Margate Shell Grotto
Attraction · A mysterious underground passage and chamber lined with millions of shells in intricate mosaics.
Margate
A breezy seaside town where Turner-painted skies and a world-class art gallery meet golden sands.
From King's Cross St Pancras: 1 h 48 min by train · 2 h 30 min by car
Travel times by TravelTime
Time there: 7–13 h to see all 8 places
Get directionsTownBy the seaBeachesCharming streetsGalleriesIndependent shops
Must-see places
Dreamland Margate
Attraction · A seaside amusement park by Margate's sands with rides and arcades, and a listed wooden roller coaster that no longer runs.
Turner Contemporary Gallery
Gallery · A striking seaside gallery where Turner-inspired light pours through vast windows above the same Margate waters that captivated the painter.
Margate Caves
Attraction · Old chalk-mine tunnels turned Victorian attraction beneath Margate's streets, reopened in 2019.
Margate Harbour Arm
Waterfront · A stone pier curving out over the sea at the end of Main Sands, lined with small food and drink stalls and ending in a sculpture of Turner's Margate landlady.
Margate Main Sands
Beach · A sheltered golden-sand beach in the heart of Margate, with the harbour arm and Turner Contemporary at one end.
Margate Old Town
Old streets · Georgian and Victorian streets around the Market Place, full of independent and vintage shops, galleries and old pubs.
Walpole Bay Tidal Pool
Beach · A vast Grade II listed sea-water pool on the Cliftonville shore, filled and refreshed by the tide.
Quick facts
Turner Contemporary, a David Chipperfield gallery that opened in 2011 on the harbour front, stands near where J.M.W. Turner lodged on his visits and is the largest exhibition space in the South East outside London.
The Old Town's Georgian and Victorian streets around the Market Place are packed with independent and vintage shops, with few chain stores, and the harbour arm built in 1812–15 makes a walk out over the sea.
A sheltered golden-sand bay with Blue Flag status sits beside a huge 1937 tidal swimming pool at Walpole Bay, all within a mile or two of each other on foot.
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