Canterbury in 3 days

St. Augustine's Abbey (UNESCO World Heritage 1988 — the most important early Christian site in England): founded 598 CE by St. Augustine of Canterbury (the Benedictine monk sent from Rome by Pope Gregory I in 596 CE to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity — the most important papal mission in the history of English Christianity): the monastery was established on land outside the Roman city walls of Durovernum given by King Ethelbert of Kent and his Christian wife Queen Bertha (the daughter of a Frankish king — the most important royal Christian in the history of the Kent conversion: Bertha was already a practising Christian when she married Ethelbert, and her influence was the most important factor in making the king receptive to Augustine's mission). The abbey became the most important monastery in England in the early medieval period: the burial site of the first six Archbishops of Canterbury (Augustine himself, Laurentius, Mellitus, Justus, Honorius and Deusdedit) and the first Christian kings of Kent (Ethelbert and his successors). The ruins (destroyed by Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538): the most atmospherically ruined and the most historically significant monastery ruins in southeast England.

St. Martin's Church (UNESCO World Heritage 1988 — the oldest parish church in continuous use in England: in use as a Christian church continuously since at least the late Roman period (c. 4th century CE) and probably earlier): the chancel walls (the oldest structural fabric of the church) are built from Roman brick and tile (the most important surviving use of Roman building material in Canterbury: the red Roman tile bonding courses visible in the east chancel wall are the most direct physical connection to the Roman occupation of Canterbury). Queen Bertha (the Frankish Christian queen of King Ethelbert of Kent — the most important pre-Augustinian Christian in Anglo-Saxon England) worshipped at St. Martin's before St. Augustine's arrival in 597 CE (the most important fact about St. Martin's: the church was already a functioning Christian place of worship before the official "conversion" of England began). St. Augustine himself used St. Martin's as his first base for Christian worship in England before establishing his own monastery. The baptismal font (possibly the font in which King Ethelbert was baptised by St. Augustine in 597 CE — the most historically charged baptismal font in England).

The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge (free — the most important free museum and gallery in Canterbury): the Victorian Gothic building (1899 — built with the bequest of Dr. James George Beaney, the Canterbury-born surgeon who made his fortune in Melbourne and left £10,000 to Canterbury for a public institution) housing the Canterbury museum, the Royal Museum & Art Gallery and the Canterbury public library. The most important exhibits: the Roman Canterbury collection (the "Longmarket" Roman bath house mosaic — discovered during construction works in the 1940s: the most important in situ Roman mosaic in Kent), the Anglo-Saxon gold coins hoard (the most important Early Medieval numismatic collection in southeast England: the coins from the Kentish kingdoms of the 6th–7th centuries), the Rupert Bear original artworks (Rupert Bear was created in 1920 by Mary Tourtel (1874–1948): the Canterbury-born children's illustrator and cartoonist who created the most beloved British children's character of the early 20th century — Rupert Bear first appeared in the Daily Express on November 8 1920 and has been published continuously ever since).

Canterbury evening: the Marlowe Theatre (the most important regional theatre in southeast England — named after Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593): the Canterbury-born playwright baptised at the Church of St. George the Martyr in Canterbury on February 26 1564 (the same year as Shakespeare's birth at Stratford-upon-Avon): Marlowe was the most important playwright in England in the 1580s–90s before his mysterious death in Deptford on May 30 1593 (stabbed through the right eye in a tavern brawl by Ingram Frizer — the most mysterious death in English literary history: the "Marlovian theory" of Shakespeare authorship suggests that Marlowe faked his death and continued writing under the name William Shakespeare — the most entertaining conspiracy theory in English literary scholarship)). The River Stour evening walk (the most atmospheric evening walk in Canterbury: the illuminated medieval buildings, the Old Weavers House overhanging the river and the reflection of the Cathedral towers in the Stour). The Old Buttermarket (the pub immediately outside the Cathedral gate — the most historically important pub in Canterbury).

Whitstable oyster town (13km north of Canterbury — accessible by the 7 bus (30 minutes) or taxi (£15)): the most important oyster town in England and one of the most important oyster production sites in European culinary history. The Whitstable native oyster (Ostrea edulis — the flat European oyster): farmed in Whitstable Bay since the Roman period (Pliny the Elder wrote about the most superior taste of the oysters from the "Belgic Shore" (the British coast of the Strait of Dover) in his "Naturalis Historia" (77 CE) — the most important ancient Roman recommendation of any British food). The Whitstable Oyster Company (the most important oyster producer in Whitstable: the company traces its origins to the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company established by Royal Charter in 1793): the Whitstable High Street (the most charming single-street shopping experience in Kent: the independent fish shops, the art galleries and the most important charity shops in southeast England (the most prestigious charity shops in Kent are in Whitstable)).

Reculver Towers (6km east of Herne Bay — accessible by the Viking Coastal Trail cycling/walking path or by taxi): the most dramatic Roman ruins in Kent — the ruins of the Roman Saxon Shore fort "Regulbium" (built c. 210 CE as one of the most important coastal defence forts in Roman Britain: the Saxon Shore forts (the "Litus Saxonicum" — the chain of forts from Brancaster (Norfolk) to Portchester (Hampshire)) were the most important military engineering programme in the history of Roman Britain (the forts defended the most vulnerable stretch of the British coast from the Germanic sea raids of the 3rd century CE)). The twin Norman towers (12th century — built within the walls of the Roman fort): the most important landmark in the Thames Estuary (the twin towers have served as a navigation landmark for ships entering the Thames since the 12th century — the most important pair of navigation towers in the history of English maritime navigation before the development of lighthouses).

Farewell Canterbury cream tea (the most important afternoon ritual in southeast England): the full cream tea at a Canterbury tearoom — the scone (the most important component: the Canterbury scone is larger and sweeter than the Devon or Cornish scone — the Canterbury bakers use the most generous quantity of dried fruit (currants and sultanas) and the most subtle spicing (the mixed spice of the Kentish recipe)): the jam (the strawberry or raspberry jam — the most important fruit preserve in the British cream tea tradition), the clotted cream (the most important dairy product in the British cream tea: the clotted cream (also called "Devonshire cream" or "Cornish clotted cream") is the heat-treated cream with the highest fat content (55–64% fat — the most fat-rich cream commercially available in Britain): the most indulgent dairy product in English food culture). The Twinings connection (Thomas Twining (1675–1741) opened the Tom's Coffee House at 216 Strand, London, in 1706 — the oldest business at the same address in London — and began selling tea (the most important commercial decision in the history of British tea culture): the Twinings family business is the most important British tea brand in international export markets (the most widely exported British food brand after Marmite and Cadbury)).

Farewell Canterbury dinner (the most important local Kentish produce in a Canterbury restaurant setting): the Kentish lamb (the Romney Marsh lamb — from the Romney Marsh (the most important sheep-grazing land in southeast England): the Romney (Ovis aries — breed: New Romney): the most important sheep breed in English agricultural history, bred specifically for the Romney Marsh conditions (the most productive sheep breed in low-lying coastal marsh conditions)). The Kentish cobnut (the most important locally grown nut in Britain — the cobnut (Corylus avellana var. "Kent Cob"): harvested in late August and September from the Kentish "plats" (the traditional hazel coppice orchards of the Weald of Kent — the most important cobnut-producing landscape in Britain)). The Chapel Down sparkling wine (the most important English winery: Chapel Down (Tenterden, Kent — 30km from Canterbury) is the most commercially successful and the most critically acclaimed English sparkling wine producer: the Chapel Down "English Sparkling Brut" (made from the Chardonnay + Pinot Noir + Pinot Meunier blend in the Champagne method — the "méthode traditionnelle") is the most awarded English sparkling wine in the most important international wine competitions).