It’s beautiful here : MARGATE
“Margate is hip, it’s better than Shoreditch because it’s got the sea, it’s so beautiful” — Tracey Emin
Friends,
I got some pretty negative reactions from people when I mentioned how much I love Margate so I wanted to put together a list of the five things I find special about this British seaside town.
Don’t listen to the naysayers!
I’m ashamed to admit that the only fact I knew about Margate was that the artist, Tracey Emin, was born here. That didn't make it exciting enough for me to visit though, until I read this article about this company.
The rest of my pre-visit research came via this article and this one.
Margate is about 2hrs drive | 1.5 hours train ride from central London so it’s perfect for a day out. I’ve never slept over so I can’t recommend any hotels but from all my reading I keep seeing this b&b as a recommend.
The Reading Rooms.
1. Turner Contemporary
One of my favourite Turner museums, right on the Margate beachfront with a lovely café and gift shop. There is also a permanent Antony Gormley sculpture here called ‘Another Time’ that is only visible when the tide goes out.
Margate magnet from the Museum shop.
2. Angela’s
Without a doubt, the best meal I’ve had in 24 years in the UK.
[reservation recommended]
3. The Margate Bookshop
Teeny but well worth a visit, find them in the centre of Margate.
4. Haeckels
Sustainable skin care shop and spa based on the cliffs of Margate. Their products have seaweed as the main ingredient as it is ethically harvested off the coast of Margate by founder Dom Bridges.
Listen to this great podcast to hear how Dom went from working as a high-flying ad-exec living in Shoreditch, to running Haeckels down in Margate.
Dom is also responsible for the bathing machine | sauna that lives on Margate Beach and operates on an honesty system. Read about how it came to be here.
5. Dreamland
Margate is famous for this!