Nowadays the M2 and the A2 are our short cuts between London and Canterbury. But it is possible to follow tracks and greenways of the old Watling Street in more pleasurable ways than in the driver's seat.

One fine medieval day in April Geoffrey Chaucer set out from London with 30 fellow travellers. Or so he tells us in his Canterbury Tales. The aim was to visit the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury's Cathedral. It must have seemed a good occasion to explore the new spring, a season that favours adventure.

Did Chaucer really begin this journey on that day in April? Maybe not, but like Dante and Boccacio, he thought his stories could do with a framework in which to present them. But it is also true that he himself had followed the old Celtic and Roman route quite a few times on his travels to the Continent and he came across enough pilgrims to give credibility to his descriptions of the trip.

What would it be like to follow this group of pilgrims on foot? If you are curious, take your chance on one of  our arrangements that enable you to follow the pilgrims of the Canterbury Tales.

Anneke Hesp

info@walkingwithchaucer.nl