church. Since then, the castle has been converted into a stately-home. You can see how the furnished rooms have been transformed to create a more comfortable residence. Several Lord Wardens have added improvements over time and it was once used by Duke Wellington. There’s a room with some of his history and also the room he died in has been kept the way it was on the day. You can also step outside to explore the gardens. We went in winter so the garden wasn’t as pretty as it must be in summer. It took us about two hours to complete our tour of Walmer Castle and we were done around 1 PM.
To get to Deal Castle, it’s a short 5-minute drive up the coast and there is also parking available next to the site. Tickets cost 7.90 GBP or free with an English Heritage membership. This is another artillery castle by King Henry VII but this one has been transformed into a museum. The entire castle is open for you to explore on a self-guided tour with the audio guide included with the ticket. At this castle you can learn a lot more about the 16th-century defense system. An interesting part of the castle is wandering through underground perimeter passageways below the castle. There are wellies available for you to put on as it can get muddy. You can complete the visit in about an hour so we were done at around 2.30 PM.
