Rochester - Castle

Never travel to Rochester when the temperature dips below 10 Celcius (50f) - it's not a warm place and standing at the top of a castle gets drafty. Rochester Castle is at the other end of the scale from say, Leeds Castle. You'll find ruins instead of decorated rooms, craggy steps instead of cascading stairs and dark dingy corners instead of candle-lit rooms. This is a castle that has seen action and doesn't hide the scars, it's well worth £4 a visit. Just avoid looking down into the bottom where dead pidgeons gradually turn into skeletons. They seem to be the oldest reoccuring guests - seems that were the main dish back in 1066.

Rochester Castle stands on the east bank of the River Medway, in Rochester, Kent. There has been a castle on his site since Roman Times though it is the Keep of 1127 and the Norman castle for which Rochester is deservedly famous. The castle is now maintained by English Heritage and the keep is open to the public, although it is little more than an empty shell. Full history here.