Half term madness in our house. Both me and Jay working so childcare and entertainment have been hard. We managed to (god knows how), work it that Jay could take the girls to Manchester to see his family for a few days then we swapped and I hotfooted it to Margate for 36 hours… I love my 36 hours holidays, it really focuses your time.
I’d never been to Margate, Kent before but I’m working with a couple of actors who have made the move down the M2 due to London prices and the pull of the sea air. I know a lot of people have gone to Brighton and Whitstable but Margate was a new one to me. After my 36 hours trip though I’m sold, I loved it. In fact I loved it so much I was on Rightmove within 2 hours of arriving. Ha!
It feels like it’s still up and coming so there’s an edge of being ‘rough around the edges’ but not in a scary way. Margate Old Town is sweet and full of charm with some excellent restaurants and shops, and the beach is vast and sandy. The tide was out when we first arrived and Nayland Rock was a treasure trove to be explored. This weekend was unseasonably warm so we wandered along the beach watching some tough Brits with their deckchairs out and when it got too cold we ventured into the amusement arcades. We stayed in a cool little Airbnb which was minutes from the train station and the beach, full of character and comfy as anything.
Here’s my top tips….
Opening 5 years ago the Turner is a contemporary art space and was placed in Margate to aid the regeneration of the town, from what we say, it’s working. There was a Katie Paterson exhibition on which was beautiful and not too mad. Its a great gallery and a visit and donation here, helps the whole town.
We hadn’t booked, but a kind lady swapped tables to let us sit down (I bought her a glass of wine to say thank you). Casual and cool the menu is ace, we settled for the charity pizza topped with garlic sausage and a cheesy garlic bread. This is NOT Domino’s this is seriously good pizza, thin, crispy base with great quality toppings in a buzzing atmosphere.
A double decker on the beach serving banging breakfasts and great snacks. Worth it just for the thrill of sitting on the top deck with a cuppa looking out over the sea.
We went out of season so there was only Peters open but my goodness these are the best. I usually love to sit indoors and eat my fish and chips off a plate with a pot of tea but there is only seating outside. We were lucky with the weather. £4.50 for haddock and chips. Incredible!!!
Up the pricier end of the market but worth the money to drink a cocktail/mocktail whilst watching the sun go down. Tracy Emin was sat a few tables away. We left her to it but i was dying to say hello. You can have dinner here and obviously you can stay, we just did drinks.
Next time…… we’re going to try The Buoy and Oyster, Angela’s and Handverk and Found and Dreamland
