Leeds Castle, Maidstone, Kent, England Side Trip
On July 18, 2008, we left Colchester, England at around 1:00pm and arrived in Leeds Castle, England at around 2:36pm. It was about 1 hour and 36 minutes from Colchester, Essex, England to Leeds Castle located in Maidstone, Kent, England. Leeds Castle is located on the east of the village of Leeds in Kent which should not be confused from the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire.
Leeds Castle is located on the southeast of Maidstone, Kent, England and London, England. It is about 42-47 miles or 68-75 kilometers, about 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 22 minutes from London, from St. Margaret Street near the Parliament Square, Big Ben, and the Houses of the Parliament via A3212 and main roads A13 or A2 or A20, then M20 highway.
Leeds Castle is a castle island, set on two islands on the River Len in Kent, England. Leeds Castle is a moated castle as the castle is surrounded by water. Leeds Castle was built in 1119 by Robert De Crevecoeur as a manor house to replace the Saxon manor of Esledes where Leeds Castle actually got its name, from this ancient Saxon manor of Esledes. In 1278, Leeds Castle became a royal palace when it was bought by Queen Eleanor of Castile, wife of King Edward I of England.
Over the years, the castle was owned by six medieval queens, afterwards it was owned by related families. For more than 900 years of its existence, improvements and changes have been made to the castle.
In 1926, Hon. Olive Wilson Filmer, later became known as Lady Baillie upon marrying the 5th Baronet of Polkemmet, bought the castle. Lady Baillie was an Anglo-American heiress who inherited quite a fortune when her mother died in 1916. The castle was in a poor condition when it was bought, so Lady Baillie undertook extensive renovations with the help of the finest French architects and designers. She redecorated the interior of the castle as well as made a considerable exterior alterations.
Lady Baillie turned Leeds Castle into an elegant country residence, into her country house. They held glamorous house parties at the castle entertaining the royal families, the rich and famous, and prominent politicians, film stars and celebrities.
Before Lady Baillie died on September 9, 1974, she left the castle to a charitable trust which she established, the Leeds Castle Foundation which is now responsible for its preservation.
Leeds Castle has a lot to offer, it is not just a castle. The castle grounds have an aviary, a maze, a grotto, a golf course among other things. Leeds Castle was opened to the public in 1976 and now hosts a range of events every year. Conferences, meetings, weddings, and banquets can be arranged in the castle and other areas of the estate.
But what really impressed me most in Leeds Castle is actually the huge library. Wow! I was like speechless when I saw it.
We were able to see a lot inside the Leeds Castle itself but were not able to explore the whole castle grounds because we left the place at around 4:22pm. We just spent less than 2 hours in the castle. It means that 2 hours was not at all enough to a castle like Leeds Castle. This is one castle I would like to go back to and explore once again.
From Leeds Castle, we continued our travel via Dover, England to Calais, France, then highways in France back to Switzerland. We arrived in Dover at around 4:57pm and took Sea France Ferry at the Port of Dover in England going to Port of Calais in France. We waited a little bit and at around 5:35pm, we were already boarding Sea France . At around 6:00pm, we were already having dinner at the La Brasserie restaurant inside the boat Sea France. La Brasserie only served food once the boat has left the port.
We like La Brasserie a lot because the food was good. We also ate at La Brasserie traveling from Calais, France to Dover, England going to Scotland. We had Smoked Salmon “Emile FOURNIER” with a creamy chive dressing and blinis for starters, Chef’s Steak selection from Saint Omer region with 3 pepper sauce and french fries as the main course, and warm Tarte Tatin with vanilla ice cream for dessert.
We arrived in Calais, France before 8:30pm as there was one hour difference between England and France. Travel time from Dover, England to Calais, France with Sea France was at least 1 and 1/2 hours. We did not take the fast ferry where travel time from Dover to Calais would only take 40-45 minutes.
We got out of the boat at around 8:30pm and decided to just continue our trip instead of checking in at a hotel. We made several stops for short rests in several places. We arrived in Basel, Switzerland at around 4:20am and arrived home at around 5:38pm on July 19, 2009. It took us at least 9 hours and 8 minutes to travel from Calais, France to Weggis, Switzerland.
Well, that’s it. I hope you enjoyed virtually traveling with us in Scotland and England. Links to our Scotland Golf Vacation in Summer 2008 are available below.
Come back again for our other travels in Austria in 2008, Switzerland in 2008 and 2009, Philippines, Hongkong and Macau in 2009, Ireland in 2009, and Germany and France in 2009.
Links to Our Scotland Golf Vacation in Summer 2008
Scotland Golf Vacation in Summer 2008
Scottish Borders Tourist Route to Edinburgh
First Day, Edinburgh City, Scotland
Second Day, Edinburgh, Scotland
St. Andrews, The Home of Golf
Scotland’s Malt Whisky Trail
Inverness, the Mouth of the River Ness in Scotland
Scotland Lochs: Loch Ness, Loch Lochy, Loch Linnhe, Loch Creran
Oban, The Little Bay in Scotland Trip
Inveraray Castle, Inveraray, Scotland Side Trip
Hawick, Scottish Borders, Scotland Trip
Colchester, Essex, England Side Trip
Leeds Castle, Maidstone, Kent, England Side Trip
Related Links:
Leeds Castle – A Great Day Out in Kent, England
Leeds Castle, in Wikipedia
Olive, Lady Baillie, in Wikipedia
Sea France Ferry
