Step aside Brighton, move over Whitby. Margate is having a moment and there isn’t a more fun, interesting seaside town in the UK right now. Just ask Madonna, who became the latest paid-up member of the Margate Celebrity Fan Club last month, joining the likes of Lily Allen, Sam Mendes and Pedro Pascal, all of whom have been spotted enjoying the sea air and artistic energy of Kent’s east coast.
After the pop queen recently announced that she took a holiday to visit British artist Dame Tracey Emin, she promptly declared Margate to be her ‘idea of heaven’.
Madge, as she is affectionately known, is apparently a regular visitor, saying: ‘Whenever I go there, I feel like I’ve entered a dream. The whole town seems to be inhabited and energised by creativity.’
Her pal Dame Tracey has been behind a recent regeneration of her hometown, turning this once lost kiss-me-quick resort into a coastal creative Mecca.
But the town’s first real high-profile champion was another artist, JMW Turner. He resided in a harbourside guesthouse owned by his lover for two decades in the 19th century – and once declared Thanet’s skies ‘the loveliest in all Europe’.
Margate has had many incarnations and local guide Robin Colyer has been privy to some of them.
If you took a Holiday: Madonna is the latest A-lister to fall for the charms of Margate – after visiting her close friend Dame Tracey Emin in January
As a boy growing up here in the 1960s, the town felt prosperous, the 67-year-old tells me over a beer in the George & Heart House, a spruced-up former coaching inn.
He describes how he watched Margate falter in the early 1970s when jetplane holidays began to lure tourists away from traditional English resorts. His home town was to fall into a steep decline that would take decades to shake.
He says: ‘I remember taking some French tourists around in the Nineties and they were aghast at the boarded-up shops.’
Margate’s re-imagination kick-started with the arrival of the Turner Contemporary art gallery in 2011 and the revival of retro amusement park Dreamland in 2015. Its easy-to-navigate streets are now stuffed to the gills with trendy gift shops, vintage stores, galleries, hip hotels, bars and restaurants.
Even monolithic Arlington House, the 18-storey tower block branded an eyesore when it was built in 1963, is now considered a brutalist beauty that enhances Margate’s eclectic skyline.
Thankfully, the seaside kitsch of yesteryear remains. Fish and chips, sticks of lettered rock, penny slots, ice cream parlours and beach fun are still very much part of the deal.
Here’s our guide to what you shouldn’t miss…
Margate makeover: The traditional seaside town, which has endured tough times in recent decades, has become England’s coolest coastal resort with trendy bars, galleries and hotels now lining its historic streets
WHAT TO DO
Beautiful beaches
The colour of custard when dry and toffee when not, Main Sands, the 200-yard curving stretch of beach flanked by the promenade and backed by the Old Town, remains the big draw for the bucket-and-spade brigade. Don’t miss Walpole Bay Beach, either. A 15- minute walk east from town, it’s home to a Grade-II tidal pool and a volunteer- run sauna.
Details: visitthanet.co.uk.
Fantastic art
Turner Contemporary is a £17.5 million modern art temple that has been the rocket fuel of Margate’s renaissance. It strikes a glacial blue pose in the harbour-side spot where its namesake’s favourite guesthouse once stood. Alongside stellar art that’s free to admire, there are unfettered sea views. Time your visit to spy Sir Antony Gormley’s cast-iron lone figure, visible only at low tide.
Details: Free entry, turnercontemporary.org.
The Turner gallery, built on the site of artist J.M.W Turner’s former B&B home, is free to get in
Dreamy Dreamland
On the former site of Margate’s original 1920s amusement park, nostalgia-drenched Dreamland has a roller disco, arcade and old-school fairground thrills – including a big wheel, dodgems and waltzers. A campaign to save the showpiece Scenic Railway, one of the UK’s oldest wooden coasters, is gathering pace.
Doubling up as a music venue, Tom Grennan, David Gray and The Human League will play Dreamland this year.
Details: Pay per ride, park opens April 3, dreamland.co.uk.
Mysterious grotto
A true Thanet mystery, Shell Grotto was discovered by chance in 1835 and opened as a tourist attraction three years later.
Visitors walk through a 65ft-long underground tunnel that opens into a chamber, with walls adorned with 4.6 million shells from cockles, whelks, mussels and oysters.
Details: £4.50 adults, £2 children, shellgrotto.co.uk.
WHERE TO EAT
The George & Heart House
A Grade II-listed, 18th-century coaching inn with rooms on King Street, the George & Heart used to receive beer deliveries via barrels rolled down the hill from nearby Cobb’s Brewery.
When Margate slumped, so did this cavernous boozer. Now it’s packed to the rafters again with great roasts and ales from Northdown Brewery – try the Reginald Perrin Kentish Pale.
Details: Roasts from £22, 44 King Street, georgeandheart.com.
Pearly Cow
One of a trio of Pearly Cows – the others are in York and Brighton – this modern grill is a hit thanks to picture windows offering sea vistas, a stylish interior and a menu majoring on seafood and steak.
Details: Mains from £26, 42 High Street, pearlycow.co.uk.
Peter’s Fish Factory
If only fish and chips will do, then join locals in the queue at family-run Peter’s Fish Factory. In a plum spot overlooking the beach, expect great value classics, including pickled eggs and pea fritters.
You can also pick up a bottle of Fortnum & Mason traditional 181 brown sauce here.
Details: Cod and chips from £7, 12 Royal York Mansions, instagram.com/petersfishfactory.
There’s plenty of posh fare, but if only fish and chips will do, then head to Peter’s Fish Factory (stock photo)
Sargasso
On the Harbour Arm, looking back at Main Sands and Margate’s marvellous mish-mash of architecture, Sargasso is proper date-night material.
Dine in this intimate, casual space on coastal-inspired sharing dishes paired with sexy drinks, including a punchy Muz red vermouth and soda.
Details: Small plates from around £5, Stone Pier, sargasso.bar.
Rise & Bun
Sunday morning in the Old Town and the queue for slow fermented croissant-dough cinnamon buns – with flavours including apple crumble and Dubai chocolate – can stretch around the block. Buy a cortado or a flat white to go with them but note, when the trays of buns are sold, the shop closes.
Details: Buns from £4.25, 12 King Street, instagram.com/rise.and.bun.
WHERE TO SHOP
Mr B’s Sweets & Gifts
In the market for a quarter-pound of nostalgia? Mr B’s in the Old Town, painted with brown-and-pink candy stripes, has a dazzling array of sweet-filled jars to make your dentist wince – from milk bottles and pear drops to colourful Margate rock.
Details: 3 Market Street, instagram.com/mrbssweetsandgifts.
Harbour & Tide
Proving the town’s sense of seaside camp is still thriving, Harbour & Tide specialises in witty slogan T-shirts (‘resting beach face’ – playing on the expression ‘resting ‘b*tch face’, is a best-seller), cool towels and sunglasses as well as an array of coastal chic homeware. You can rent swimming costumes if you fancy a dip.
Details: 38 Fort Hill, harbourandtide.com.
Old Kent Market
The former Parade cinema on the seafront – painted in a striking shade of cherry – has been transformed into an atmospheric two-floor independent marketplace.
Shop for pre-loved clothes and quirky collectibles. Dine on street food including Asian fare served in a double decker bus.
Details: 6 to 10 Fort Hill, instagram.com/oldkentmarketreal.
Cliffs
The Cliftonville area of Margate is on the up, and Northdown Road is the place to see and be seen. Music shop Cliffs is a fun spot to lose a few hours but it is more than just a record store – there’s a salon and cafe too.
Details: 172 Northdown Road, cliffsmargate.com.
Margo in Margate
Irish artist Margo McDaid sells her colourful, reasonably priced art – on everything from vintage plates to large format canvases – from this bijou gallery on the High Street. Her biggest muse? Margate.
Details: Her shop is at 36 High Street, margoinmargate.com.
WHERE TO STAY
Arlington House
Fancy a holiday in architecture? There are several Airbnb apartments in Arlington House, the beachside brutalist residential block that has divided Thanet since the 1960s. All have a sea view and many are styled to when the building opened.
Details: A week in a two-bed apartment sleeping four costs from £765, airbnb.com.
NO. 42
A boutique retreat above the Pearly Cow grill on the High Street, No. 42 is a 21-room highly aesthetic townhouse hotel with its own spa rooms. Expect 300-count Egyptian linen, vinyl record players and envious views of Main Sands. It’s dog-friendly, too.
Details: Doubles from £148.50, 42 High St, guesthousehotels.co.uk/no-42-margate.
Fort Road Hotel
Across the street from Turner Contemporary, the once decaying Fort Road Hotel is now one of the coolest spots in town. There are 14 rooms with modernist vibes and carefully curated art – as well as Colina, a smart venue for light bites and good coffee.
Details: Doubles from £112.50, fortroadhotel.com.
Walpole Bay Hotel
Margate’s refined grande dame, the Walpole Bay Hotel in Cliftonville whirls you back to the 1920s with charming original features, including an Edwardian dining room and original Otis-trellis gated elevator. Opens for the season in March.
Details: B&B doubles from £155, walpolebayhotel.co.uk.
WHERE TO DRINK
Fez
Fancy an aperitif in an avant-garde setting? There’s barely an inch of wall that isn’t covered in art or memorabilia here, plenty of which celebrates the fez hat. Order a cask beer or a margarita and mingle – the clientele is creative locals and curious tourists.
Details: 40 High Street, instagram.com/fezmargate.
Rose in June
Artist Rose Blake’s work adorns the walls of this characterful spruced-up 1800s haunt, once frequented by acting couple Hattie Jacques and John Le Mesurier. It’s a Shepherd Neame pub with ales coming from the brewery in Faversham.
Details: 49 Trinity Square, roseinjune.co.uk.
The Shakespeare
A perfect pitstop before the train home, The Shakespeare had seen better days until four locals clubbed together to revive it. Now it’s channelling Working Men’s Club chic.
Details: 1 Canterbury Road, theshakespearemargate.co.uk.
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