0 Copenhagen to Canterbury
0430... "what does the 0 stand for"
Getting to Canterbury to start the Via Francigena was the first logistics exercise. Due to flight times and wanting to see a bit of Canterbury before setting off I decided to take a really early plane from Copenhagen.
This was me (in the reflection) and the bike at 0430, Copenhagen Metro.
The Best way from Gatwick to Canterbury
I picked Gatwick because I knew it was South of London and therefore shouldn't be too hard to get to Canterbury. Or so I thought.
Turns out there are no direct trains from Gatwick to anywhere near Canterbury; must be a Sussex vs Kent thing. So the best route is via North London!
Arrival at Canterbury
Waiting at St Pancras
There's a regular (and relatively cheap) connection from Gatwick to St. Pancras and then the direct high speed link from there to Canterbury. It was super crowded (as usual for London) up to St. Pancras but very pleasant from there to Canterbury. I'd take that route again despite there not being much space for a giant bike bag on the first leg.
Setting up the bike
This was the first time I'd taken my bike on a plane wrapped up in a bag and it was fair to say I was pretty worried how it might survive spending a few hours with the "chuckers" at the airports.
So the first step after getting to the hotel (just a short walk around the corner from the station), was to set it up. Bonus! It was all in one piece and seemed to be functioning totally fine. I only had a very small hand pump with me so I took the bike to Canterbury Cycle Centre (on Stour Street) who were super great and let me borrow a pump with a pressure guage on it.
Before set up, in the hotel yard
All good, after a quick spin around town
Sightseeing in Canterbury
Canterbury is exactly what I expected - an old English feel with water meadows, chilled out people with substance abuse problems, an old Cathedral and nice pubs by the waterside. Worth a visit but the same as the rest of them... Salisbury, Oxford, Cambridge, Winchester, York etc. etc.
Overnight: Pilgrims Hotel
Poky little room that wasn't super comfortable. Overpriced and I wouldn't stay here again. In fact the only reason I chose this place was that it was the closest place to the station.
