Please check our FAQs, and ensure you have read our House Rules before placing your booking. Our age requirement is 8+. 

Agreement to our House Rules is required for booking

Before your visit please read our House Rules to ensure safety and security for all. You will be required to agree to these upon booking, including our age requirement of 8+.

Any booking parties arriving with underage guests will not be able to enter the café (we may be able to welcome part of the group, age dependent). The booking would be considered a no-show and would be non-refundable. See our full Refund Policy here.

More information on our age requirement can be found in our House Rules and FAQs. 

Set the quantity of guests you are booking for using the selector, then click "Schedule Your Time". This will allow you to choose your visit date & time from our bookings calendar.

Complete our pre-booking questions, please leave blank if not applicable. Please note these are not looked at until the day of your visit - for answers to questions please check our FAQs or contact us.

Entry will then be added to your cart.
You are able to then go back and add other products (eg carer entry) or additional session times if you would like a longer time at the café, space permitting. Your bookings will be grouped, if checked out under the same details for the same date and time - our system will recognise the group booking. Please note: Our sessions are an hour long, but entry is staggered every half hour - eg to book a 2 hour session starting at 1pm, book for 1pm and 2pm, skipping the 1.30pm session start time.

Multiple hour sessions are always an option -space permitting!

To book multiple sessions - book for a timeslot of your choosing as you usually would, and please leave a note in the "anything else" booking question that you are booking multiple sessions.

Once that first session is added to your cart, simply come back to the booking page and book another timeslot for the same date (space permitting).
When you have all your desired session in your cart, simply check out all together and our system will recognise the group booking.

Please note: Our sessions are an hour long, but entry is staggered every half hour - eg therefore to book a 2 hour session starting at 1pm, book for 1pm and 2pm, skipping the 1.30pm session start time.

Bookings are able to be re-scheduled up to 24 hours in advance, and cancellations with refund made up to 48 hours in advance.

You can access and make changes to bookings by logging into your customer account, if you create one at checkout, or via links included in your booking confirmation email, sent after checkout. Please remember to check your junk folder if not in your inbox.

No-shows and cancellations made within 48 hours of a booked session are non-refundable, as due to our limited capacity have a large impact on our daily running. Thank you for your understanding.

See our full Refund Policy here.

To add another person (or more) to an existing booking, simply complete checkout again for the desired quantity of additional guests for the same date/time, using the same name as the original booking at checkout. Our system will automatically recognise the matching details and group your bookings together. 

To cancel part of a group booking, follow the cancellation link included in your booking email or login your customer account. Select the quantity of guests you wish to cancel, and click done. Cancellation terms apply.

If you have made a mistake in your booking, please do not cancel and rebook. Just contact us with your issue and we will help you out!

After completing checkout you will be shown on-screen confirmation.
You will also receive an auto-generated booking confirmation email shortly after checkout. Please remember to check your contact email is correct at checkout, and check your junk folder if not in your inbox. 
The email is not required for admission as we will have your booking on our system. 

Bookings can be made online up to 45 minutes in advance.

We may accept walk-ins at the door, space permitting. We advise booking in advance to avoid disappointment. 

Drinks and food can be purchased on-site during your booked session. See our menu here. We also have a gift shop on-site with a wide selection of cat-tastic goodies & gifts. 

Late arrivals are unable to have additional time added to the end of their session as this will interfere with guests in the next booking slot. We appreciate your understanding.

We offer discounted entry for a carer accompanying the person they care for.

Carers - please book your entry alongside standard entry for the person you’re supporting before visiting. As a small independent with a strict capacity limit, advance booking helps us maintain a safe, calm environment for everyone, including our cat crew.

To do so, select carer entry and choose your date & time and add to cart, then return to the booking page and select either the weekend or weekday option for standard entry for your ward, and then complete options required to also add to your cart. Checking out both entry types together ensures your booking is registered as a group by our system.

To ensure our carer discount is used fairly, we kindly ask carers to bring proof of their carer status when visiting our café. This can be shown with an app, card, or any relevant document. Thank you for helping us keep this offer accessible to those who need it!

We are located at 8 Mercery Lane, Canterbury, Kent. CT1 2JJ United Kingdom.

Our closest car parks are Whitefriars, Watling Street, St Radigunds and Northgate.

Click here for a list of all Canterbury Car Parks

There is also a Park and Ride service

We have a wheelchair accessible sloped entrance, but please note our street is historic and has uneven paving slabs. Orange Street car park is the closest blue badge holders car park.

After selecting your booking slot you will be prompted to answer a few quick booking requirement questions, one of which is if any member of your booking party is celebrating a birthday. If applicable, please enter the birthday-person's name and age they are turning, so we can prep table decorations and a card for their special occasion.

In the future we plan to offer speciality birthday booking slots with more tailored fun, but right now as we are still new and finding our feet aren't quite ready to expand our session offerings.

If you would like to enquire about private hire of the café for your own event, please contact us.

Make sure to follow our socials and join our mailing list to be fur-st in the know for future speciality session availability.

After selecting your booking slot you will be prompted to answer a few quick booking requirement questions, one of which is if your booking party has any dietary requirements eg. allergies.

After selecting your booking slot you will be prompted to answer a few quick booking requirement questions, one of which is if your booking party requires downstairs seating. This lets us know beforehand and enables us to allocate appropriate seating.

Please note Canterbury Tails uses security cameras in the interest of safety and security of the cat crew, and all customers and staff. By placing a booking you acknowledge and agree that you may be recorded on video. Please be assured the footage is only used for security purposes and is stored securely. We value your privacy and will only disclose the footage as required by law or to investigate any incidents that may occur on our premises. We are ICO registered. If you have any concerns or questions regarding our use of security cameras, please do not hesitate to contact us.