Rochester
A Dickensian high street, a Norman cathedral and a castle on the Medway, forty minutes out. The old streets and the cathedral are free.
FREE
The lowdown
Rochester is a proper old Medway town and one of the quickest escapes from London. The long high street is straight out of Dickens, who lived nearby, all crooked timber fronts, secondhand bookshops and tea rooms, and it is free to wander.
At the top sit the Norman cathedral, free on a donation, and the castle with its great square keep, whose riverside gardens are free even if the keep is ticketed. Add a walk along the Medway and you have an easy half-day for almost nothing.
Getting there from London
The high street, the cathedral (donation) and the castle gardens are free. Only the castle keep charges. One of the closest day trips out.
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