Dover

Dover guards the Straits of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel. The hardscrabble port town lacks charm — and its famous cliffs can't hold a candle to those at Beachy Head (near Brighton) — but the impressive Dover Castle, England's primary defensive stronghold from Roman through modern times, is excellent. In the nearby countryside, you can explore the quaint and fascinating garden at Sissinghurst; stroll the cobbles of the huggable hill town of Rye; see the evocative ruins of a Roman and Norman fort at Pevensey; and visit the Battle of Hastings site — in the appropriately named town of Battle — where England's future course was charted in 1066.