my favourite place as an expat

Rochester is one of my favourite places to spend an afternoon in England. Give me books, coffee, a bit of history and some sunshine, and I’m happy. On this visit the sky was clear, the weather was still cool enough for my leather coat, and I booked myself a train ticket for a day out.

I wasn’t trying to fit every sight into a grand itinerary. I wanted to do the things I normally enjoy there, and I messaged a friend who works in Rochester to see whether we could meet for lunch. The high street, castle and cathedral make it feel like a small, cosy place to me, with plenty to wander around.

Books first, naturally

One thing I appreciate about living here is being able to take the train for days like this. From where I lived in Canada, travelling around was much less convenient for me. In Rochester, I could leave the station and reach the high street in a couple of minutes. It made an afternoon of books and coffee feel very easy.

My first stop would normally be Baggins Book Bazaar, down the high street towards the river. It is the sort of second-hand bookshop where I feel as though the shelves go on forever. There are different sections and maps to help you find your way around, but even with those I can get a bit overwhelmed. There are just so many books.

Narrow wooden-floor aisle between tall book-filled shelves at Baggins Book Bazaar
A shelf-lined aisle inside Baggins Book Bazaar on this visit.

I love it, although I can absolutely imagine getting lost in there. The pleasure is in wandering through rather than being in a rush to grab something and leave. It gives me plenty to look at before I even get to the coffee part of the afternoon.

Coffee, a book and a change of plan

If there is the slightest hint of sunshine, I am likely to want an iced coffee. I usually get an iced latte from the Cheese Room, then take my book over to the castle grounds. Sitting there with coffee, a book and a podcast is one of my favourite ways to spend time in Rochester.

That plan needed a small adjustment on this visit. The main castle grounds were closed while an event was being set up. I like another patch of grass outside the castle walls, past the cathedral, so I still had somewhere to sit and read. It is a spot I find quiet and relaxing, with the castle right beside me.

I did meet up with my friend, and we went into the castle. Although the grounds were closed, we could still use the path to reach the entrance. That turned the afternoon into more of an exploration than my usual book-and-coffee visit.

Going up the castle

Rochester Castle felt very different from Dover Castle to me. Dover has rooms to explore; Rochester feels much more like the skeleton of an old castle. There are stairs and pathways through it, with information plaques, rather than lots of furnished rooms. I still think it is worth seeing, but those are quite different experiences.

We decided to climb towards the top first. The staircase had a railing, which I was grateful for because the steps were uneven and some were a funny shape. I tried filming the climb in one shot and nearly fell several times while looking at the camera instead of where I was going. Please learn from that very stupid experiment. Watch the stairs.

The views were lovely. I could see the cathedral across the street, the surrounding town and the River Medway. It was windy up there, but I loved looking out over Rochester again. I visit the grounds fairly often and thought it had probably been around five years since I’d last climbed the castle. This was a weekday visit, and I think there was only one other couple inside while we were there.

Afterwards I went into the cathedral. I find Rochester’s cathedral beautiful, and I appreciate being able to wander around somewhere that feels quieter to me than Canterbury. On a weekday, that suited the relaxed afternoon I wanted. I also had a look around a shop on the high street that turned out to be bigger than I had expected, with more space downstairs and at the back.

An ordinary afternoon I appreciate

By then I was hungry, so I stopped at a tea shop on the high street for lunch. I wanted to sit outside and get as much sun as I could. After that, it was time to make the short walk back to the station and go home, quite happily stuffed.

What I love about a day like this is being able to do it at all. From Canada, visiting these places would have meant an expensive flight and a much bigger journey. Here I could take the train, read beside a castle, meet a friend and head home afterwards. I felt very grateful that this could be a normal afternoon for me.

Watch my Rochester afternoon and castle climb.