Fifteen things to do in Canterbury, all checked open in August 2026: cathedral tickets from £17.50, punting on the Stour, free museums and the reopened Canterbury Tales.
Plenty of “things to do in Canterbury” lists are recycling information that is years out of date, still selling attractions that closed or pricing them from 2019. Every place on this page was checked against its own website in August 2026, with the current price and one practical detail that saves you a wasted trip. It covers the city itself plus the district’s coast at Whitstable and Herne Bay, and it runs from £27.95 immersive theatre down to entirely free.
The cathedral quarter
Canterbury Cathedral is the reason the city exists as a destination: England’s mother church, a World Heritage Site, and the scene of Thomas Becket’s murder in 1170. Adult tickets are seasonal, £18 to £19.50, with a summer 2026 offer of £17.50 on weekdays until 1 September; children 17 and under go free with a paying adult. Two details worth knowing: attending a service costs nothing, and Choral Evensong is sung daily at 5.30pm; and the £26 Canterbury World Heritage Pass covers the cathedral, St Augustine’s Abbey and St Martin’s Church together.
St Augustine’s Abbey, the ruins of the monastery St Augustine founded in 598, completes the World Heritage story. English Heritage opens it daily 10am to 5pm; expect roughly £8 to £10 on the gate, cheaper booked ahead, free for EH members, or use the World Heritage Pass above.
Canterbury Roman Museum sits underground on the mosaic pavement of a Roman townhouse, £11 for adults and booking ahead is strongly recommended; child and family prices are reduced until 1 September 2026. Its free sibling, the Beaney on the High Street, mixes museum, art gallery and library under one Tudor revival roof, open 10am to 5pm, no ticket needed.
Westgate Towers Museum and Viewpoint is the cheapest paid view in the city: £4 to climb England’s largest surviving medieval gateway to the rooftop battlements. Open Sunday to Friday 12 to 4pm, closed Saturdays, and it is five flights of narrow stairs with no lift. Below it, Westgate Gardens is a free riverside park, and a lap of the city walls with the mound-top view in Dane John Gardens costs nothing at all.
On the river
Chauffeured punts on the Great Stour are Canterbury’s Cambridge moment, drifting under the medieval buildings you cannot see from the street. Two operators are running in 2026: Canterbury Punting Company from Water Lane, with 40 to 45 minute tours priced by time slot (weekday and early slots cheaper, book online), and Westgate Punts from Westgate Bridge, from about £14 for a short trip, walk-ups taken in queue order, running roughly mid-March to late October. One warning: Canterbury Historic River Tours is on a break as of August 2026, its site saying only that it hopes to return, so do not plan around it.
The Canterbury Tales is back, ignore the old lists
Older articles will tell you the Canterbury Tales attraction on St Margaret’s Street closed for good in 2020. That is out of date: it reopened in August 2024 under new owners after a £650,000 refit, as The Canterbury Tales Experience, a 45 to 60 minute walk-through of Chaucer’s stories told by live actors with holograms and effects, open seven days a week. It is now the priciest ticket in the city at £27.95 for adults, £17.95 for children 6 to 15, £60 for a family, so it is a considered buy rather than an impulse one, but it is very much open.
Animals and big days out
Howletts Wild Animal Park at Bekesbourne, ten minutes from the city, holds the UK’s largest groups of gorillas and African elephants across 90 acres. Adults £26 online, £29 on the gate, so book ahead; free keeper talks run through the day.
Wildwood, on the A291 at Herne Common, is the British-wildlife counterpoint: bison, wolves and bears in 40 acres of woodland. Adults £18, children £14, open daily 10am to 5pm in season, last entry an hour before close.
For an indoor evening, the Marlowe Theatre is Kent’s major receiving house, with West End tours on its 2026 bill; box office 01227 787787.
Out to the coast
The Crab and Winkle Way is the best free half-day here: 7.5 mostly traffic-free miles from Canterbury West to Whitstable along the bed of one of Britain’s first passenger railways, about an hour’s steady ride. At the far end, Whitstable harbour earns the trip: the South Quay Shed street-food and retail shed is open daily, until 10pm Fridays and Saturdays in high summer, alongside the harbour market.
Along the coast, Herne Bay Pier is free to enter, open daily from 8am, with its hut village, carousel and helter-skelter, and was voted the UK’s second-best pier by the National Piers Society in April 2026. Getting to any of this without the car is easy: both coast towns are on the district’s bus and rail network, and the city itself is compact enough that park and ride beats circling for a space. Visiting on a budget? The free list alone, Beaney, Westgate Gardens, Dane John, city walls, pier, fills a full day.
Frequently asked questions
What can I do in Canterbury for free?
The Beaney museum and gallery, Westgate Gardens, Dane John Gardens and the city-wall walk, cathedral services including daily Choral Evensong, the Crab and Winkle Way, Whitstable harbour and Herne Bay Pier. None charges admission.
Is the Canterbury Tales attraction still open?
Yes. It closed in 2020 but reopened in August 2024 as the actor-led Canterbury Tales Experience, open seven days a week at £27.95 for adults. Lists that say it is gone are out of date.
How much is Canterbury Cathedral to visit?
£18 to £19.50 for adults depending on season, £17.50 on summer 2026 weekdays, and free for children 17 and under with a paying adult. Services are free to attend (official prices).
Can you go punting in Canterbury?
Yes, two operators run chauffeured trips on the Great Stour in 2026: Canterbury Punting Company (book online) and Westgate Punts (walk-up, from about £14). Canterbury Historic River Tours is currently on a break.
Is Howletts or Wildwood better with children?
Howletts is the bigger, pricier safari-park day (gorillas and elephants, £26 online); Wildwood is smaller, cheaper (£18) and woodland-shaded, better for a half day with younger children. They are 15 minutes apart, so some families do one in the morning and the pier after.
Sources
Every venue above was verified against its own site in August 2026: Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury Roman Museum, the Beaney, Westgate Towers, Canterbury Punting Company, Westgate Punts, The Canterbury Tales Experience, Marlowe Theatre, Howletts, Wildwood, Crab and Winkle Way, South Quay Shed, Herne Bay Pier and Dane John Gardens.
Prices and hours change with the seasons; check the linked page before a special trip.
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