Trains come about every half hour during peak travel and on the hour at other times. It is about a…read more+2 hour journey to Charing Cross. Be mindful that the trains departing Charing Cross actually split at Dover International Station and only one half of the train actually goes to Sandwich. It is a quaint small town station. You won't find a taxi stand here. If you are coming to the area and need a taxi, get off at Ramsgate. Though it is about a 15 minute car ride it is the closest main station.

Simple, fast and a good option for travellers with pets…read more We went to the UK this year and took the Tunnel both ways. We had our dog with, so this was way faster than taking the ferry and we didn't have to be seperated from our doggy. Prices are similar to the ferries. Taking the dog from the UK into mainland EU is simple. No special preparations are needed. The boarding areas both in Folkestone is pretty big with plenty of shops and fast food chains. Pet areas as well. The arriving area is quite a bit smaller. Just a shop or two and some fast food chain. Small pet area and a gas station. That's it. But it's all you need I guess. The Check-In is pretty fast (even faster if you prepare everything in advance online) and the lines are moving quickly. We got chosen randomly for a security check, which took a few minutes. Enough to miss our booked train. But that's wasn't a big deal, the next train left in 25 minutes, and we didn't have to do anything extra to get on that one. Time enough to eat a Burger in the car in the waiting line. Once inside it's a fast ride and pretty smooth and quiet. Most people stayed inside their cars....but you can wander around a bit, if you fancy a talk with some travellers. Exiting the trains is a fast affair. In a matter of minutes after arriving you'll find yourself on the motorway. Be sure to drive on the correct side :) We really liked the Tunnel. Of course, a ferry might be more enjoyable when it comes to travel. But if you have a pet, I'd go for the Tunnel. It's all very well organised. Travelling from Folkestone to Calais is a bit easier. Everything is thought trough very well with good signs. From Calais to Folkestone it's a bit more difficult.

The train service between U.K. and France is awesome. It's quick and you stay in your vehicle as…read moreyou cross the English Channel and it takes about 35 mins. We chose the train as you are allowed to stay with your pet in the car, something the ferry does not allow. We had initially booked the ferry and ended up canceling it for the simple reason that you had to leave the dog in cargo in car. The train was easy and quick without stress for all. Prices are not too dissimilar to the ferry and the process is fairly quick and easy. Would definitely use this service again. It was my first time and I really liked it.

Well kept rural station that transports you back to the age of steam. With its little tea room and…read moretoy museum its well worth a visit.

We were scheduled on a transatlantic cruise from Dover to New York in September and were arriving…read morein Dover by train from London. We contacted Karen at Whitfield Cars in Dover about doing a 3-hour private tour of the area prior to boarding our ship. Karen provided reasonable rates, was very helpful, answered all my questions and we arranged for Mick to pick the 4 of us up at the train station. The tour was exceptional and very informative at which point we were dropped off directly in front of the main door to board the ship. Mick was born in the Dover area and is extremely personable, providing a tour of primary areas with a strong knowledge of the history and key historical sites. I would highly recommend Whitfield Cars for their professionalism, booking process and highly enjoyable and informative tour. It was such a great start to our transatlantic journey!

From the owner: Former owners of Dover Heritage Taxis, Dover born Smart & reliable driver with over 27 years…read moreexperience. Mick Moon drives his MPV air conditioned vehicle with free wi-if offering very competitive rates. Mick has a Keen interest in local history and especially enjoys giving local tours of Dover and surrounding villages and also offers meet and greet transfers to and from Gatwick, Heathrow and other airports plus door to door cruise ship transfers. Karen Moon his wife has been arranging hundreds of transfers for many years so will give you the best advice and service you would expect from a high standard company. Email enquiry will be answered as soon as seen so why not give us a message and see for yourself the response you receive, it costs nothing so you have nothing to lose. Hope the hear from you soon.

Polegate station serves the town of the same name on the northern edge of the Eastbourne…read moreconurbation, and is served by trains on the West Coastway line. It handles around 0.9m passengers a year. The first station on the site opened in 1846 on the Lewes to St Leonards railway line. It became the junction for Eastbourne and for the line northwards to Hailsham in 1849, with the Hailsham line being extended northwards to Eridge on the Uckfield-Groombridge Junction line in 1880. In 1881, to avoid Eastbourne-Hailsham trains having to reverse, a new station was opened further east. The Hailsham line closed in 1968, and the short direct line to Hastings has also closed, necessitating the reversal of all eastbound trains at Eastbourne. In 1986, the 1881 station was closed (it is now a restaurant) and a replacement opened on the site of the original 1846 station, on Polegate High street, and this is the station in use today. It has two platforms, with the main buildings on the north, Eastbourne-bound line. Facilities include a car park, ticket office, waiting rooms or shelters, ticket machines, and cycle storage, but no toilets. There is step-free access both to the ticket office and via short steep ramps to each platform. Between the platforms, there is a footbridge: level access is via the High Street level crossing (allow 5 minutes). Services are provided by Southern; there are two trains an hour to each of Brighton and London Victoria, both via Lewes; and four eastbound to Eastbourne, two of which continue to Hastings and Ore, and one to Ashford.

Just your average train station. Nice long and wide platforms with two waiting rooms (which are…read moreheated!) Good barrier system, although I was sad when the old signal box was removed. Great direct links to London, Brighton, Eastbourne and many more. Staff are nice, there are three (I think) ticket buying machines and two kiosks inside the station. Information packs readily available, you can buy Railcards from here too. I like the welcoming feeling of this station, which also has a night gate for late exits when the barriers are off. I'd recommend this to families, commuters and just about anyone due to the wide platforms and nice service.

Ashford International is a major rail interchange in south east Kent, and since 1996, has also been…read moreserved by the London-Paris/Brussels Eurostar service. The station is used by 2.8 million passengers a year, with a further 400,000 changing between trains. History The station opened in December 1842 by the South Eastern Railway on its line from London to Dover via Redhill, which was completed through to Dover in 1844. A line through Canterbury to Ramsgate opened in 1846, and to Hastings via Rye in 1851. The current 'main line' via Maidstone was opened in 1884, initially to a separate station, by the London, Chatham and Dover railway; services were diverted into the present station in 1899. The station was connected into the line to the Channel Tunnel in 1996, and to the high-speed line to London St Pancras in 2007. The present station dates from a rebuilding to accommodate the beginning Eurostar services in 1996, and is entirely of modern design in steel and glass, with a large multi-storey car-park in a matching style. The station essentially comprises three island platforms: platforms 1 & 2 and 5 & 6 handle domestic traffic, with 3 & 4 handling Eurostar trains. Platforms 3 & 4 have separate, controlled access to meet immigration and customs requirements. Domestic Services The station has regular services to London Charing Cross and London Victoria, and to Dover Priory, Ramsgate, Canterbury West, Margate, and Brighton via Hastings and Eastbourne. Many services divide or attach carriages here. Since December 2009, the station has also had 140 mph (225kph) high-speed domestic services to London via Ebbsfleet International and Stratford International, taking 37 minutes to St Pancras International. International Services The initial service of 7 trains to Paris and 5 to Brussels was reduced on the opening of Ebbsfleet International in 2007. There are now three return services to Paris, one to Brussels and one to Disneyland Paris via Lille. Services Passenger facilities are surprisingly basic for so busy a station: the station has large car parks (charges apply) and covered storage for 148 cycles, and there are small cafe outlets on each of the domestic island platforms (1/2 and 5/6). There is also a small tourist information office. The station has level access throughout and a disabled toilet.

its a very busy station with poor facilities. We sometimes use this station when we stop off from…read morevisiting family in Folkestone at the Ashford Designer Outlet (http://www.qype.co.uk/place/68597-McArthur-Glen-Ashford--Ashford) - a few minutes walk away. Poor facilities for an International Station nowhere for coffee except the really grim and overpriced Pumpkin station cafes on two of the platforms and a couple of independent cafes on site. Disinterested staff and overpriced dull food and very average coffee. Nothing else around it so they have a captive market. Really not good enough for an International Station.

A delightful and charming time is to be had riding this marrow gauge railway. We took a journey…read morefrom Dymchurch to Dungeness and then back again. A delight from start to end and this from an avowed non trainspotter! The views are stunning and varied, looking inland across green fields and verdant lushness to the views at Dungeness across pebble and shingle stretching away for what feels like miles . . . The staff are helpful and hugely courteous, dedicated to fault, and all the more remarkable for being volunteers. Do take a trip on this railway if you can, the memory of it will stay with you for quite a while.

This is listed in two places, so I thought I'd copy my review across!…read more This is a 1/3 (15 inch guage) railway that runs from Hythe to Dungeness (13 miles). It was conceived by two rich men; Captain Howey and Count Louis Zborowski. It was opened in July 1927, but sadly the Count had died at the Monza Grand Prix before he could see his dream realised. It is really fascinating, with both diesel and steam trains running on the line. The station at New Romney gives a wonderful view of these old, small steam trains from the footbridge that crosses the platforms. It's a lot of fun to take the train from New Romney to Dungeness with kids. The carriages are tiny - there is no standing or moving about in them! There are both covered and open carriages depending on the weather and preference. The gift shop is very train orientated and there are lots of interesting things to buy at all ranges of the budget. I particularly love this train service, as it passes right across the end of my father's garden! It looses a star for being just so expensive though! If you were to take two adults and three children on it for the full 13 miles (Hythe to Dungeness) and back, it would cost over 50 quid! For more information... Webiste: http://www.rhdr.org.uk Tel: 01797 362353

So, as I have mentioned, there are two railway stations in Canterbury, and you can't actually catch…read morea train from one to the other. This no doubt has something to do with there being two private railways coming here in the past. I also suspect that the high speed rail comes through here, I suspect - I didn't catch the train from here, I just wandered around to have a look at it.

After a lovely day in Kent with our friends John and Roz, we headed back to Charing Cross by…read morehopping on the Southeastern Railway Train from the Canterbury West Station. We appreciated that this was a lightly occupied and direct (albeit local) train was comfortable and with lots of room for our legs and baggage. The Station itself could be described as safe, a bit dated, and functional. I purchased our tickets from an agent who was friendly, helpful, and engaged. A waiting room was available, but we were happy to pace around the platform a bit, waiting for the train to arrive.

The Kent and East Sussex Railway is a preserved steam railway which makes for an excellent family…read moreday out. Formerly a classic rural branch line, it has an interesting history and runs through stunning scenery. History Plans to link the ancient inland port of Tenterden to the rest of the railway network were made throughout the 19th century, but it was not until 1900 that a line from Robertsbridge (on the Hastings main line) to Tenterden was opened, extended to Headcorn on the Ashford main line in 1905. The line was built under what was then new legislation as a cheaply engineered 'Light Railway', running along the beautiful Rother Valley past Bodiam Castle to reach Tenterden. The engineer was the famous Colonel Holman Fred Stephens, who built and/or managed some 16 light railways in rural parts of the UK. The line survived as an independent operation after the First World War which saw most of Britain's railway companies amalgamated into the 'Big Four', but struggled financially from the 1930s onwards. After nationalisation in 1948, traffic ebbed away even faster, and the line was closed to passengers in 1954, and the Headcorn to Tenterden section closed completely. The Tenterden to Robertsbridge section survived until 1961 for freight. Preservationists fought hard to secure this unique line, which reopened in stages from 1974, to its present length in 2000. The Route The line runs from its headquarters in the attractive market town of Tenterden down through the valley of the River Rother to Bodiam, just five minutes' walk from the famous castle. The line follows marshland for much of its length, and part of it is even below sea level! Tenterden has a car park, shop, cafeteria, carriage shed and a small museum. The next stop is Rolvenden, the original terminus in 1900 and home to the loco shed. The next stop, Wittersham Road, really is in the former marshlands, and the ditches alongside the railway were once part of a crayfish farm. The line now joins the Rother Valley proper, towards the station at Northiam. This too has a large car park. The line then continues, with fine views of Bodian castle, to the small country station of Bodiam. Plans are afoot to reopen the section to Robertsbridge, but this is a significant undertaking (with a river and three road crossings to reinstate). The work is being undertaken by the Rother Valley Railway (http://www.rvr.org.uk) . The railway has an eclectic array of rolling stock: in keeping with its rural background, all but one loco are tank engines, and there are diesel locos and railcars as well. One of the best features is the prevalence of pre-war passenger coaches, including rare pre World War One 4-wheeled main line stock, and some very comfortable former Southern railway coaches from the 1930s. The railway lays on a number of regular events, including popular 'Thomas the Tank Engine' days, gala days with extra locomotives in steam, and Pullman dining trains - a good excuse to dress up! Practicalities There are car parks at Tenterden and Northiam, but not at the other stations, and refreshment facilities, a shop and museum at Tenterden. For information about disabled access and facilities, (including car parking, toilets and trains) see their website. All in all, this makes for an excellent day out.

This is a fantastic day out for the family. We drove here from East Sussex, lots of parking! We…read morecame for a Thomas Day which is when they have various steam engines dressed up as characters from the Thomas books. A show is put on for the children with the troublesome trucks, the fat controller and so on. Whilst we were there Christopher Awdley, the son of Rev.Awdley was signing his own books(he has carried on the family business, as it were) and his fathers. There is face painting and a bouncy castle included in the ticket price. You then have a short ride on a steam engine(thomas). There is a tent selling Thomas merchandise at low prices! The station also has a cafe(licensed) selling hot meals and snacks. The railway also does a range of other journeys for the enthusiast, fish and chip nights on a steam train etc. Good day out.