How long is the England's Literary Trail: Canterbury to Whitby route?

This route takes 13 days taking in 8 stops.

Where does this route start and end?

The route runs from Canterbury, Kent to Whitby, North Yorkshire in Southern, Midlands & Northern England, England.

When is the best time to travel this route?

The best time to travel this route is April to October.

How active is this route?

Activity level: Easy-going. Easy-going and accessible for most fitness levels.

What transport do I need for this route?

This route works best with a car.

What budget do I need for this route?

Mid-range spending — expect comfortable accommodation and a mix of dining options.

What type of accommodation suits this route?

Hotels accommodation works well along this route.

What is the pace of this trip?

Balanced — a good mix of sightseeing and downtime.

What type of trip is this?

This route is well-suited to: Culture, Classic road trip, Scenic, Nature, City hop.

England's Literary Trail: Canterbury to Whitby

Loading…

The route · 8 stops

Canterbury

1 night

Where the trail has to begin. Chaucer's pilgrims were riding to the shrine of Thomas Becket, murdered in the cathedral in 1170, and the walled city that grew up around it is still compact enough to walk in an evening. One night is enough before the long run west into Hampshire.Where the trail has to begin. Chaucer's pilgrims were riding to the shrine of Thomas Becket, murdered in the cathedral in 1170, and the walled city that grew up around it is still compact enough to walk in an evening. One night is enough before the long run west into Hampshire.

Recommendations

On to Winchester

Winchester

2 nights

Jane Austen died here in 1817 and is buried in the cathedral's north aisle under a slab that never mentions her novels. Use two nights: one for the old capital of Wessex, one for the day trip north-east to Chawton, the brick house where she revised and published all six books.Jane Austen died here in 1817 and is buried in the cathedral's north aisle under a slab that never mentions her novels. Use two nights: one for the old capital of Wessex, one for the day trip north-east to Chawton, the brick house where she revised and published all six books.

Recommendations

On to Dorchester

Dorchester

1 night

Hardy's Casterbridge, and the centre of the Wessex he invented out of the real Dorset around it. The cottage he was born in sits in woodland east of town and the house he designed for himself is on the southern edge, both National Trust. A single night covers both plus the museum.Hardy's Casterbridge, and the centre of the Wessex he invented out of the real Dorset around it. The cottage he was born in sits in woodland east of town and the house he designed for himself is on the southern edge, both National Trust. A single night covers both plus the museum.

Recommendations

On to Bath

Bath

2 nights

Austen set Northanger Abbey and Persuasion here and spent five largely unhappy years in the city, which makes it the most honest stop on the trail. Two nights for the Roman Baths, the Georgian crescents she walked between, and an afternoon that is simply about the buildings.Austen set Northanger Abbey and Persuasion here and spent five largely unhappy years in the city, which makes it the most honest stop on the trail. Two nights for the Roman Baths, the Georgian crescents she walked between, and an afternoon that is simply about the buildings.

Recommendations

On to Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

2 nights

Shakespeare was born here, retired here and is buried here, in a riverside church a ten-minute walk from the house on Henley Street. Two nights so that one of them can be spent watching the Royal Shakespeare Company perform a few hundred metres from his grave.Shakespeare was born here, retired here and is buried here, in a riverside church a ten-minute walk from the house on Henley Street. Two nights so that one of them can be spent watching the Royal Shakespeare Company perform a few hundred metres from his grave.

Recommendations

On to Haworth

Haworth

1 night

The longest drive of the trip delivers you somewhere completely different: a steep cobbled street in the Pennines with the Brontë parsonage at the top and open moor immediately behind it. Charlotte, Emily and Anne wrote three of the great English novels in that house.The longest drive of the trip delivers you somewhere completely different: a steep cobbled street in the Pennines with the Brontë parsonage at the top and open moor immediately behind it. Charlotte, Emily and Anne wrote three of the great English novels in that house.

Recommendations

On to Grasmere

Grasmere

2 nights

Wordsworth lived at Dove Cottage with his sister Dorothy from 1799 to 1808, the years that produced most of the poetry anyone remembers. Two nights let you do the cottage and museum properly, drive down to Rydal Mount, and walk the fells that the poems are actually about.Wordsworth lived at Dove Cottage with his sister Dorothy from 1799 to 1808, the years that produced most of the poetry anyone remembers. Two nights let you do the cottage and museum properly, drive down to Rydal Mount, and walk the fells that the poems are actually about.

Recommendations

On to Whitby

Whitby

1 night

Bram Stoker came here on holiday in 1890, read the name Dracula in the local library, and took the ruined abbey, the 199 steps and a real shipwreck straight into the novel. A gothic, salt-air finish to a journey that started at a cathedral shrine in Kent.Bram Stoker came here on holiday in 1890, read the name Dracula in the local library, and took the ruined abbey, the 199 steps and a real shipwreck straight into the novel. A gothic, salt-air finish to a journey that started at a cathedral shrine in Kent.

Recommendations

Route highlights

Culture
Georgian Bath on foot
The Roman Baths, the Royal Crescent, the Circus and the Assembly Rooms, all within a short walk of each other in the city Austen set two novels in and was privately glad to leave.
Viewpoint
Whitby Abbey and the 199 steps
The clifftop ruin that gave Dracula its setting, reached by the stone stairway that appears in the novel. The view back over the red roofs and the harbour is the best on the Yorkshire coast.
Culture
An RSC evening in Stratford-upon-Avon
A Royal Shakespeare Company performance a few hundred metres from Shakespeare's grave in Holy Trinity Church. The single best reason to give Stratford two nights instead of one.
Where to stay
Where to base yourself in Stratford-upon-Avon
Stay in the Waterside and Southern Lane area between the theatre and Holy Trinity Church. It puts you a walk from a late curtain and away from the coach traffic on Bridge Street.
Culture
Jane Austen's House, Chawton
The small brick house in Hampshire where Austen revised and published all six of her novels, kept as a working writer's home rather than a shrine. An easy day trip from a Winchester base.
Activity
The moor walk to Top Withens
A 4 to 5 mile round trip from the Brontë Parsonage past the Brontë Waterfall to the ruined farmhouse long associated with the Earnshaw house in Wuthering Heights. Boots and a waterproof, not trainers.
Culture
Canterbury Cathedral
The shrine that Chaucer's pilgrims were riding towards and the site of Thomas Becket's murder in 1170, still the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury and a World Heritage Site.
Culture
Hardy's Wessex around Dorchester
Two National Trust houses at either end of one town: the thatched cottage at Higher Bockhampton where Hardy was born and wrote his early novels, and Max Gate, the house he designed for himself in 1885.
Culture
Dove Cottage and Wordsworth's Grasmere
The cottage where Wordsworth wrote his best work between 1799 and 1808, the museum beside it, and his grave in St Oswald's churchyard, one of the most visited literary graves in the world.

England's Literary Trail: Canterbury to Whitby