Charles Dickens Tour

6 days / 5 nights

$4,150 per person

(minimum 2 people)

This specially designed tour takes you to literary sites associated with Charles Dickens, including places that inspired him to write his greatest novels. The tour is completely private. You and your party will be our only guests. What’s more, the pace is unhurried. You’ll have plenty of time to immerse yourself in Dickens’ world and enjoy every site you visit (literary, non-literary, film and TV locations).

The Charles Dickens Tour has been thoughtfully designed by the experts at Literary Tours of England. However, we’re flexible: the tour can be modified to reflect your personal tastes and preferences. The itinerary can even be adjusted en route to take account of weather conditions, local events, etc. If you wish, your tour can be extended to include more time in London and/or other areas of England.

The tour includes:

For lunch, afternoon tea and dinner (per your preference) your tour guide will help you find the type of eating establishment and food you like, from country pub to fine cuisine.

Day 1: Drive to Maidstone

You are met at London’s Heathrow Airport by your personal driver / tour guide. The relaxing drive to Maidstone takes about one-and-a-half hours. Your four-star hotel is only a short distance from the town center and all amenities.

Day 2: Explore Rochester

A full day to enjoy this ancient city and its Dickens associations.

It’s only a ten-mile drive from your hotel to the attractive small city of Rochester, which was a favorite childhood haunt of Charles Dickens. He based many novels there, including Great Expectations (1860-61). We’ll take the easy two-mile self-guided walk around central Rochester that takes in many Dickens-related sites, including Restoration House (the inspiration for Miss Havisham’s house). In the garden of Eastgate House you’ll see the Swiss chalet in which Dickens wrote Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities (1859). The chalet was transferred there from his home at Gad’s Hill Place in the nearby village of Higham. Dickens lived for the last fourteen years of his life at Gad’s Hill Place and it was there that he died in 1870. Although it’s now an independent school, guided tours are available on selected days during the summer. From Higham we’ll make the five-mile drive to the village of Cooling to view the graveyard of St James’ Church, the inspiration for the unforgettable opening scenes of Great Expectations, and the marshes that were so central to the story.

Day 3: Explore Broadstairs

A full day to enjoy this seaside town and its Dickens associations.

A one-hour drive through the lovely North Downs countryside brings us to the pleasant small town of Broadstairs on the east Kent coast. Dickens loved Broadstairs and its wide sandy beaches. He and his family spent their summer holidays there from 1839 to 1851. The town holds a festival in his honor in June every year. Our first stop will be Dickens House: a cozy cottage in the town center that was the inspiration for the home of Betsey Trotwood in David Copperfield (1849-50). It’s now a museum full of Dickens memorabilia, including letters he wrote about Broadstairs. Dickens wrote David Copperfield, his most autobiographical novel, while staying at Fort House, a clifftop mansion overlooking the town. It’s there that he also began working on Bleak House (1852-53) and the property was later aptly renamed Bleak House. Although once a popular Bed & Breakfast, it’s currently not open to the public. Broadstairs is also the location for the final action in John Buchan’s splendid thriller The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915), although the famous steps have long since gone. In nearby Pegwell Bay we’ll stop to see the Viking Ship ‘Hugin’ which sailed from Denmark in 1949 to celebrate the 1500^th anniversary of the invasion of Britain.

Day 4: Explore Canterbury

A full day to enjoy this historic city and its literary associations.

A 40-minute drive from your hotel brings us to Canterbury. The city’s ancient walls, originally built by the Romans, encircle the medieval center with its cobbled streets and timber-framed houses. We’ll take one of the many self-guided walking tours to view the major tourist attractions. Although there are no significant Dickens-related sites in Canterbury, it’s certain that he knew the city well. He’s known to have acted as a guide for friends visiting the city and he makes frequent reference to it in David Copperfield. In fact, David went to Dr Strong’s school in Canterbury. The city’s most celebrated literary association is the medieval masterpiece The Canterbury Tales (1387-1400) by Geoffrey Chaucer. The playwright Christopher Marlowe was born in Canterbury in 1564: the same year as Shakespeare, on whom he was a great influence. Both Chaucer and Marlowe are commemorated by statues in the city. Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine’s Abbey, and St Martin’s Church form a collective World Heritage Site. The UNESCO citation reads: St Martin’s Church is the oldest church in England. The church and St Augustine’s Abbey were founded during the early stages of the introduction of Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons. The cathedral exhibits Romanesque and Gothic architecture, and is the seat of the Church of England.

Day 5: Explore London 

A full day to enjoy Dickensian and other historic sites.

Dickens is perhaps the writer most associated with London. He grew up, lived and worked there – and almost all his novels feature London locations. We’ll take the train from Maidstone for the fast one-hour ride to Victoria Station. From there we’ll head for the Charles Dickens Museum, 48 Doughty Street, a terraced Georgian house in Bloomsbury. This was Dickens’ home from 1837 to 1839 and where he wrote Oliver Twist (1837-39) and Nicholas Nickleby (1838-39), the success of which catapulted him to international fame. Dickens had wanted to be buried in Rochester Cathedral, but instead his grave’s in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey. From there, if you wish, we can begin a 4½-mile self-guided walk that takes in many locations in Dickens’ novels. We’ll pass a bust of Dickens, set in the façade above the Red Lion Inn on Parliament Street. This is where David Copperfield, although too young, tries to order a glass of Genuine Stunning Ale. We’ll walk along historic Fleet Street where, in a narrow side alley, you’ll find Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. This atmospheric pub, rebuilt shortly after the Great Fire of 1666, was a regular haunt of Dickens and other literary figures, including Dr Samuel Johnson and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. If you prefer, we can take one of the many informative guided tours (depending on availability).

Day 6: Drive to Heathrow Airport

The easy return journey to London’s Heathrow Airport takes only one-and-a-half hours. We’ll stop at significant sites along the way if time permits.

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