Earlier this month, over the early May bank holiday weekend, Victor’s parents came to stay with us in London for a week, travelling from Barcelona via Manchester. As they were spending a full week with us, we decided to use the long weekend as an opportunity to take a small trip together and show them another side of England beyond London.
We settled on the Kent coast, combining a couple of days in Thanet with a final day in Dover. It felt like the perfect bank holiday escape: seaside towns, coastal walks, fish and chips, art, pubs, a castle, and the White Cliffs. It was also a lovely way to travel together as a family, with enough walking and sightseeing to make the days feel full, but without anything feeling too complicated or over-planned.
Saturday: Ramsgate to Broadstairs
On Saturday morning, we took the train from London to Ramsgate. It was still too early to check into our hotel when we arrived, so we dropped our bags at The Falstaff and went for a wander around town.
Ramsgate has a very particular atmosphere. It is grand in places, a little faded in others, and full of the kind of coastal details I love: sea-facing terraces, steep staircases, harbour views, old pubs, and sudden glimpses of the water between buildings. We made our way towards the port and spent some time taking in the harbour, the boats, and the gentle bank holiday bustle.
For lunch, we went to Seabird, which was a lovely first proper stop of the weekend. The restaurant has a beautiful inner garden, and although it was not an especially hot day, sitting in the sun made it feel surprisingly warm. It had that perfect spring feeling where everyone is slightly overdressed but still determined to sit outside.
We shared a few dishes to start: chicory salad with pear, blue cheese, honey and thyme dressing, and sun-dried tomato and manchego arancini with dressed fennel and romesco. For my main, I had herb-crusted cod bourride with pickled mussels, croutons and saffron aioli, which felt perfectly suited to being by the sea. It was rich and comforting but still bright, with the mussels and saffron making it feel properly coastal.
After lunch, we checked into The Falstaff properly. The hotel itself suited the weekend well: relaxed, characterful, and well located for wandering around Ramsgate and getting back to the seafront. Once we had settled in for a bit, we headed back out to explore more of the town.
We walked to Spencer Square, one of the quieter and more elegant corners of Ramsgate. The square has a peaceful garden at its centre, with benches, mature planting, and that slightly romantic seaside-town feel of Georgian terraces set back from the coast. It is the kind of place that feels local and lived-in rather than overly polished. There is also a nice art-history connection here, as blue plaques around the square mark the places where Van Gogh lodged and worked during his time in Ramsgate. It added a lovely unexpected layer to the walk, especially after simply wandering without too much of a fixed plan.
From there, we passed St Augustine’s Abbey, which gives this part of Ramsgate a very different feel from the harbour below. The abbey was built in the 19th century by Augustus Pugin, best known for his role in the Gothic Revival and for his work on the interiors of the Palace of Westminster. Even from the outside, the building feels striking and serious, with a sense of Catholic history and architecture that contrasts with the seaside atmosphere around it. Across the road, the church of St Augustine continues that sense of place, connected to the story of St Augustine of Canterbury and the early Christian history of England. It was one of those moments where Ramsgate felt much more layered than I had expected.
Having already walked along the upper route above the port, we then made our way down the Magazine Stairs and followed the arches along the seafront. This was one of my favourite parts of Ramsgate: the steep descent, the shift from town to sea level, and then the long line of arches beside the water. It made the walk feel like it was gradually opening out, leading us from the town into the wider coastline.
From there, we began the coastal walk towards Broadstairs. The path between Ramsgate and Broadstairs is beautiful, with chalk cliffs, open sea views, little bays, and the changing texture of the coast as you move from one town to the next. It was a lovely way to introduce Victor’s parents to the English seaside, especially because it was not just about the beach itself, but about the rhythm of walking along the cliffs, stopping to look back, and feeling the sea air properly.
By the time we reached Broadstairs, we were ready for a sit-down, so we went to The Tartar Frigate. It is exactly the kind of old coastal pub you hope to find after a walk: historic, atmospheric, and close to the seafront. The building, with its flint exterior and 18th-century feel, fits beautifully into the town. Broadstairs itself has a gentler and more nostalgic charm than Ramsgate, with its small streets, beach, ice-cream shops and traditional seaside energy.
After our drink, we wandered around the town and started looking for dinner. In the end, we decided on fish and chips, partly because Victor’s parents had never had it before. That made the meal much more fun. Victor and I both went for haddock, Victor’s mum had rock salmon, and Victor’s dad chose lemon sole. There is something very satisfying about having fish and chips by the sea, especially when introducing it to people for the first time. It felt casual, simple and very British in the best way.
After dinner, we went for a drink at The Magnet, before eventually taking an Uber back to Ramsgate. We were all tired by then, so we went to sleep soon after. It had been a full first day: a harbour wander, a sunny garden lunch, Ramsgate history, a coastal walk, Broadstairs pubs, and fish and chips by the sea.
Sunday: Margate, Turner Contemporary and Botany Bay
On Sunday morning, we took an Uber from Ramsgate to Margate, giving ourselves a slightly easier start after all the walking the day before. Margate has a very different energy from Ramsgate and Broadstairs. It is more eccentric, more creative, and a little rougher around the edges, with a mix of old seaside nostalgia, independent shops, contemporary art, and slightly surreal attractions.
We started at the beach and then walked around the town for a while, taking in the seafront and the streets around the old town. One of our first stops was the Crab Museum, which was as unusual and entertaining as it sounds. It is playful and funny, but also surprisingly thoughtful, using crabs as a way into bigger questions about nature, evolution, the environment and human behaviour. It is very Margate: a bit weird, very clever, and much more memorable than a traditional museum might have been.
Afterwards, I picked up a cinnamon bun from Rise & Bun, which was delicious and exactly the kind of snack I wanted while wandering around a seaside town. It was soft, sweet, and warm-feeling even if the day itself was not especially hot.
We then went to Turner Contemporary, one of Margate’s most important cultural landmarks. The gallery sits right on the seafront, in a position that makes the light and the water feel like part of the experience. Before going into the main exhibition, we saw the Hockney window, which added a bright, unexpected moment to the visit. There is something lovely about seeing contemporary art in a coastal setting, where the changing light outside feels connected to what you are seeing inside.
The main exhibition we saw was Bridget Riley: Learning to See, which had been conceived in close collaboration with the artist. The title comes from a letter Monet wrote late in life to Eugène Boudin, thanking him for being the first person to teach him “to see and understand.” That felt like a beautiful starting point for an exhibition about Riley, whose work is so closely tied to perception, sensation and the act of looking.
The exhibition explored Riley’s long-standing connection with the natural world and her lifelong interest in how we experience sight. It brought together works from the late 1960s, more recent canvases, wall paintings from the last decade, and preparatory works on paper. I especially liked seeing the drawings and studies alongside the finished works, because they made the process feel more visible. Riley’s paintings can feel so precise and controlled that it is easy to forget the amount of looking, testing and working through behind them. Seeing the preparatory works made the exhibition feel less like a display of optical effects and more like a study of attention.
After the gallery, we walked along the Harbour Arm, which is one of my favourite parts of Margate. It gives you a different view back towards the town, with the beach, the gallery and the seafront all laid out from the water. We stopped for a drink at the micropub, enjoying a pause before lunch.
Lunch was at SARGASSO, and it ended up being one of the highlights of the whole weekend. It was Mother’s Day in Spain, so it felt like a particularly lovely way to celebrate with Victor’s parents. The restaurant’s location by the harbour made it feel special without being formal, and the food was exactly what I wanted from a long coastal lunch: seasonal, generous, and full of small dishes that made everyone want to keep trying a bit of everything.
We had anchovy pâté on sourdough, asparagus, fish salad, tomato and onion salad, chickpea stew, a squid sandwich, peas, and fish served with a sea vegetable that reminded me of samphire. It was the kind of meal where the dishes kept arriving and the lunch slowly turned into one of the main events of the day. For dessert, I had stem ginger panna cotta with rhubarb and an oat biscuit, which was a beautiful finish: creamy, sharp, gingery and not too heavy.
After such a delicious lunch, we went to the Shell Grotto, one of Margate’s strangest and most atmospheric sights. Hidden underground and covered in millions of shells, it feels part folk art, part mystery, part seaside curiosity. No one seems to know exactly who built it or why, which makes it even more intriguing. Walking through the shell-lined passageways after lunch felt like stepping into a completely different world, far removed from the bright harbour and open sea outside.
From there, we began the coastal walk from Margate back in the direction of Broadstairs. We did not do the whole route this time, but walked about halfway, as far as Botany Bay. The walk out of Margate quickly becomes dramatic, with chalk cliffs, sea views and open sky. Botany Bay itself is especially beautiful, with its chalk stacks and wide sandy beach. It has a wilder, more spacious feeling than the town beaches, and it was a lovely point to end the walk before turning back.
After that, we returned to the hotel in Ramsgate to rest. I ended up staying in for the rest of the evening, very happy to have a quiet night after two full days of walking, eating and sightseeing. Victor and his parents, however, still had some energy left and went out to the Ramsgate Wetherspoons, which is apparently the largest pub in the country. That felt like a very funny and very British end to the day: after art, sea views, the Shell Grotto and a beautiful Spanish Mother’s Day lunch, they finished the evening in a giant Wetherspoons.
Monday: Dover Castle and the White Cliffs
On Monday, we checked out of Ramsgate and took an Uber to Dover. The weather was looking pretty rubbish when we arrived, so rather than heading straight out to the cliffs, we decided to delay the walk and start with Dover Castle instead. This turned out to be a very good decision. Dover Castle is one of those places that immediately makes you feel the strategic importance of the landscape. Sitting high above the town and the Channel, it has a commanding position, and even before you start exploring properly, the views alone explain why Dover has mattered so much historically. It is not just a castle in the romantic sense, but a fortress shaped by centuries of defence, conflict and proximity to mainland Europe.
We spent a while exploring the castle grounds, taking in the scale of the site and the different layers of history. There is something impressive about how much is contained within it: medieval walls, towers, military history, and wide views across the Channel. It also gave the day a slower and more sheltered start while the weather settled, which was exactly what we needed.
After spending some time at the castle, we took another Uber to the National Trust visitor centre for the White Cliffs of Dover. From there, we began our walk along the cliff path. The weather was still not perfect, but it had improved enough for the walk to feel worthwhile, and in some ways the grey skies suited the drama of the landscape.
The White Cliffs are one of those places that feel familiar before you arrive, because they are so strongly tied to ideas of England, travel, defence and return. But seeing them in person is still striking. The chalk is so bright against the sea, and the path gives you these wide, open views along the coastline. It felt very different from Thanet. Ramsgate, Broadstairs and Margate had been about seaside towns, beaches, food, art and local character, while Dover felt bigger and more elemental: cliffs, wind, sea, history and distance.
We walked about halfway towards the lighthouse, which was enough to get a real sense of the cliffs without pushing the day too far. The path was beautiful, with views opening up in different directions as we walked. Even with the changeable weather, it felt like a special final walk for the weekend. There is something about walking along cliffs that makes a trip feel complete: you are moving slowly, but the landscape feels huge.
By the end of the walk, the day had turned into something much lovelier than the forecast had suggested. What started with grey skies and a slightly uncertain plan became a really memorable final day: Dover Castle in the morning, the White Cliffs in the afternoon, and one last dose of sea air before returning to London.
Final Thoughts
The weekend ended up being such a good mix of places. Ramsgate gave us harbour views, architectural history and a relaxed base. Broadstairs brought the classic seaside feeling, with pubs, fish and chips and a beautiful coastal walk. Margate added art, eccentricity, excellent food and the Shell Grotto. Dover then gave the trip a more dramatic ending, with the castle and the White Cliffs bringing in a completely different sense of scale and history.
It was also a lovely trip to do with Victor’s parents. There was something really enjoyable about introducing them to these very British coastal experiences: fish and chips, old pubs, bank holiday walks, Wetherspoons, unpredictable weather, seaside towns and dramatic cliffs. Over three days, we managed to fit in a lot without the weekend feeling too rushed.
By the time we headed back to London, it felt like we had properly made the most of the long weekend: three towns in Thanet, a day in Dover, plenty of walking, some excellent meals, and the kind of sea air that makes even a short trip feel like a real break.
Have you explored this part of the Kent coast, or is Thanet and Dover still on your UK seaside list?
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