Margate

Margate is a seaside resort on the north Kent coast, with a population in 2021 of 64,491. It's suffered the usual decline of English seaside towns but its beach is still thronged on warm summer weekends, and there are several places of interest for cold wet days.

Understand
"You can keep the Costa Brava, I'm telling ya mate I'd rather have a day down Margate with all me family!"

- Chas and Dave

Margate was a seaport on the medieval Isle of Thanet, which is nowadays separated from the mainland only by farm ditches. "The Battle of Margate" in 1387 typifies its story: the English fleet spotted an enemy fleet near here but chased them all the way to Holland before there was any fighting. These ships turned out to be laden with wine, so the great "Battle-of-nowhere-near-Margate" was more like a booze-cruise.

The fashion for sea bathing began around 1750 and Margate was an early resort, as it was accessible and had a sandy beach. "Bathing machines" - wheeled beach huts - lumbered into the water "whereby the most refined female is enabled to enjoy the advantages of the sea with the strictest delicacy." The railway arrived in 1846 and brought a mass market, and this was the mainstay of the town economy for the next century. Then hardy explorers discovered the Med, the holiday-makers deserted and Margate slumped.

While Brighton and Blackpool found ways to re-invent themselves as destinations, Margate has been slow to do so. It has a downbeat mix of fading Georgian and Victorian villas and tatty bedsits. Perversely, this has given it a role as a TV and film location for grey low-rent settings, such as Edge of Heaven in 2014. Turnaround requires an iconic flagship development and this (they hope) began with the opening of the Turner Contemporary Art Gallery in 2011. Margate is still a work in progress.

By plane
Travel time from all the London airports by public transport is much the same, as you have to go into central London then come out again. By car, London Gatwick  is the closest, 85 miles by road.

By train
Trains from London Victoria run every 30-60 min, taking 1 hr 50 min via Rochester,  Chatham,  Gillingham, Sittingbourne and Faversham, where the train may divide. You need to be in the portion running along the north coast to Whitstable, Margate and Ramsgate. The other portion heads south to Canterbury East and  Dover Priory.

Trains from London St Pancras run every 20-30 min via three routes. Fast trains take 90 min via Stratford and Ebbsfleet then either along the north coast as above, or via Ashford, Canterbury West, Ramsgate and Broadstairs. A third train takes two hours via Folkestone and Dover, so you'd only use it to connect from the Channel ports.

is central near the beach. It has a staffed ticket office and machines, and Plusbus is available. There's a cafe, toilets and waiting room. There is level access to Platform 1 (towards Ramsgate) and step-free access via lifts to the other platforms.

Westgate-on-Sea station a mile west might be more convenient for that end of town.

By bus
National Express Bus NX022 takes three hours from London Victoria via Canterbury to Margate, continuing to Ramsgate. In summer 2020 this only runs once a day.

Stagecoach Bus 8 runs every 15 min from Canterbury and takes an hour to Margate. Once an hour it runs as 8X which continues to Broadstairs.

Bus 36 along the coast between Whitstable and Margate is not running in summer 2020, so by bus you'd have to travel via Canterbury; take the train instead.

Get around
Bus: Stagecoach Loop bus orbits the tip of Kent every 10-15 min, from Margate to Cliftonville, Broadstairs, Ramsgate, Westwood, and back to Margate; and vice versa.

Bike hire: Margate Bikes & Hire are at 87a Canterbury Rd by the railway station. They're open M-Sa 9AM-5:30PM.

Taxi firms are Swift (+44 7909 607904), Central Cars (+44 1843 601601), Margate Taxis (+44 7786 389286) and Thanet Cars (+44 1843 3333). United Cars get rotten reviews.

See



 * Margate seafront faces the main beach, a trad promenade with a clock tower, pubs, bingo halls, and amusement arcades.
 * Harbour Arm casts an embrace around the harbour north of the beach, with eating places, and nowadays the Turner at its foot.
 * Walpole Bay Hotel Museum is open to non-residents day-time, see Sleep.
 * Walpole Bay Hotel Museum is open to non-residents day-time, see Sleep.
 * Walpole Bay Hotel Museum is open to non-residents day-time, see Sleep.
 * Walpole Bay Hotel Museum is open to non-residents day-time, see Sleep.

Do

 * Margate Beach is a large crescent of sand right in town centre, by Dreamland and the railway station. It's accessible even at high tide, and the tidal pool is a sheltered area for kiddy-bathing. Half a mile west is a smaller beach, Westbrook Bay. Beaches east of the harbour through Cliftonville are narrow, and covered at high tide. Naylor Rock Shelter by the west end of Margate Beach is a grand Edwardian structure. Here in 1921 TS Eliot found himself composing The Waste Land, often hailed as depicting the despair of a post-Great War generation, but more to do with huddling in a beach shelter while being married to Vivienne Haigh-Wood.
 * Tom Thumb Theatre is squeezed into an old coach house with offbeat decor. It's at 2A Eastern Esplanade.
 * Cinema: Dreamland Cinema is only occasionally open. Carlton Cinema is two miles west by Westgate railway station. Vue Cinema is three miles south at Westwood.
 * Theatre Royal remains closed in 2023.
 * Golf: Westgate & Birchington GC is 4877 yards, par 64, visitor round £27.
 * Football: Margate FC play soccer away down in the minor leagues. Their home ground Hartsdown Park (capacity 2100) is south side of the railway station.
 * Football: Margate FC play soccer away down in the minor leagues. Their home ground Hartsdown Park (capacity 2100) is south side of the railway station.

Buy

 * Tesco Express is just west of the station.
 * Aldi is east end of the bay.
 * Any amount of catchpenny stuff on the sea front, including Margate Rock.

Eat

 * There's a whole slew of places to eat near the seafront and on the harbour arm, and more in town centre.



Drink

 * Lots of pubs and clubs, but beware of aggressive drunks late at night.



Connect
As of Jan 2021, Margate mostly has a 4G signal from all UK carriers, though Vodafone has dead spots. 5G has not reached this area.

Go next

 * Whitstable for a different kind of traditional coastal town.
 * Faversham for the national fruit collection and breweries.
 * Canterbury is a must-see for its historic cathedral city.
 * Broadstairs and Ramsgate are nearby Channel harbours.