Margate

Margate sits at the northern tip of the Isle of Thanet, where the Kent coastline turns to face the wide expanse of the Thames Estuary and the open North Sea beyond. It is a town built around a broad crescent of golden sand, and that beach has shaped everything about the place, from the Georgian terraces that climb the cliffs above it to the amusement rides that have rattled along the seafront on and off since the Victorian era. For much of the twentieth century Margate was one of the great English seaside resorts, then it fell into a long decline as cheap flights lured holidaymakers abroad. What has happened since is one of the more interesting regeneration stories on the British coast.

The turning point is usually dated to 2011, when the Turner Contemporary gallery opened on the harbour arm, named for J.M.W. Turner, who spent time in Margate as a boy and later declared its skies among the loveliest in Europe. The gallery brought a wave of artists, gallerists and second-home buyers from London, drawn by the light, the Georgian and Regency architecture going cheap, and a direct rail line into the capital. Dreamland, the old amusement park with one of the oldest wooden roller coasters in the world, was rescued and reopened as a heritage funfair. The result today is a town of genuine contrasts: faded seafront arcades sit a few streets from serious contemporary art, and a working-class resort with real deprivation shares pavements with vintage furniture shops and natural wine bars.

That layering is what makes Margate worth visiting rather than merely photogenic. The Old Town, a tangle of narrow lanes behind the harbour, is dense with antique dealers, independent galleries and cafes in seventeenth and eighteenth-century buildings. Cliftonville, the quieter neighbour to the east, has its own crescent of sand at Walpole Bay and a run of handsome but weathered Victorian terraces. Above it all is that huge Thanet sky, low and wide over the water, which still draws painters more than two centuries after Turner first set up his easel here.

Top things to do in Margate

Margate rewards a slow wander as much as a list of sights, but these are the places most visitors build a day around.

• Turner Contemporary is a striking white gallery built out over the sea wall, with free entry to a rolling programme of major contemporary art exhibitions and permanent works responding to Turner's connection with the town.
• Dreamland is a restored vintage amusement park centred on the Grade II listed Scenic Railway, the oldest surviving rollercoaster in Britain, alongside retro rides, a roller disco and regular live music events.
• Margate Old Town rewards an unhurried browse through its cluster of antique shops, independent galleries and vintage clothing dealers packed into streets that barely changed since the Georgian era.
• The Shell Grotto is a subterranean passage lined floor to ceiling in seashell mosaics, of unknown age and origin, that remains one of the coast's genuine oddities.
• Margate Main Sands is the town's principal beach, a wide stretch of golden sand backed by the harbour arm, ideal for swimming, paddleboarding and simply watching the tide come in.
• Walpole Bay in Cliftonville offers a quieter tidal pool and a stretch of sand favoured by families and swimmers wanting to escape the busier central beach.
• Margate Museum, housed in the town's former police station and courtroom, traces the resort's history from smuggling and sea bathing through to its recent artistic revival.
• The town's gallery scene, including studios and project spaces linked to artists who have settled here in the past decade, reflects Margate's continuing pull for working artists alongside its more established institutions.

Getting to Margate

Margate is well connected to London by rail. High-speed Southeastern services run from London St Pancras International via Ashford International and take around one hour twenty minutes to Margate station, making it one of the fastest coastal escapes from central London. Slower, cheaper Southeastern services also run from London Victoria, taking roughly one hour forty-five minutes to two hours depending on connections. Margate station is a short, flat walk from the seafront, the Old Town and Dreamland.

By road, Margate is reached via the M2 and A2 from London and the Medway towns, joining the A299 Thanet Way for the final stretch along the north Kent coast. The drive from central London typically takes around two hours outside peak traffic. There are several pay-and-display car parks close to the seafront and Old Town, along with on-street parking in the surrounding residential streets, though spaces can be tight on summer weekends and during Dreamland events. Margate has no operating passenger airport of its own; the nearest international airports are London Gatwick and London Stansted, each around two hours away by car, with London City and Heathrow a little further still.

Best time to visit Margate

Spring brings out the best of Margate's light, with the Turner Contemporary's exhibitions in full swing, daffodils along the clifftop gardens and far fewer crowds than summer, though sea temperatures stay cool into May. Summer is peak season, when the beach fills, Dreamland runs its full ride and events programme, and the town's bars and restaurants spill onto the pavements; book accommodation well ahead for July and August weekends. Autumn is a favourite for many regular visitors, with the crowds thinning after the school holidays, restaurant tables easier to find, and the low coastal light at its most dramatic for walks along the harbour arm. Winter is quiet and bracing, with storm watching and cosy pub fires the main draw, though several galleries, cafes and the Shell Grotto stay open year-round for a bracing off-season break.

Where to stay in Margate

The Old Town and harbour area put you within walking distance of Turner Contemporary, the antique shops and the main beach, and suit visitors who want to be at the centre of things without a car. The seafront around the Harbour Arm and Marine Terrace offers sea views and easy access to Dreamland, appealing to families and anyone prioritising the beach. Cliftonville, to the east, is quieter and more residential, with grand but weathered Victorian architecture, independent cafes emerging along Northdown Road, and better value accommodation for those happy with a ten-minute walk or short bus ride into the centre. Visitors touring the wider Isle of Thanet often base themselves in Margate and take in Broadstairs and Ramsgate as day trips, both a short drive or train ride away.

Food and drink in Margate

Margate's food scene has grown well beyond fish and chips, though a proper paper-wrapped portion eaten on the harbour wall remains a rite of passage. The town's seafood credentials run deep thanks to the fishing fleet still working out of the harbour, and oysters, whelks and cockles from stalls along the front are a local speciality worth seeking out. The Old Town has become a genuine destination for independent dining, with modern British cooking, natural wine bars and small-plate restaurants occupying former shopfronts alongside longer-established tearooms. Margate Market, held regularly in the Old Town, brings together local producers, street food traders and craft stalls. For a classic seaside treat, the ice cream parlours along Marine Terrace and the harbour arm do brisk trade on any half-sunny day, while the town's growing number of coffee roasters and bakeries reflect the newer wave of residents who have settled here over the past decade.