The Isle of Thanet - The Kent Coast: more than you've heard
Thanet's three towns, Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs, stretch across a peninsula of clifftops, golden sands and harbour walls that have been drawing visitors for centuries. Today they draw a different crowd too: artists, makers, young families, design-conscious weekenders and anyone who has heard that something exciting is happening on this corner of the Kent coast and wants to see it for themselves. The Turner Contemporary changed the conversation; the independent restaurants, galleries, boutiques, beach bars and creative studios that have followed have kept it going. Come expecting surprises - Thanet delivers them at every turn.
Dreamland
Dreamland is one of the great British seaside comeback stories. The historic Margate amusement park, which at its peak in the 1920s drew hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, has been spectacularly reimagined as a retro-themed amusement park and live music venue that manages to be simultaneously nostalgic and completely contemporary. The Grade II listed Scenic Railway, Britain's oldest surviving rollercoaster, anchors a park full of vintage rides, street food, bars and an events programme that runs from spring through to autumn. It's unashamedly fun, brilliantly designed and exactly the kind of bold, joyful destination that defines the new Thanet.
Blue Flag Beaches
Thanet holds more Blue Flag beach awards than anywhere else in Kent. A string of golden, safe and beautifully kept sands that make this peninsula one of the finest family beach destinations in the south of England.
Margate Main Sands is the classic, a broad, gently curving bay of golden sand right in the heart of the town, with the amusement arcades, ice cream stands and Turner Contemporary as its backdrop. Viking Bay in Broadstairs is perhaps the most picturesque of all: a compact, almost perfectly circular bay framed by chalk cliffs and a handsome Victorian seafront that Dickens knew and loved. Between them, Botany Bay, Stone Bay and Joss Bay offer wilder, clifftop-backed alternatives for surfers, open water swimmers and those after a little more space. Whichever beach you choose, the water quality and golden sand make for the perfect seaside day out.
Turner Contemporary & Margate Galleries
The Turner Contemporary, named for J.M.W. Turner, who grew up in Margate and credited its extraordinary light for shaping his art. opened in 2011 and transformed the town's cultural standing overnight. One of the UK's most visited galleries outside London, it stages major international exhibitions alongside work rooted in the Thanet landscape and the Turner connection. But the gallery is only the beginning: the streets of Margate Old Town have filled steadily with independent galleries, artist studios and maker spaces that collectively constitute one of the most vibrant grassroots art scenes in the country. A gallery map and an afternoon is the minimum requirement; a full weekend barely scratches the surface.
Ramsgate Art Trail
Ramsgate has always had a creative streak - the town's Georgian and Regency architecture, its Royal Harbour and its fishing heritage have attracted artists for generations. The Ramsgate Art Trail formalises and celebrates that tradition, mapping a route through studios, galleries and exhibition spaces open to visitors and woven through the town's most characterful streets and quarters. From established painters working in the harbour tradition to younger artists drawn by affordable studios and a supportive community, the trail reveals a town with a rich, layered creative identity that goes far deeper than its handsome seafront suggests. A brilliant way to spend a morning - follow your nose as much as the map.
Ramsgate Arts Club
Part gallery, part bar, part community hub, Ramsgate Arts Club is the kind of place that every town wishes it had but few manage to pull off. Set in a characterful space close to the harbour, it brings together live music, exhibitions, events and great drinks. For young couples and millennials looking for an evening out that feels nothing like a chain bar experience, or for families after a relaxed daytime event, the Arts Club pitches itself perfectly. Check the events calendar before you visit - something interesting is almost always on.
Morelli's
Broadstairs' most beloved institution, Morelli's has been serving ice cream from its prime position above Viking Bay since 1932, and the sundaes, knickerbocker glories and scoops it serves today are as good as they have ever been. The interior is a perfectly preserved piece of mid-century Italian seaside glamour; the ice cream is made to recipes that have barely changed in ninety years. It is, quite simply, one of the great British seaside experiences - the kind of place that stops adults in their tracks just as reliably as it delights children. A Broadstairs visit without a Morelli's stop is, frankly, incomplete.
Albion House, Ramsgate
Occupying a magnificent Regency townhouse on the clifftop above Ramsgate's Royal Harbour, in a building that once hosted Queen Victoria, Albion House is one of the most individually styled and talked-about hotels on the Kent coast. Every room is different, designed with a bold, maximalist confidence that perfectly suits the building's extraordinary bones. The bar is destination-worthy in its own right; the views across the harbour and Channel are among the finest in Thanet. For couples after a genuinely memorable weekend escape, or for style-conscious travellers who want their accommodation to be part of the experience, Albion House is an easy first choice.
No.42, Margate
In the heart of Margate Old Town, No.42 is a beautifully considered boutique guesthouse that captures exactly what makes this part of town so appealing: independent spirit, careful design, genuine warmth and a deep sense of place. Rooms are thoughtfully styled, the welcome is personal, and the location, minutes from the Turner Contemporary, the beach and the best of the Old Town's independent food and drink scene, couldn't be better placed for a Margate weekend. For couples and design-conscious visitors who want to wake up inside the creative world that Margate has become, No.42 makes perfect sense.
Canoe Wild - Sea Canoeing to Pegwell Bay
For an experience that puts the Thanet coastline in a genuinely new light, Canoe Wild's sea canoeing trips to Pegwell Bay are not to be missed. Pegwell is one of the most remarkable stretches of the north Kent coast - a vast, tranquil bay of mudflats, saltmarsh and sand that is internationally important for migratory birds and utterly beautiful in the flat, open-sky way that this part of the coast specialises in. Paddling into it at water level, guided by Canoe Wild's expert and passionate team, reveals a landscape invisible from the shore. Suitable for beginners and available for families with older children - one of the most memorable things you can do in Thanet.
Kebbells
A firm fixture in Thanet's food and drink scene, Kebbels has built a loyal following on the strength of what it does simply and well: carefully sourced food and a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere. Kebbells has the kind of pared-back, quality-led approach that Thanet's growing creative community gravitates towards naturally. The kind of spot that ends up being the reason you visit a town a second time.
Quex House & Powell-Cotton Museum
Set in parkland near Birchington, Quex House is one of those places that genuinely defies easy description. The Powell-Cotton Museum, housing the extraordinary natural history and ethnographic collections assembled by explorer and naturalist Percy Powell-Cotton over a lifetime of expeditions to Africa and Asia, is among the most remarkable and least-known museums in the south of England. Dioramas of African wildlife, artefacts of astonishing rarity, a Victorian country house and walled gardens combine to create a day out that surprises and captivates families and curious adults in equal measure. It is, quite simply, one of Thanet's most underrated treasures, and utterly worth the detour.
