Canterbury Tourist Attractions River Walking Tours Canterbury Kent UK

Canterbury Ghost Tours

A corker of a ghost tour, with lots of humour and wit, the Ghostly Tour of Canterbury can be hooked into on Friday and Saturday evenings commencing 8pm. The tour lasts about 90 minutes and departs from outside Alberry's Wine Bar on St Margaret's Street. Tours run all year round in all weathers. Look to the Ghostly Tours of Canterbury weblink right for details.

Group bookings can be booked ahead. This tour is an award winner, and there's more of them not just in Canterbury but elsewhere in Kent. Other thematic tours are planned too along the lines of comedy tours. See the website for details.

Ghost tour at Alberry's Wine Bar, St Margaret's Street, Canterbury. Tel. 07779 575 831. Canterbury Tourist Office on Sun Street will also have more information.

• Canterbury Hotels
• Canterbury Accommodation
• Canterbury Bed and Breakfast

Canterbury Guided Leisure Tours Walking Tours River Tours

For a very reasonable price you can book into a selection of superb Canterbury city guided walks via the Canterbury Tourist Office on Sun Street. Walks depart from outside the tourist office, and run during peak season from March to October walks departing daily. Hosted by knowledgeable and qualified guides, the Canterbury walks will introduce you to all the major historic sites of Canterbury including the Cathedral, Abbey ruins, winding medieval streets and weavers' houses. During the walks you'll discover a few notables pertaining to Canterbury including Joseph Conrad (who was born nearby), Mary Tourtel creator of Rupert Bear, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and the dramatist and key influence on Shakespeare Christopher Marlowe who was born in Canterbury.and after whom one of Canterbury's theatres is aptly named.

For more details see the Canterbury Walks webguide right or call in at the Canterbury Tourist Information Centre, 12/13 Sun Street Canterbury. Tel. 01227 459 779.

Canterbury has another tourist edge - its river. The River Stour in Kent runs through the heart of Canterbury overlooking the city's historic district, all the way to the sea at Pegwell Bay (from the Fordwich Sluice just north of Canterbury to Pegwell the River Stour stretches across East Kent for 19 miles). The Stour, which is only navigable for small boats in the Canterbury area, cuts right into the city towards Greyfriars and Eastbridge Hospital, and the 30 to 40 minute river tours with guides take in those two historic Canterbury sites, then onto Kings Bridge dating from 1134 past the Old Weavers House, Kings Mill, and the Cromwellian iron forge. Views of Canterbury Cathedral from the water are spectacular

In all Canterbury River Tours take in Kings Bridge, Eastbridge Hospital, Franciscan Island, Greyfriars Chapel, the Old Weavers House, Kings Mill, Alchemist Tower, the Cromwellian Forge, Friars Bridge, Blackfriars - Dominican Priories, the Abbots Mill, the Marlowe Theatre and the Ducking Stool. River boat leisure tours depart every 15 to 20 minutes from April to September. Pick up tickets at the King's Bridge outside the Old Weaver's House. Checkout the Canterbury Historic River Tours webguide right for details on Evening River tours which are also offered. Contact The Ducking Stool, The Old Weavers Restaurant Garden, Kings Bridge, St Peters Street, Canterbury. Tel. 0044 (0)7790 534744. River tours depart from and end at King's Bridge. See also Canterbury's River Navigation Company webguide right who offer 40 minute tours from Westgate. Their boats are Cambridge style punting boats. Tel. 07816 760 869.

• Canterbury B&B
• Canterbury Guest Houses
• Canterbury Holiday Parks

Rubert Bear Museum Canterbury, Rupert Bear Illustrations Mary Tourtel

The creator of Rupert Bear, Mary Tourtel (nee Caldwell), was born in Canterbury in 1874. She lived most of her life here, dying in Canterbury in 1948. The house where she spent her remaining years in Canterbury still stands on Ivy Street. Her father, not surprisingly in Canterbury, was a stone mason and stained glass window artist and she obviously picked up the artistic bug from him. She attended art school, and like many trained women artists in her time went on to become an illustrator. She was a particularly successful one. She just happened to be married to Herbert Tourtel, the editor of the Daily Express. In 1920 the Express was up against popular comic strip characters (now little known compared to Rupert who has gone the distance) in both the Daily Mail and Mirror. Mary Tourtel produced her first comic strip, originally called 'Rupert the Lost Bear' in 1920.

The rest is on-going Rupert Bear history, with some changes through the years. Punch illustrator Alfred Bestall took over from Tourtel after her eyesight began to fail in 1935, and he ran with Rupert until John Harrold took over in the 1970s. Tourtel's Rupert originally had a blue shirt with white checked trousers and scarf. Bestall's Rupert from the 1930s however has the distinctive red shirt with yellow checked trousers and scarf. Many fans of Rupert (and there's some fervant fans and collectors out there) respect Tourtel as Rupert's creator but look to Bestall as the illustrator and storyteller that really made Rupert.

Original drawings of Rupert Bear are on-show in the splendid Rupert Bear Museum, situated within the Canterbury Museum on Stour Street. Kids will have endless fun in here as there's lots of interactive stuff going on including drawing your own Rupert. Within the exhibit you can watch Paul McCartney's Frog song video featuring Rupert Bear and Rupert timeline. Parents and kids alike can muse over their own particular Rupert. The latest Rupert, primarily aimed at pre-school children, hit the TV screens on the UK's Channel 5 in 2006. The classic Rupert is being maintained alongside TV Rupert Bear who has a host of new friends too - more girls this time including a mermaid. These new animators recently gave Postman Pat a revamp too.

Rupert Bear Museum (within the Museum of Canterbury), Stour Street, Canterbury, Kent. Tel. 00 44 (0)1227 475 202. See Rupert Museum and other Rupert webguides right for this immortal comic boy bear.

• Hotels in Canterbury Kent
• Bed and Breakfast Canterbury Kent
• Canterbury Holiday Cottages

Canterbury Carriage Tours

Take a tour of historic Canterbury in style by horse drawn carriage. An excellent way to get orientated if you're a new visitor, see photography on Canterbury Carriage Tours via the weblink right.

Canterbury Carriages depart from Stour Street near the Abode Hotel. See their webguide right for details or telephone 01304 620 154/07973 815 162.

• Hotels in Canterbury
• B&B in Canterbury
• Accommodation in Canterbury