GETTING THERE // General travel information for getting to either Folkestone, Dover or Deal by TRAIN, CAR or BIKE.

BY TRAIN  From London St Pancras station, you can get the high speed service to Folkestone Central, Dover Priory and Deal depending on where you would like to start your walk.

BY BUS  If you arrive at Dover Priory Railway Station  to start walking the trail from Capel-le-Ferne, catch the Stagecoach bus numbers 100, 101 or 102 (The Wave Service) from the station bus stop.
If you arrive in Dover by bus you can catch the ‘Wave’ bus from bus stop X  at the Dover Penchester Bus Station.
You will see signs for the Battle of Britain Memorial and will need to alight at this bus stop for The Wing building. The journey time is approximately 13 minutes. The Wave bus service also operates from Folkestone Central station and the journey takes 25-30 minutes.
To access Samphire Hoe catch Bus no. 61 from stop D at Dover Pencester Gardens bus station to Aycliffe, then walk  across the bridge and down through the tunnel to the education shelter on foot. This is a 10-minute journey and remember you will need to walk back up the moderately steep hill to get back.
The FASTRACK BUS (D WHITFIELD) from Dover Priory station will take you up to Dover Castle if you want to include that in your visit.

BY CAR  If you’re coming by car, Don’t forget  You will have to factor in how to return to your car via public transport or return the way you came.

BY BICYCLE  Deal, Dover and Folkestone are accessible by bicycle via the National Cycle Routes. Some sections of the CHALKUP21 route are suitable for cycling – but please plan ahead carefully for your own safety.

SUGGESTED WALKS // Although the full CHALKUP21 trail runs all the way from Capel-le-Ferne to Deal, there are a number of ways that this can be broken down into shorter, more manageable journeys, depending on your preference. The trail uses the North Downs Way and English Coastal Path National trails, so you shouldn’t have to worry about signage or getting lost along the way. Here are our recommended walks:

SHORT WALKS
Dover Esplanade to the White Cliffs
This walk showcases five of the featured CHALKUP21 public artworks. Begin at Dover Sea Sports Centre (2010) and walk along the sea front towards the Eastern Docks. As you walk, you will pass Tonkin Liu’s ‘Three Waves’ (2009) and Alma Tischler Wood’s ‘Start/Finish Line’ (2011) and her Everyones a Winner  bench (2023) on the Dover Esplanade. At the end of Athol Terrace, you will see the first of Elaine Tribley’s six ‘Dover Totems’ (2017). As you climb the path up to the top of the White Cliffs you will pass the further 5 totems, which double as resting points from where you can take in stunning views of the port of Dover before you reach the final totem at the top of the path, shortly before the White Cliffs Visitor Centre.
Walking Time: 1.5 Hours.

White Cliffs Visitor Centre to the South Foreland Lighthouse
A breathtakingly scenic walk for those who want a stroll along the cliffs. Beginning at the White Cliffs Visitor Centre (1999), which has been designed to blend in and merge with its environment, you walk along the cliffs towards the South Foreland Lighthouse, a Victorian lighthouse that used to warn the ships approaching the nearby Goodwin sands. This walk is suitable as a circular walk, both the White Cliffs Visitor Centre and the South Foreland Lighthouse have a café.
Walking time: 2 Hours

HALF-DAY WALKS
Samphire Hoe to Dover Esplanade
Located between Dover and Folkestone, at the bottom of the cliffs, Samphire Hoe is one of the most unusual landscapes along the trail. It comprises an outstanding nature reserve on a completely man-made piece of land constructed from the chalk marl excavated during the building of the Channel Tunnel. Here you will encounter beautiful scenery, with wildflowers, birds, ponies and, of course, a spot for a picnic. It is also here that you can visit the Samphire Hoe Education Shelter, which officially opened in November 2015. From Samphire Hoe, you can walk to the Dover Esplanade where you will see Dover Sea Sports Centre (2010), Tonkin Liu’s ‘Three Waves’ (2009) and Alma Tischler Wood’s ‘Start/Finish Line’ (2011) and her Everyones a Winner  bench (2023).
Walking Time: 2.5 Hours

Dover Esplanade to the Pines Calyx
This walk showcases the beautiful scenery of the cliffs and incorporates six of the CHALKUP21 structures; three public artworks, and three very intriguing 21st-century buildings. From Dover town centre, stroll along the Dover Esplanade, passing Dover Sea Sports Centre (2010), Tonkin Liu’s ‘Three Waves’ (2009) and Alma Tischler Wood’s ‘Start/Finish Line’ (2011) and her Everyones a Winner  bench (2023) towards the Eastern Docks. At the end of Athol terrace, marked by the first of Elaine Tribley’s six Dover Totems. Walk up the path towards the White Cliffs Visitor Centre (1999), which is nestled in the landscape and overlooks Dover Castle. After a gorgeous walk along the cliffs, you will arrive at the hobbit-like Pines Calyx (2006), where you can stop for a bite to eat at the Garden Tea Room. If you would like to travel back to Dover from the Pines Calyx by bus, catch bus number 81 from Bay Hill.
Walking time: 3 Hours

DAY WALK
Capel-le-Ferne to Dover Esplanade
Capel-le-Ferne to the Dover Esplanade is a very exciting walk – just keep a watch out for adders – the views are truly  fantastic and for most of the way you really are walking on the edge. Walk from The Wing (2015) at the Battle of Britain Memorial in Capel-le-Ferne all the way along the cliffs before going through the tunnel down to the Samphire Hoe Education Shelter (2014). The next stretch passes along Shakespeare Cliff on the way towards the Dover Esplanade and the Dover Sea Sports Centre (2010), Tonkin Liu’s ‘Three Waves’ (2009) and Alma Tischler Wood’s ‘Start/Finish Line’ (2011) and her Everyones a Winner  bench (2023 ).
Walking Time: 6 hours including a stop for lunch at the Spindrift Cafe at Samphire Hoe.

Dover to Deal
Dover to Deal is a beautiful walk, marked by large stretches of open land and punctuated by interesting architectural features including sound mirrors at Fan Bay and the South Foreland lighthouse. From Dover town centre, you walk towards the Eastern Docks along Athol Terrace and up the path to the White Cliffs, marked by Elaine Tribley’s six Dover Totems (2016). From here, walk towards the White Cliffs Visitor Centre, which is nestled in the landscape and overlooks Dover Castle. After a gorgeous walk along the cliffs, you will arrive at The Pines Calyx (2006), where you can stop for a bite to eat at the Pines Garden Tea Room. Once you set off again, you will walk through lush green fields on your way to Kingsdown, where you start the long walk along the beach towards the Deal Pier Café (2008).
Walking Time: 5 – 6 hours.

MARATHON WALK: The CHALKUP21 Challenge (for the hardy and experienced walker)
Capel-le-Ferne to Deal
If you would like to try to see all nine featured CHALKUP21 buildings and attractions in one day, begin early in the morning and start from Capel-le-Ferne at The Wing (2015) building. From here, you will walk all the way along the cliffs with a detour to the Samphire Hoe Education Shelter (2014), before continuing to the Dover Sea Sports Centre (2010), Tonkin Liu’s ‘Three Waves’ (2009) and Alma Tischler Wood’s ‘Start/Finish Line’ (2011)and her Everyones a Winner ( 2023) . With Dover marking the halfway point, you proceed to the White Cliffs Visitor Centre (1999) passing the six Dover Totems (2016) before carrying on to the Pines Calyx (2006) and end at the Deal Pier Café (2008) following the directions given for the Dover to Deal walk. 10 – 11 hours

NAVIGATING THE TRAIL // The 9 CHALKUP21 structures are linked between Folkestone and Deal by the North Downs Way and England Coastal Path National Trail routes. You can plan your route through these links:
Capel to Dover (North Downs Way)
Dover to Deal (England Coast Path)

Follow the North Downs Way National Trail from The Wing at Capel-le-Ferne or Folkestone, depending where you are starting, to the Dover Esplanade, where you will find the Dover Sea Sports Centre, Three Waves and the START/FINISH Line (North Downs Way end of trail marker).
To get to the Samphire Hoe Education Shelter, you have to make a detour across a field off the North Downs Way to get to the entrance to the tunnel leading to the Samphire Hoe nature reserve: walk down the tunnel on the footpath beside where the cars go.
From the Dover Esplanade, follow the England Coast Path National Trail towards the Eastern Docks taking the path to the cliffs at the end of Athol Terrace now named Dame Vera Lynne Way marked by one of the Dover Totems. The path takes you under the Jubilee Way Motorway bridge up to the White Cliffs Visitors Centre, across the cliffs to the South Foreland lighthouse and down to the Pines Calyx in St Margarets Bay, across the next lot of Cliffs to Kingsdown and along the coastal path to the Deal Pier Café.

MAPS TO PRINT AT HOME // The TRAIL MAP on the homepage of the website is meant for online use – however you can zoom in and print out sections of the trail at a scale to navigate the trail on foot. An Ordnance Survey map will provide you with the detail required to safely navigate the trail as well (you would probably have to make a note of where the 9 STRUCTURES are along the coast and mark the sites on your map). The main issue with printable maps of the CHALKUP21 Trail is that the scale required for walking is so very much larger than that required for driving, for instance, so that any map covering the whole area at a large enough scale would have to be very large in size and therefore quite impossible to print at home on conventional printers using A4 sized paper. However, we have created four maps that might be of help and can be downloaded here:
MAP: OVERVIEW
MAP: CAPEL-LE-FERNE TO DOVER
MAP: DOVER TO ST. MARGARET’S BAY
MAP: ST. MARGARET’S BAY TO DEAL

USEFUL LINKS

Dover is a Walkers are Welcome town
Kent Downs Blog keeping you up to date on the Kent Downs and North Downs Way activities.