Folkestone & Hythe: The Kent Coast - more than you've heard
Folkestone is a town in confident, creative full flow - a place where contemporary art sits beside Edwardian architecture, where the harbour that once launched cross-Channel steamers now draws families food lovers, artists and curious travellers from across the country. Inland and along the coast, Hythe carries its own layered story: Cinque Port heritage, Romney Marsh's otherworldly flatlands and the extraordinary Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway threading all the way to Dungeness. This stretch of the Kent coast doesn't just reward a visit, it reframes everything you thought you knew about what the English seaside can be.
Sea Scrub Sauna
The wild swimming and sauna movement has found a natural home on the Kent coast, and Sea Scrub's Folkestone outpost is one of its finest expressions. A wood-fired sauna positioned close to the shore, with the sea as your plunge pool and the Kent coast as your backdrop - it's a bracing, joyful, surprisingly meditative experience. Sessions are bookable and beautifully simple: heat, cold, repeat, recover. In a town increasingly associated with thoughtful, independent experiences, Sea Scrub fits the Folkestone spirit perfectly. Arrive open-minded. Leave feeling completely revived.
Folkestone Harbour Arm
Few places on the Kent coast have reinvented themselves as spectacularly as Folkestone Harbour Arm. The old railway-age departure point for the continent, where generations of travellers boarded ferries and hovercraft, is now one of the most vibrant food, drink and events destinations on the entire south coast. Independent street food traders, craft bars, live music and a rotating programme of markets and events fill the arm from spring through to autumn. The views back to the town and out across the Channel are extraordinary. Come for lunch, stay for sunset, and wonder how this place spent so long being overlooked.
Folkestone Artworks
Folkestone has become one of the UK's most significant outdoor gallery spaces, thanks to the Folkestone Triennial and the permanent collection of artworks woven into the fabric of the town. Folkestone Artworks, the body that stewards this growing collection, has placed major commissions by internationally acclaimed artists in streets, stairwells, clifftops and public spaces across town. The result is a place where you genuinely don't know what you'll encounter next: a sculpture on a rooftop, a text piece on a wall, a sound installation in an underpass. Art as part of everyday life, not separate from it. Bring comfortable shoes and curiosity in equal measure.
The Creative Quarter
Tucked behind the seafront in a warren of Victorian streets that were, not long ago, largely empty, Folkestone's Creative Quarter is one of the most quietly remarkable regeneration stories in England. Independent studios, galleries, cafés, boutiques, makers' workshops and small businesses have colonised the Old High Street and the lanes around it, creating a neighbourhood with a texture and energy entirely its own. T Spend an afternoon getting pleasantly, productively lost.
Rocksalt
Perched right above the harbour on a dramatic cantilevered terrace, Rocksalt is one of the great restaurants on the Kent coast, and has been since chef Mark Sargeant opened it over a decade ago. The setting alone would justify a visit: floor-to-ceiling glass, the working harbour below, the Channel beyond. But the cooking more than keeps pace - fish and shellfish handled with confidence and clarity, local ingredients treated with respect, a menu that shifts with the seasons and the catch. Whether it's a long celebratory dinner or a quick harbour-side lunch, Rocksalt is the definitive Folkestone dining experience.
Battle of Britain Memorial
On the clifftop at Capel-le-Ferne, between Folkestone and Dover, the Battle of Britain Memorial stands as one of the most moving and important commemorative sites in England. The central figure, a lone airman seated and looking out to sea, is instantly iconic; the surrounding memorial garden, with its replica Spitfire and Hurricane, its Wall of Names and its circular memorial stone, creates a place of genuine power and quiet reflection. The views along the coast from here are extraordinary. Allow plenty of time: this is a site that earns it, and the story it tells deserves to be heard in full.
Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway and the Dungeness Snack Shack
The world's smallest public railway is also, quite possibly, one of the most charming. The Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway has been running its one-third scale steam and diesel locomotives across the flat, extraordinary landscape of Romney Marsh and the Dungeness headland since 1927, and every journey remains a genuine delight. The 13-mile line runs from Hythe through Dymchurch, St Mary's Bay and New Romney to the shingle wilderness of Dungeness itself, passing through landscapes that feel unlike anywhere else in England: vast skies, flat light, the sea always close.
At the Dungeness end of the line, the Dungeness Snack Shack is the perfect arrival point, a brilliantly unpretentious seafood shack serving fish straight from the boats that work these waters, in the shadow of the old lighthouse and the hulking presence of the nuclear power station beyond. It is quintessentially Dungeness: strange, beautiful and wholly itself. Eat outside, watch the fishermen, and take the train back as the light changes across the marsh. One of the great Kent coast experiences.
Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve
Set in 600 acres of Kent countryside above Romney Marsh, Port Lympne Hotel and Reserve is one of the most extraordinary family-friendly destinations in the county, and one that consistently surprises those who think they know what to expect. Home to the largest black rhino breeding programme outside Africa, as well as gorillas, lions, giraffes and over 900 animals across dozens of species, a visit here is set to wow. Stay overnight in one of the remarkable lodges or treehouses and the experience becomes unforgettable: waking at dawn to the sound of the reserve as it stirs.
Voco The Clifton, Folkestone
Occupying a grandly restored Victorian building on the Leas, Voco The Clifton combines the bones of a classic seaside hotel with contemporary style and comfort. The views from the Leas are among the finest on the Kent coast, looking out across the Channel towards France on a clear day, and the hotel's position makes it a perfect base for exploring both Folkestone's creative scene and the wider stretch of coast towards Hythe and beyond. Smart, well-appointed rooms, a welcoming bar and a location that couldn't be better placed.
The View Hotel, Folkestone
As the name promises, The View Hotel makes the very most of its clifftop position above Folkestone, with rooms and public spaces oriented to make the most of the Channel panorama. A relaxed, independently spirited hotel, it's a natural choice for those wanting to be close to the Harbour Arm, the Creative Quarter and the town's growing food and arts scene, while retreating at the end of the day to somewhere quietly spectacular. Sunsets from the upper rooms are, genuinely, not to be missed.
Hythe Imperial Hotel & Spa
A grande dame of the Kent coast, the Hythe Imperial sits in splendid grounds between the town and the sea, offering the full traditional seaside hotel experience. The spa is one of the finest in the region; the golf course stretches across the shingle towards the Channel; the restaurant draws on local produce with quiet ambition. Whether you're coming for a spa break, a golf weekend or simply to experience one of the great classic coastal hotels of southern England, the Hythe Imperial delivers with elegance and ease.
Bloom Stays
Perfect for families wanting a little home from home, Bloom Stays' collection of beautifully appointed properties offer a choice of sea views, beach-side locations and grand stays. Thoughtfully styled, carefully managed and offering plenty of local knowledge and personal touches, Bloom Stays suits those who want to settle into Folkestone at their own pace - cooking in, exploring at leisure. With so many properties on offer, it's hard to choose just one, but if we had to, The Beach House at Sandgate is one of our favourites for sea views and family-friendly stays.
