Nottingham Canterbury Train

The East Midlands city of Nottingham, famed for its Lace making and the legend of Robin Hood, is home to two universities: Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham. Many of the industrial buildings in the city have been redeveloped and have helped modern day Nottingham become a thriving centre for education and commerce. The Lace Market, which is to the south of Hockley, has many streets full of red brick warehouses which have been converted into apartments, bars and restaurants. Adams Building is now used by New College Nottingham.

Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem (The Trip), partially built into the cave system beneath Nottingham Castle, is a contender for the title of "England's Oldest Pub" due to its supposed establishment in 1189. However, The Bell Inn on the Old Market Square, and Ye Olde Salutation Inn (The Salutation) on Maid Marian Way, have both supposed to have disputed this claim. Whichever is the case it is safe to say that Nottingham has several public houses that date back to around the 11th century, or perhaps earlier.

There are two main shopping centres in Nottingham: Victoria Centre and the Broadmarsh Centre. The Victoria Centre was established on the site of the former Nottingham Victoria railway station, and was the first to be built in the city.

The city of Canterbury in Kent, England, contains many ancient buildings despite it being heavily damaged during the Second World War. The heart of the city is its cathedral which is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the world wide Anglican Church. The cathedral is also the burial place of King Henry IV and Edward the Black Prince, but most famous as the scene of the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170.

The ruins of the Norman Canterbury Castle and St Augustine's Abbey are both open to the public. The medieval St Margaret's Church now houses the "The Canterbury Tales", in which life-sized character models reconstruct Geoffrey Chaucer's stories. The Westgate is now a museum relating to its history as a jail and the medieval church of St Alphege became redundant in 1982 but had a new lease of life as the Canterbury Urban Studies Centre, later renamed the Canterbury Environment Centre; the building is used by the King's School. The Old Synagogue at Canterbury, now the King's School Music Room, is one of only two Egyptian Revival synagogues still standing.

Travelling too and from the city is easy because it is connected to the national rail network by its two railway stations: Canterbury West and Canterbury East.