Canterbury Cathedral Lodge

Canterbury experts -- Rail and bus advice please!

by k4cmd

Hello everyone! First post.

My family and I will be flying from the US in late September for an approximately 10-day stay in England. We have chosen to go the self-catering route and to make our "base" for travel in an apartment that is literally across the street from the West rail station in Canterbury (we have stayed in Ashford before). We intend to use the rail and bus services for our sightseeing tours to places such as Dover, Leeds Castle, Tenterden, etc., and for several day trips to London. We are unsure, as yet, of how many days we will actually be traveling by bus/rail, but I know we will be doing a lot of this kind of travel -- possibly as much as 10 days traveling by bus and rail. The total party will consist of four adults (one is a senior) and one 6-year-old child. The choices of multi-day rail passes are bewildering ... can any of you help in suggesting the best multi-day bus, rail and Underground tickets for the price? Are there any multi-day passes that combine any of these services? (Since we'll all be traveling together, it's OK if the suggestions are for multi-party passes.) Also (full of questions, here, yes), am I correct in assuming that most of the rail service in and around the southeast is second class, so no need to spring the extra money for first-class rail passes? (What is the difference between first and second class, anyway?) As for the arrival trip to Canterbury from Heathrow, I'm assuming we can hop on the Heathrow Express train to London, change trains in London, and take the Southeastern line to Canterbury West station via Ashford International. Is there any restriction to taking airline luggage on local trains? I'd hate to have to pay cab fare for that journey.

(When we were last in the UK, I remember purchasing a one-day rail card at Ashford International that paid for all rail and Underground passage for one day -- and it wasn't expensive. Do they still offer things like that?)

This will be my second time in the UK, and the first time we had hosts (via a sister city relationship with Ashford) who drove us everywhere we wanted to go in their personal cars. This time we want a little freedom to do what we want, when we want to -- hence the decision to rely on trains & buses without the hassle and worry of renting a car. Good idea? Bad idea? Suggestions? I await your expertise!