Margate: Art, Beaches and Unusual Discoveries

Margate combines a seaside stay with a surprisingly distinctive cultural landscape. At Margate Main Sands, you can expect an approximately 200-metre-long beach, a promenade and wooden beach access paths. At the same time, unusual museums, historic spaces and art venues reveal the town’s unique history. When choosing your holiday apartment or holiday home, you can therefore consider whether your trip should focus mainly on beach days, cultural discoveries, walks or a mixture of everything.

Beach, promenade and a coastal trail for active days

The Viking Coastal Trail is a shared circular route for cycling and walking. Over 32 miles or 51.4 kilometres, it runs along flat, traffic-free promenades, wide sea walls and quiet country roads. The route passes Turner Contemporary, creating a link between exercise and art without requiring you to limit your trip to just one type of experience. If you are looking for accommodation for active days, you can consider the desired proximity to activities like these when planning, without structuring your entire stay around them.

Art and unusual places in Margate

Turner Contemporary is a gallery for contemporary and historic art. Its ongoing programme includes temporary exhibitions, events and educational activities. For orientation when arriving by bus, Cecil Square is the nearest bus stop to Turner Contemporary. Another unusual place to visit is the Winter Gardens: they are the only known example of a winter garden built within a chalk cliff and have a unique design featuring a semicircular amphitheatre.

The Shell Grotto also makes Margate distinctive. A curved staircase cut into the chalk leads underground. The grotto was discovered in 1835; its winding passages are 70 feet, or 21 metres, long and decorated with 4.6 million shells. Anyone interested in the origins and special features of historic places will find a contrast here to the open coastal landscape. The Margate Caves were originally created as a chalk mine in the 18th century. In August 2019, they reopened with a new community building, café, shop and exhibition and interpretation areas. The site is 94.2 metres long and 12.2 metres high at its highest point.

Museums for Curious Explorers

The Crab Museum offers interactive ways to learn about nature. It is the only museum in Europe dedicated to decapod crustaceans. At The WonderWorks, visitors can learn how Hornby, Airfix, CORGI, Scalextric and Pocher manufacture their models and kits; The WonderWorks also includes miniature worlds and exhibits. These destinations can be particularly interesting when different interests come together within a travel group and, alongside the beach, engaging discoveries are also desired.

Margate Main Sands is also home to a boating pool listed as a Grade II protected structure. It was built in 1937. Together with the galleries, grottoes and museums, this creates a destination where coastal architecture, local history and modern culture stand side by side.

Walks and special travel occasions

The Pride Art Map is a walking tour along an art trail through Margate. Margate Pride is an annual celebration of queer people, their lives, allies and communities in Margate and Kent. These offerings complement the classic attractions with an artistic and community-focused perspective.

Southeastern operates hourly high-speed trains from London St Pancras and Stratford International to Margate; the journey to Margate station takes less than 90 minutes. This makes travelling from London easy to plan. If you would like to extend your trip beyond Margate, you can also find information about Hailsham, Canterbury, Southampton, Hastingleigh, Herons Ghyll, Lymington and Wadhurst.

For the overarching travel overview: South East England.