There’s a quiet yet palpable energy as you wander around Margate on the Kent coast. It’s a feeling perhaps not dissimilar to what it must have felt like in the 1730s when this little-known Tudor fishing village was on the cusp of becoming one of the most popular seaside resorts in England.
Instead of plans for great Georgian terraces, squares, guest houses, theatres and libraries being drawn up by designers and entrepreneurs, though, it’s these long-abandoned and empty historic buildings and landmarks from three centuries of holidays that are being resurrected once more.
Beginning with the opening of the beautiful B&B The Reading Rooms, on Hawley Square, in 2009, and the Turner Contemporary in 2011, sublime weekending has returned to once written-off Margate. And in the years that have followed, the town has rekindled its appeal. In the last three years, three luxury hotels as well as interiors and antiques shops have opened in what were once gritty bedsits and old stores. In 2023, a former Edwardian bathhouse was restored by Tracey Emin, who grew up in the town, and opened as an artist residency and studios (TKE Studios).
It is perhaps around the harbour – where the Droit House glows with the words ‘I never stopped loving you’, a neon artwork by Emin, and the glacier-blue angles of Turner Contemporary reflect the sea and the sky – that the rebirth of Margate is best captured. Here, Londoners on weekend visits tuck into oysters and champagne from a hut, and mill about the stone pier where they file into a squat redbrick building to sup on Cantabrian anchovies, smoked eel, and mussels.
It was Londoners who transformed this small fishing village into the seaside resort it became in the 18th century. And it is Londoners who have brought about its 21st-century revival. Back then it was the stagecoaches and steam ships along the Thames that brought the city folk to Margate, while today it’s a high-speed train from St Pancras.
Margate was one of the first and most important holiday resorts in England. It attracted visitors from the 1730s to the 1960s, originally for the health-giving properties of sea-bathing and then for the visionary attractions and amusements on offer. In the 18th century, visitors flocked to the town to try out the new-fangled bathing machines, while patients suffering from tuberculosis were sent to The Royal Sea Bathing Hospital (now apartments) that opened in 1791. As more people headed for Margate, rapid expansion took place to provide buildings for lodgings, bathing houses, and entertainment, with grand terraces modelled on London fashions.
Many features of the modern seaside holiday were in place by 1800, such as donkey rides and boat trips, and the influx of visitors kept coming decades later to enjoy the Clifton Baths (which became Margate Lido), and The Hall by the Sea pleasure garden (which would be developed into Dreamland). In the early 20th century, Margate still thronged with holidaymakers, and the Winter Gardens, a concert and dance hall carved into the cliffside, opened along with many other attractions, such as the tidal pools and the magnificent lido.
But Margate’s close proximity to northern France meant it was bombed heavily during the Second World War and people left. Post-war reconstruction ruined historic areas and led to neglect, while storms in 1953 and 1978 caused major damage to the seafront, and cheap, sunnier European package holidays in the 1960s left the town empty and abandoned. By the 1980s it was in a downward spiral. But there were those who wanted to bring Margate back to life. And bring it back they did.
Today, as well as the hotel openings and the countless hip restaurants, there is a community here that cares – that has the verve to rescue Margate Caves, that opened a free sauna down on the beach, and that saved the lido from development with hopes to also restore the Winter Gardens. Entertainment is back in the form of such events as The Malle Mile Beach Race, now in its sixth year (3rd-4th May 2025), and work has just started on Emin’s latest project – to transform a derelict Art Deco beachfront building into a community swimming pool and restaurant. No wonder the air feels charged.
Shop
King Street
Just off Marine Drive is the old town where you’ll find the oldest buildings, including Tudor House, which was saved from demolition in the 1930s during slum clearance. Closer to the sea on King Street, you’ll find a cluster of antiques and vintage stores. Particular highlights are vintage fashion store Breuer & Dawson (breuerdawson.com), which sells on-trend thick wool jumpers, workwear and jackets, as well as Paraphernalia (@paraphernaliavintage), where you can expect to find vintage Japanese kokeshi dolls, French grape buckets, and other delights.
LJW Antiques
Antiques dealer Louis Walpole fell in love with Margate when making some deliveries a few years ago and decided to open a store here. The building on Northdown Road had an interesting history but renovations took slightly longer than planned (five years).
The shop eventually opened eight months ago and is a beauty to behold. Behind the new shopfront, with LJW Antiques printed in gold leaf (below the original newsagent signage found under layers of paint), vibrant olive green tongue-and-groove cladding sets off fabulously styled vintage advertising, antique bottles, and other decorative pieces. Open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
ljwantiques.com; @ljwantiques
On a Whim
With its cherry-red frontage and colourful offerings inside, On a Whim is a veritable sweet shop. Fitting, really, as it was once a Victorian confectionery store. One of a cluster of shops on Cliff Terrace, facing out to sea and opposite the lido beacon, this store was renovated and given a fresh period feel last year. ‘When we viewed the shop we were mesmerised by the view. It looks directly out to sea and the iconic lido sign. It felt like stepping into a piece of Margate history,’ says co-owner Anna.
‘The first thing we sourced for the shop were Victorian-inspired lollipops!’ Expect beautiful everyday objects from independent businesses and makers from around the globe, including candles, incense, coasters, Victorian-style bookmarks, and vintage-inspired gifts.
onawhimstore.com; @onawhimmargate
Scott’s and Junk Deluxe
Scott’s is a Margate institution that’s been in the town since 1978 and that makes antiques and bric-a-brac lovers giddy. The three storeys of this rambling old building along Bath Place, with the words ‘Ice Factory and Cold Stores’ written on its side, are packed quite literally to the rafters with everything you can imagine and more – woodworking tools, crockery, chairs, tables, wardrobes, doorknobs, you name it. Round the back of the building, you’ll also find another Margate heavyweight, Junk Deluxe. This store leans more to mid-century and vintage with a good selection of rugs, seating, shelving, and a yard worthy of a snoop.
scottsmargate.co.uk; @scottsmargate
junkdeluxe.co.uk; @junkdeluxemargate
The Margate Bookshop
You’ll find this cheery independent bookshop in a Georgian building with pastel blue frontage on Market Place, at the centre of the old town. Francesca opened the shop in 2019 with the plan to run a traditional general-interest bookshop, focusing on underrepresented authors, translated fiction and vintage books. On sunny days you can take a seat outside on the square.
themargatebookshop.com; @themargatebookshop
Visit
Dreamland
In the 1870s, circus entrepreneur ‘Lord’ George Sanger’s Hall by the Sea pleasure garden (complete with menagerie cages that housed exotic animals), was a highlight of Margate. It was renamed Dreamland in the 1920s when it was refurbished by John Henry Iles, who set about transforming it into an amusement park with a miniature railway as its centrepiece, adding an Art Deco cinema in 1934.
Despite being one of the oldest amusement parks in the country, it, like many of Margate’s attractions, fell into disrepair and was almost lost to history. But a campaign was set up to save Dreamland and it was restored and reopened in June 2015. For great dollops of nostalgia, it’s worth seeking out Dreamland today, where you’ll find a roller disco room, a concert venue in the old ballroom, an events space, art installations, and retro and vintage-inspired rides, including a big wheel.
dreamland.co.uk; @dreamlandmargate
Turner Contemporary
On the cliff behind the stone pier, known as Harbour Arm, rises the unmistakable sleek lines of Turner Contemporary, sitting on the site of Mrs Booth’s boarding house, where JMW Turner stayed between 1827 and 1847. He famously declared that ‘the skies over Thanet are the loveliest in all Europe’ and views from Margate feature in over 100 of his paintings. Turner’s radical approach to art and his connection with Margate inspired Turner Contemporary, which opened in 2011 in a bid to revitalise the faded town.
The gallery is housed in a striking David Chipperfield-designed building and presents world-class art exhibitions. This spring, the landmark exhibition, ‘Resistance’ (on until 1st June), conceived by acclaimed artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen, will present the work of renowned photographers and chronicle how ordinary people fought for change between 1903 and 2003, from the suffragettes marching through London’s streets to the mass protest against the Iraq War.
turnercontemporary.org
Eat
Forts
On a quiet Saturday morning, meander along Fort Crescent, past the crumbling Winter Gardens and the iconic Margate seafront terraces, and you’ll notice a hubbub up ahead – you’ve reached Forts. A popular brunch spot overlooking the sea, a non-stop stream of visitors and locals come in and out of this little café with its vintage chairs and Formica tables.
Some arrive post-yoga on the beach, or after a run, to tuck into nduja fried eggs with pickled red onion, black lime scrambled tofu with crispy chickpea, or French toast with burnt butter apples and chai custard. Linger for lunch and there are salads, soups and sandwiches, including Shaoxing and lemongrass braised beef and gruyère toastie, and Korean fried chicken focaccia with kimchi slaw and gochujang mayo. No bookings – just turn up.
@fortscoffee
Sargasso
You’ll have to book ahead for this one as the space is small and the fanclub huge. Named after a type of seaweed, this Italian-style wine bar with food features many dishes influenced by the European coasts, such as Cantabrian anchovies with rosemary oil, brown crab remoulade, and red mullet with fennel, orange and olive salad. There are also music nights when the weather is warmer.
sargasso.bar
Stay
Fort Road Hotel
This hotel captures the revival of Margate perfectly: custodians returning a place to its former glory using its history, good design, and art. Originally Fort Castle Public House, the hotel stands overlooking the sea, opposite Turner Contemporary. Turner most probably drank in this building, which, like many period properties in Margate, started to decline in the late 20th century and ended up a derelict squat. Happily, it was bought at auction by designer Gabriel Chipperfield (David Chipperfield’s son), artist and author Tom Gidley, and Frieze co-founder Matthew Slotover in 2018, who restored the building and opened it as a hotel in 2022.
The 14 rooms have an understated mid-century feel, furnished with vintage furniture and lighting, including a Danish Bent Moller Jepsen easy chair in one room, and a sofa and chair by Gio Ponti in another. Considered touches include fresh homemade cookies on arrival, luxury seaweed-based products from a local skincare brand in the bathrooms, vintage seaside photographs and postcards specific to Margate in the corridors. Books by authors connected to Margate are artfully arranged on shelves and bedside tables.
Dine in the cosy dining room with its bentwood chairs, contemporary artwork, and three original George Nelson pendant lights. Later, head down to the basement bar, where locals and tourists sit in vintage pine chairs by Rainer Daumiller in the light of a Tracey Emin neon artwork ‘More Love’, playing backgammon and chess over negronis.
fortroadhotel.com; @fortroadhotel
Don’t miss
The Shell Grotto
Have a subterranean adventure in one of the most unlikely places – the Shell Grotto. The only thing that gives it away is the name of the road, Grotto Hill. Step inside and you’ll be taken two metres down into underground passages and an altar room, studded with 4.6 million shells in a swirling profusion of patterns and symbols. Discovered by chance in 1835, the origins of the grotto are still unknown, but it became a major tourist attraction and still draws people today.
shellgrotto.co.uk