Things to Do Around Canterbury in Autumn
Apples, oysters, open fires and a cathedral full of circus
The Stour valley in autumn is all low mist and heavy orchards, and Kent spends October picking, pressing, cooking, and then making a proper fuss about the results.
It is a good month to be in this corner of the county. Canterbury hands the whole city over to a fortnight of music and mischief. Faversham counts out two thousand kinds of apple in a single afternoon. Whitstable goes quiet and the oyster season gets going. And there is a wood ten minutes from our front door where you can spend an entire day cooking over flames, which is about as good a way to spend a Saturday in October as we can think of.
Most of it is within half an hour of us. Here is what we would make the drive for, and where to end up afterwards.
Worth the drive
1. The Canterbury Festival
16 to 31 October | Free and ticketed | Just up the road
For a fortnight each autumn, Canterbury lets its hair down and fills the city with music, comedy, circus, cabaret, walks and all sorts of other goings-on.
It kicks off with Anna Lapwood on the Cathedral organ on 16 October – a pretty special way to start. Then, from 20 October, Australian circus company Circa take over the Cathedral for five nights with Eternity, performing beneath some of the oldest ceilings in the country. In between, there’s plenty more to dip in and out of, including cabaret, talks, walks and a good handful of things that won’t cost you a penny.
The bigger evenings are worth booking ahead, but if you’re more of a see-how-we-feel-on-the-day sort, there’s plenty to discover during the day too.
2. Cooking with Fire at FIRE + WILD
Saturday 10 October | £275 | 11am to 4pm | Ten minutes away
A day spent in a private patch of woodland in an old railway cutting just outside Canterbury, gathering wild things, learning your oak from your ash and getting to grips with what makes a good log for the fire.
Then it’s time to get cooking. Game, fish and whatever else the day has turned up, all cooked over the flames before sitting down to eat the lot with a glass of something good.
It’s grown-ups only and not one for vegetarians, but it is much more than a cooking workshop. It’s a proper day out in the woods – and you’ll almost certainly go home smelling of woodsmoke for the next three days. We rather like the sound of that.
Numbers are small and the day starts early, so if this is the one that’s caught your eye, we’d book this one first.
3. The Apple Fair at Brogdale, Faversham
3 to 4 October | 10am to 4pm | Ticketed | Half an hour or so
Brogdale is home to the National Fruit Collection, with more than 2,000 varieties of apple growing in one rather impressive place. And this is the weekend to get stuck in and taste your way through a good few of them.
There are tractor rides through the orchards, juicing for the little ones and apple experts on hand to identify whatever you’ve brought along. There’s something oddly satisfying about watching someone take one look at an apple and tell you exactly what it is.
Go hungry, take a bag and leave plenty of room in the boot. We can’t promise you’ll leave empty-handed.
4. Whitstable, once the season has turned
Any day, October especially | Free | Half an hour from us
Oyster season is back, the beach huts have gone quiet and the sun starts to dip over the Street. October is when Whitstable settles back into itself.
It’s a lovely time to wander the shingle when the tide allows, potter around the harbour and find yourself some oysters with a view of the water. The summer crowds have thinned out, the pace is a little slower and the late-afternoon light does rather lovely things to the place.
Wrap up warm, stay for sunset and make a day of it. That’s how we like Whitstable.
5. Evensong at Canterbury Cathedral
Most days | Free | Just up the road
Forty-five minutes of choir, ancient stone and the last of the daylight coming through the Cathedral windows. And the best bit? It doesn’t cost a penny.
You don’t need to book, and you certainly don’t need to be religious to enjoy it. There’s something rather lovely about slipping in, finding a seat and sitting quietly while the choir does its thing.
Times can move around and it doesn’t run every day, so check before you go. And if you’re heading into Canterbury for the Festival, this makes a lovely, quiet stop beforehand.
And then supper
All of the above is rather better when there’s a fire, a good meal and a cosy corner waiting at the end of it. And that’s where we come in.
We’re just ten minutes from Canterbury, tucked away in the village of Bridge, with the fires lit and the Kitchen Garden getting on with its autumn business. The 25 Mile Menu has turned to the season too – venison carpaccio with pickled walnut and Old Winchester, caramelised onion and smoked garlic soup, and apple and sultana crumble with a proper amount of custard.
And, as it’s our fifteenth year, we’ve been digging back through the archives and bringing a few old favourites out of retirement, including Brock Eggs with Colman’s mustard and our beetroot and blue cheese.
So come back muddy, windswept and smelling of woodsmoke. We really don’t mind.
A few things people ask us about autumn around Canterbury
What is there to do around Canterbury in autumn?
October is the busiest month in the local calendar. The Canterbury Festival runs for a fortnight from 16 October, the apple harvest is celebrated at Brogdale near Faversham in early October, and the oyster season gets going at Whitstable half an hour up the coast. The orchards and the Stour valley are worth a walk on any dry day.
When is the Canterbury Festival?
It runs from 16 to 31 October, with a mix of free and ticketed events across the city. The bigger evenings in the Cathedral sell out well in advance.
Is Whitstable worth visiting in October?
We would arguably say it is better in October than in August. The oyster season is underway, the crowds have gone, and the sunsets over the Street are the best of the year. It is about half an hour from Bridge.
When is the apple harvest in Kent?
Picking runs from late August through October depending on the variety, with the peak in early October. The Apple Fair at Brogdale on 3 and 4 October is the best single day to see the range of it.
Come and find us
Ten minutes from the Cathedral, half an hour from the oysters, and a very short walk from a table by the fire.
If you want a steer on what to do with a day around here before you come, just ask!