Visiting Canterbury, United Kingdom: Top Sights on Foot

Canterbury is a historic cathedral city in Kent, England, where Roman remains, medieval gates, religious landmarks and museums tell the story of one of the oldest cities in England. It is best known for Canterbury Cathedral and its connection with pilgrimage, but the city offers much more to explore on foot. Neywo’s free audio guide for Canterbury brings 87 narrated places to life as you walk.

What to See in Canterbury

Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral is the city’s defining landmark and one of England’s oldest Christian buildings. Founded in 597, it remains the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury and forms part of a World Heritage Site.

Its history is closely connected with Thomas Becket, the archbishop murdered here in 1170. Becket’s shrine attracted pilgrims, helping make Canterbury a major destination on the medieval pilgrimage route later immortalised by Geoffrey Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales.

The building reflects centuries of change. It was reconstructed between 1070 and 1077, while the east end was rebuilt and extended in the Gothic style after a major fire in 1174. The cathedral therefore brings Romanesque and Gothic architecture together in a particularly concentrated setting.

Westgate

Westgate is one of Canterbury’s most recognisable landmarks. Built around 1379 from Kentish ragstone, the medieval gatehouse rises about 18 metres above the road and is the largest surviving city gate in England.

It is also the last remaining survivor of Canterbury’s seven medieval gates. The road passes between its two drum towers, while the building itself contains the West Gate Towers Museum and historically themed escape rooms. Westgate is both a scheduled monument and a Grade I listed building.

Canterbury Roman Museum

The Canterbury Roman Museum offers a look beneath the modern city, with the remains of Roman Canterbury preserved below the building. Its Roman courtyard house contains a remarkable pavement that has been open to the public since its discovery after bombing during the Second World War.

The museum also displays excavated objects and reconstructions of the Roman town. Its collection includes the Canterbury Treasure, an important late Roman silver hoard.

Christchurch Gateway

Also known as Christchurch Gate, this Grade I listed building is a notable part of Canterbury’s historic centre. Its position helps connect the city’s medieval streets with the cathedral precinct.

St Augustine’s Abbey

The ruins of St Augustine’s Abbey preserve the site of one of Canterbury’s most important early religious foundations. Augustine of Canterbury founded the monastery in 598, originally under the name Monastery of Saints Peter and Paul.

The abbey became a Benedictine monastery and remained in use until 1538, when it was dissolved during the English Reformation. Its buildings were gradually dismantled afterwards, with the process continuing until 1848. Today, the ruins offer a tangible connection with the beginnings of Canterbury’s Christian history.

St Martin’s Church

St Martin’s Church is known as the oldest existing church in the English-speaking world and the oldest English church building still in ecclesiastical use. It is a Church of England parish church dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, with services continuing each week.

Its fabric combines Roman, medieval, Anglo-Saxon and English Gothic elements. Along with Canterbury Cathedral and St Augustine’s Abbey, St Martin’s forms part of the Canterbury World Heritage Site.

The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge

The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge brings together Canterbury’s central museum, library and art gallery. It is a place to explore the city’s cultural life alongside its historic landmarks.

The Museum of Canterbury site

The former Museum of Canterbury occupied the twelfth-century Poor Priests’ Hospital beside the River Stour on Stour Street. Although the museum closed in 2018, the site has since reopened as The Marlowe Kit, combining an escape room, an exhibition and a creative space.

The former museum’s collections explored Canterbury’s history and included the Canterbury Cross. Its location in a medieval building remains part of the city’s historic character.

Canterbury Castle

Canterbury Castle is now a ruin, but it began as one of three original royal castles in Kent, alongside Rochester Castle and Dover Castle. All three were built soon after the Battle of Hastings along the main Roman road between Dover and London.

The remaining walls are the clearest reminder of the castle’s role in the chain of royal strongholds established after the Norman conquest.

Kent Museum of Freemasonry

The Kent Museum of Freemasonry explores the Freemasonry heritage of Kent. It is a local history and masonic museum in Canterbury, administered by the Freemasonry Province of East Kent.

The wider story of Canterbury and Kent

Canterbury became an important Christian centre after Augustine converted the city and King Æthelberht of Kent in 597. It soon became the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and its religious importance helped turn the city into a major medieval pilgrimage destination.

The surrounding county takes its name from the Kingdom of Kent, one of the seven traditional Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Established in the fifth or sixth century, the kingdom was eventually absorbed into Wessex by the middle of the ninth century and became part of the unified Kingdom of England in the tenth century.

For more destinations in the region, explore England. Canterbury is also a useful starting point for discovering other historic cities across the United Kingdom, including Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds and Chichester.

Explore Canterbury with Neywo

Neywo turns a visit into a Canterbury self-guided walking tour, with stories that play as you reach each place. The app offers 3 walking tours, 1 bus route and 1 bike route:

• Pilgrims’ Canterbury: from Westgate to Becket’s cathedral — 1.76 km, 95 minutes and 11 narrated stops.
• Saints, abbey ruins and a Norman castle — 2.45 km, 95 minutes and 6 narrated stops.
• The Pilgrims’ Way in: from Harbledown to Westgate — 2.11 km, 50 minutes and 4 narrated stops.
• Bus route from St Dunstan’s to the University — 6.6 km, 28 minutes and 6 narrated stops.
• Bike route from Chartham to Canterbury Castle — 5.1 km, 26 minutes and 2 narrated stops.

The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. With 87 narrated places and narration available in 11 languages, Neywo is a free way to explore Canterbury beyond the main sights.