See more of Canterbury than you would if traveling in a larger tour vehicle on a walking tour that offers an insider’s glimpse into one of Kent’s most picturesque cities. You’ll listen to stories about ghosts, authors, and historical figures that you’re unlikely to find in the guidebook as you wander down medieval lanes and cathedral precincts.

Delve into the history of Canterbury on a walking tour
Exploring on foot means you'll have access to hidden nooks
Discover parts of the city that you might otherwise have missed
The short duration of this tour is ideal if you're time pressed

What's Included

A tour of the central city lanes, plus the famous Cathedral Precincts (grounds)

Entry to attractions

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

Butter Market
Butter Mkt, Canterbury CT1, UK
Daily Tour: Please meet your Guide in the Buttermarket, outside the main Cathedral Gate. Guides wear a red sash. Please note you may finish your tour in a different location (usually the High Street).

Start time

11:00 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation
Stroller accessible
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Transportation is wheelchair accessible

Most travelers can participate
Wheelchair accessible
Carer Policy: We extend our concessionary rate to guests with a disability. Free entry is offered to carers accompanying those with a disability. To book a daily tour online, please book your concessionary place. Let us know you will be bringing a carer with you (no carer ticket will be required on arrival)
Well behaved dogs on leads welcome
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

SN_B

Our guide David was very informative easy to listen to and added colour to the stories. He accomodated additional interests of his listeners which was appreciated and inspired some to investigate his stories further in their own time. Excellent!

Reviews

5.0

153 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 153 reviews

Walking Wonderful

Kay_C, Sep 2023

Guide really brought to life the history of Canterbury highlighting architectural details and historical storytelling.

Response from Host, Sep 2023

We are very happy to hear that you enjoyed your tour and discovered more about Canterbury

Informative and inspiring!

SN_B, Sep 2023

Response from Host, Sep 2023

Thank you for your review - it sounds like you had a wonderful time with David - so lovely to hear how much you enjoyed your tour.

Good tour

Wendy_L, Sep 2023

All of it was good guide was I funny interesring knowledgeable it was well worth the money. The Web site could have been better though as confirmation 5hours after tour finished

Must do

cathie_h, Aug 2023

Our guide was so good & knowledgeable also having a voice that projected to all of the group . Even though it rained this was amazing

Response from Host, Aug 2023

It's great to hear you enjoyed your tour in the rain! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review

Excellent Guided Tour

Marsha_O, Aug 2023

The tour was excellent! The tour guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. She shared with us many interesting things about Canterbury including the history, the architecture, and the important connection to Christianity and English Literature. I particularly enjoyed being shown around the cathedral precinct.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Thank you for your lovely review - we are so pleased to hear that you enjoyed learning about Canterbury from your Guide.

Great tour

Robert_S, Jul 2023

Great tour great knowledgeable guide, who knew a lot about the history of the town, and is place in Christianity

Response from Host, Jul 2023

Thank you for your review - we're very happy to hear that you enjoyed your tour with us!

Interesting and insightful.

Mike_M, Jun 2023

Our guide was delightful and persevered, even though it was very warm. Kudos to our guide, she did a great job

Response from Host, Jun 2023

We are pleased to hear you enjoyed your tour, thank you for taking the time to leave a review

Architecture tour

Josh_C, Jun 2023

A bit disappointing. We were hoping to learn more about the history of Canterbury and the castle/cathedral. It was more so an architecture tour where he pointed out different buildings and architecture styles.

Response from Host, Jun 2023

Hi Josh, thank you for your review. All of our guides have different passions and areas of expertise which leads to each tour being unique, however all tours should offer a balance of history, buildings, characters and stories. I'm sorry that you felt your guide did not offer this. I also understand you were expecting to be visiting inside the Cathedral on this tour, which may have led you to feel the disappointment. We do make it clear that our tours are city based and include the Cathedral grounds only, so I'm sorry your expectations were not met on this occasion.

A memorable experience.

jockman, May 2023

Pauline was a terrific guide through the streets of Canterbury. She gave our group lots of information, making it interesting and fun.

Response from Host, May 2023

Thank you for booking your tour with us, Pauline will be delighted that you enjoyed her tour

Excellent tour

Louise_M, Apr 2023

Had a lovely informative tour our guide had loads of stories about Canterbury as well as showing us the buildings, streets and cathedral

Response from Host, Apr 2023

We are delighted to hear you enjoyed your tour with us - thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review.

Canterbury city walk

anthonyclarke, Mar 2023

Very informative and enjoyable and good value. Our guide was very knowledgable and experienced and I would recommend this walk

Response from Host, Mar 2023

We are delighted to hear you enjoyed your guided tour with us. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.

Excellent tour.

Pauline_L, Feb 2023

Ian , our tour guide was excellent. Lots of interesting information, anecdotes, very knowledgeable. The tour included the cathedral grounds. I would certainly recommend if you visit Canterbury.

Response from Host, Feb 2023

Thank you for your lovely review. We are very happy to hear you enjoyed your tour of Canterbury, and will pass on your comments to Ian who will be delighted.

Great tour

Suant1901, Feb 2023

Great walking tour from Terry, very informative as we walked around. Learnt a lot and will certainly be back to Canterbury for another visit

Response from Host, Feb 2023

Thank you - I will pass on your lovely comments to Terry who will be overjoyed! I am glad you had a positive experience with us and we hope you visit Canterbury again soon.

... this is how canterbury is fun

Viktor_S, Feb 2023

We were - probably because of the frosty weather - only two couples as guests. Our guide was undeterred, very competent in history, urban development, building history and full of stories. She gave us a better understanding of Canterbury's old town and the Cathedral campus. As it turned out later, she was also proficient in several languages. Thanks for the successful city tour.

Response from Host, Feb 2023

Thank you for taking the time to write a review. Our guides are very passionate and knowledgeable on the history of Canterbury, there is so much to discover! We are glad to hear you enjoyed your tour and we hope you visit Canterbury again soon.

Boring

Claire_H, Dec 2022

I was expecting to have a walking tour of Canterbury, but we spent most of our time standing still listening to information about heraldry and stonework. I wish we could have seen more by walking around the town. Our guide was a very nice man but personally I would have liked some humour and entertaining stories. My memory of the tour is feeling cold and bored.

Response from Host, Dec 2022

I am sad to hear that you felt disappointed by your tour. Our tours do cover the central medieval lanes and Precincts of the Cathedral, and each of our Guides has a different interest and area of expertise, be it architecture, literary or art for example, which helps to makes every tour unique. I do believe it may have been that the Guide on the day was very excited to talk about the recently unveiled Christ Church Gate with its newly restored stonework and coats of arms. It has been under scaffolding for many years and is a very historically important building in Canterbury. To see it newly restored is quite spectacular. If you are in Canterbury again please do get in touch so that we can try to make amends.

Wonder walk

Alan_M, Nov 2022

Hearing how the city was built and how it developed over the years. Margaret pointed out many things which we would have missed had she not done so.

Response from Host, Nov 2022

Thank you for your great review which we will pass on to Margaret. Our Green Badge Guides all have a wealth of knowledge about our lovely city.

Waste of time

Robert_A, Sep 2022

Im not a person to write negative reviews, but i have to be honest and not let others waste their time. First off, in comparison to the tours we got at Leeds Castle, Dover Castle, and Battle of Abby, this tour was a waste of time. Even the gondola tour in Canterbury was more educational than this walking tour. I was very excited to learn about the history of Cantebury, (which is what you would expect from a “Cantebury Tour”) Instead we got a tour guide who spoke about herself, her kids and grandkids. That she gave her 2 acre house to her kids and that her granddaughter passed her driving test, among many many other useless info(I really could care less) She also spoke about the artsy stuff which as a history buff, i really dont care about. She spoke about the windows of the houses and spent a good amount of time talking about the theatre that was built 20 years ago…. Lolll. Again i dont care. The entire hour and a half was a waste of time and definitely no meat to anything historic or of value. Please get tour guides who provide content and context

Response from Host, Sep 2022

I am saddened that you did not enjoy your walking tour with us. All of our Guides are Green Badge qualified with the Institute Of Tour Guiding as a minimum qualification. This means that their knowledge of Canterbury is second to none. Obviously, different Guides do have different areas of expertise, some focusing more on literature and art rather than history. We have over 30 Guides meaning that each Guide delivers a different take on the subject of Canterbury. Consequently, no two tours are ever the same. I do believe it was most unfortunate that the Guide on the day in question did not deliver a more history focused tour for you. As regards sharing information about herself, I imagine that was only done in order to break the ice and try to be friendly. Our Guides do not follow any form of script so just like to chat and get to know their guests during the tour. If you are ever in Canterbury again, do get in touch and we shall try to make amends.

Brilliant

Harjit_G, Jul 2022

One of the best walking tour I have been one. Interesting, insightful & funny. Would highly recommend.

Response from Host, Jul 2022

So pleased you had a great time on our tour and enjoyed your time in Canterbury, thank you for taking the time to leave a review

Great introduction to Canterbury

amanda_a, Jul 2022

Our first visit to Canterbury and didn’t know where to start so booked the walking tour. We had a great host with amazing knowledge and interesting stories thank you Mandy

Response from Host, Jul 2022

I am very happy to hear you enjoyed your tour with us; thank you for taking the time to write a review. I hope you will visit Canterbury again one day

Great guided Canterbury tour

Barbara_G, Jun 2022

Easy walking, interesting guide and good vale for money. Beautiful ancient city which encouraged us to also go onto a punt along the narrow river through the city centre.

Response from Host, Jun 2022

I am glad that you enjoyed seeing Canterbury from many different perspectives. Our Green Badge Guides do try to impart interesting facts during their tours and are experts at pointing out features that can so easily be missed by others.