welcome to HT...
with all the re-building going on a large part of Canterbury is not easily accessible by car and many car parks are outside the city walls. the city centre is pedestrian friendly and flat, if you are travelling with her a wheel chair may be an advantage as if she wishes to see all the historic areas it will be a fairly tiring day

wizard

hi and welcome to HT GryffinDora

We have spent a weekend in canterbury . I cant see that you would need a car for your sightseeing needs there . Its not a particularly big city and agree with Brian in that its relatively flat with everything within walking distance . A wheelchair may be a good idea because I cant see that you would be able to use a car within the city walls where all the sights are .

Im assuming you want to see surrounding areas and hopefuly somebody will be able to help re public transport etc but the other option would be to maybe hire a car on the days you want to visit any surrounding areas if you intend to go far. If you only want to travel a few miles i would suspect it would be easier cheaper to get a cab/taxi or use public transport.

lyn

if you go to http://www.streetmap.co.uk and put in CT1 2EH as the post code it will bring up the area around the cahederal and show the car parks

wizard

Wow - huge thanks to Lynn and Wizard for these quick and helpful responses. I really, really appreciate them (especially as I have been a little nervous re: learning to drive in the UK under these particular conditions).

She doesn't have a wheelchair but we can look into getting a folding one for travel.

Other thoughts greatly appreciated too!

Thanks a million!

Do you have a hotel booked in canterbury Dora .If so and its in the city centre and you do decide to do a spot of driving you can obviously leave it there while you visit the sights within the city walls. If your arriving at a london airport ( london gatwick is fairly close to canterbury) im sure there will be an option of train or even a national express coach into canterbury. Im no expert but you could have a look here http://www.nationalexpress.com/

Hi

If you are travelling to Canterbury from London, South Eastern Trains run regularly from London Victoria Station into Canterbury East Station. Their website should be helpful. The station at Canterbury is just outside the city walls and linked by a bridge into gardens. The walk would take about 15 minutes at a slow stroll.

If you drive to Canterbury, it may be a good idea to use the "Park & Ride" services as most of the car parks are outside of the city walls. Canterbury City Council's website also has some usefull tourism links.