Can you see Calais France from the cliffs of Dover?
Although Calais and Dover are about 22 miles apart, according to this site in Calais, one can see Dover's white cliffs on a clear day.
http://www.greatescapes.co.uk/destination/81/France/Calais/0/0/
Only 22 miles. Then, yes, you should be able to see it on a clear day.
Catalina Island is 26 miles away from the Los Angeles area in Southern California, and on a clear day you can see it from Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Rolling Hills, and other places right along the coast there.
It is not very often clear enough to see Calais. It is much more often to see Dover Cliffs from Calais. I transversed the strait several times on ship, and whilst I usually saw Dover, I only saw Calais once. There is usually a lot of sea mist which blocks low angles of sight. Travel brochures often say on a clear day one can see Calais, but then, travel brochures don't dwell on how often clear days occur.
I got a kick out of your last comment there, Bob! True that. Travel brochures definitely don't mention the frequency of clear days when attempting to convice you of how wonderful a place is to visit! :)
No, you cannot see Calais, France from the cliffs of Dover. While it may seem like the two are within sight of each other, there is a significant gap of about 33 kilometers (20 miles) across the English Channel that separates them.
To verify this, you can follow these steps to calculate the distance:
1. Find the coordinates of Dover and Calais: The latitude and longitude coordinates can be easily found using online mapping tools or search engines. For example, the coordinates of Dover, England are approximately 51.1279° N latitude and 1.3231° E longitude, while the coordinates of Calais, France are roughly 50.9513° N latitude and 1.8586° E longitude.
2. Use an online distance calculator: Several websites provide distance calculators that can determine the straight-line distance between two points on the Earth's surface. Enter the coordinates of Dover and Calais into the distance calculator tool to obtain the result.
Alternatively, you can use the Haversine formula to calculate the distance manually if you are familiar with geometry and trigonometry. By inputting the coordinates into the formula, you'll get the approximate distance between the two locations.
3. Compare the distance obtained: Once you have the distance, you can compare it to understand the separation between Dover and Calais. As mentioned earlier, the distance is approximately 33 kilometers (20 miles), which confirms that they are not visible from each other's shores.